Figures released Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board show statewide casino gaming revenue of $984.5m in January, a 3% decline from the same month last year and 1.5% less than the casinos generated in December 2018.
January’s year-on-year decline was even more pronounced on the Las Vegas Strip, where gaming revenue was off 4% to $532.2m. The shortfall was in part due to reduced action by Chinese baccarat whales, who spent 22.4% less at their favorite game, which pushed baccarat revenue down 15% to $95.9m.
The overall ‘table, counter and card games’ category reported revenue falling 9.3% to exactly $326m. Joining baccarat in the dumpster were nearly all of the major table games including blackjack ($90.2m, -7.5%) and craps ($34.7m, -1.6%). Roulette proved an outlier, rising 6.4% to $29.4m, while poker tables improved 6.5% to $9.6m. January’s slots revenue was essentially flat at $658.5m.
Overall sports betting handle hit $497m, nearly one-fifth higher year-on-year and a new state record for the month of January. (New Jersey’s licensed sports betting operators generated $385 in handle in January, itself a record for the state’s fledgling sports betting market.) However, Nevada’s betting revenue was a mere $14.6m, a 41.7% fall from January 2018, thanks to a win rate of just 2.94%.
The revenue tally wasn’t helped by laggard baseball bettors – presumably in town on holiday or awaiting February’s Super Bowl – who cashed in nearly $1.1m worth of winning tickets. The books’ usually reliable parlay cards also contributed to the slide, posting a -0.55% hold for a net loss of $15k.
On the flip side, football wagers brought in nearly $7.8m (+5.5%) in revenue, while basketball added $5.85m (although this latter sum was nearly two-thirds smaller year-on-year). The ‘other’ category brought in $2.1m (-26.6%), while the state’s pari-mutuel race books were down 12.9% to $2.7m.