Nevada casino gaming revenue slipped nearly 8% in July as baccarat whales turned the tables on their dealers. The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that the state’s total monthly casino gambling haul came in at $925.7m, of which baccarat accounted for $118.8m, a 37.5% drop from the game’s contribution the previous July. The overwhelming majority of this VIP baccarat action takes place on the Las Vegas Strip, where overall gaming revenue fell 14.4% to $511.4m. Nevada gaming revenue has now fallen three out of the past four months.
Direct comparisons are perhaps unfair, given that July 2012’s $1.005b haul was the fourth highest in Nevada’s history, but wild variance is part and parcel of increased baccarat dependency. Baccarat enjoyed a 16% hold in July 2012 compared to a more reasonable 11.4% this July. The number of baccarat tables in action has grown from 261 last July to 288 this year.
Blackjack was Nevada’s second-highest table revenue generator, although the take was off 4.5% to $92.3m. The rest of the gaming table haul looked thus: roulette ($35.4m, +62%), craps ($28m. -20%), three-card poker ($12.2m, -0.25%), ‘other games’ ($12m), pai gow poker ($10.2m, +4.3%), mini-baccarat ($8.1m, +12.9%), let it ride ($3.1m, -5%) and keno (2.1m, -8.7%). Overall table games win was off 18.6%. Slots win was down 1% to $585.6m.
Poker win was up 3.3% to $12.4m, although Nevada regulators still aren’t breaking out how much of that figure was generated by Ultimate Poker, the only Nevada-licensed online poker site currently operating in the state. Nevada’s racebooks saw win rise 1.3% to $4.6m, but the sportsbooks collectively lost $548k thanks to a 56% decline in baseball win ($3.2m) and a net loss of $2.8m on basketball as punters cashed in leftover tickets at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association season.
