Nevada casino gaming revenue fell in January despite state-licensed sportsbooks setting a new January record for betting handle.
According to figures released Friday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, statewide casino gambling revenue fell 2.87% to $925.3m. Things were worse on the Las Vegas Strip, which reported gaming revenue down 7.7% to $522.3m, while downtown was up 8.8% to $42m, Laughlin improved 6.9% to $42.4m and Reno slipped 2.8% to $42.6m.
As one has come to expect, baccarat was the primary cause of the Strip’s decline, as the game’s win fell 26% to $101.8m despite a respectable 16% hold. Blackjack was also down, falling 6.8% to $91.1m, while roulette gained 1.5% to $35m and craps rose 12.9% to $31.7m.
The rest of the table game chart reads as follows: three-card poker ($12.6m, -7.6%), pai gow poker ($9.1m, -5.2%), mini-baccarat ($8.5m, +23%), let it ride ($2.8m, -13.1%), keno ($2.2m, +16%) while ‘other games & tables’ improved 9.7% to $17.2m and poker fell 2.9% to $9.5m. Slots revenue was up 3.2% to $579.3m.
Total sportsbook revenue fell 3.3% to $19.6m despite accepting wagers of $448.2m, a new Nevada record for the month of January, as hold fell to a disappointing 4.38%.
The handle total was driven by record basketball wagering of $187.6m, eclipsing January 2015’s previous record of $177.2m, while this January’s win fell 29.1% year-on-year to $10.2m on a 5.44% hold.
Football win came to $8.2m, as books held 2.49% of the $234.8m handle. This January benefitted from a revised NFL schedule that brought an extra week of regular season games compared to January 2015, resulting in net football win improving 133.8% year-on-year.
Other sports generated net win of $1.95m and parlay cards added $400k, while lazy baseball bettors cashed in $1.1m worth of winning tickets. The state’s race books reported revenue down 18.5% to $3.8m.
New sports betting records are becoming somewhat routine in Nevada, in part due to the increased acceptance of mobile wagering by the state’s bettors. Wynn Las Vegas is set to join the mobile party next week via the long awaited launch of its Miomni-designed mobile betting app, which arrives just in time for the annual NCAA March Madness betting bonanza.
