Nevada casinos took in $959m in gambling revenue in September, a 7.4% boost on the same month last year and the second consecutive month of positive movement. Things were even better on the Las Vegas Strip, where gaming revenue rose 13.4% to $563m. Statewide gaming revenue over the first nine months of 2013 is up 1.4% over the same period last year, while the Strip is up 3.3%.
Total table games revenue rose nearly 14% in September to $368.9m. Baccarat once again topped all table games with $116.6m, up nearly 50% over September 2012 thanks to a 15.2% hold. Blackjack played table game bridesmaid at $104.1m (+34.8%), while the rest of the table game roster played out as follows: roulette ($27.5m, +15.4%), craps ($27.2m, -24.3%), three-card poker ($13m, -1.2%), pai gow poker ($9.1m, +9.7%), mini-baccarat ($8.8m, -13.8%), let it ride ($3.3m, -14%), keno ($2.5m, -3.6%) and pai gow ($1.1m, -39%).
September’s slots handle fell 5% to $8.55b – the lowest September tally in a decade – yet slots revenue rose nearly 4% to $581m, thanks to a 6.8% hold, the best September win rate since 2008. The poker vertical, which includes contributions from Nevada’s two licensed online poker sites Ultimate Poker and WSOP.com (the latter having launched mid-month), brought in $8.9m, up 0.5% over last year. Nevada regulators have declared that they won’t break out the online poker figures into a separate column until at least three sites are up and running.
Nevada sportsbooks took in $39.6m, down nearly 26% over last September. The shortfall was all the more frustrating given football wagering rose 7.8% over September 2012 to hit an all-time high of $337m. However, this September’s 8.2% hold couldn’t match last September’s 13.9% win rate, resulting in a net football haul of $27.9m, down $15.6m from last year. Sports parlay cards brought in $5m, baseball win rose 136.2% to $4.7m, while the state’s race books fell 6.4% to $3.6m. The ‘other’ category benefited from the recent Mayweather v. Alvarez fight, pushing win up 258.5% to $2.5m.
