Nevada casinos had an especially sunny July thanks to serious spikes in baccarat and sports betting revenue.
Figures released Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board show statewide casino gaming revenue rising 10% year-on-year to just over $1b. The gains were even more stellar on the Las Vegas Strip, which was up nearly 17% to $613m.
Of all the numbers, the most striking is the state’s sportsbooks, which reported revenue up 1,021% to $11.1m. The numbers were goosed by baseball, which more than doubled to a record £11.8m, and the ‘other’ category, which spiked 239% to $2.3m, presumably due to the tail end of the Euro 2016 football tournament.
The sports numbers would have been even higher were it not for laggard basketball bettors cashing in $3.2m worth of winning tickets. The state’s race books contributed another $4.2m, essentially flat year-on-year.
July is typically the sportsbooks’ worst month of the year, as evidenced by the $1m in total revenue last July, the $405k won in July 2014 and the net loss of $548k in July 2013 (which was also the last time the books didn’t triumph over the punters).
Over on the gaming floor, slots revenue was flat at $600.5m. At the tables, baccarat revenue spiked 44% to $150.3m thanks to increased volume and a higher than usual 16.5% win rate. Blackjack also had a phenomenal July, rising 40% to $114m.
The rest of the table games finished thusly: roulette ($37.6m, +6.3%), craps ($34m, +12.3%), three-card poker ($9.6m, -21%), pai gow poker ($9.2m, -7.3%), mini-baccarat ($8.6m, -13.3%), let it ride ($2.1m, -29%), keno ($2.1m, -10.3%), bingo ($529k, -2.9%) and ‘other’ games & tables ($17.4m, +9.3%), while poker revenue rose 7.6% to $12.3m.
