Nevada casinos posted strong gaming revenue growth in February, rebounding from January’s nearly 3% decline.
According to figures released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, statewide gaming revenue hit $989.8m in February, up 8% from the same month last year. All regions of the state reported positive momentum in February, with the Las Vegas Strip up 7.3% to $570.2m and even stronger gains downtown (+17%).
For once, baccarat wasn’t the be-all and end-all of Nevada’s gaming fortunes, as the game’s revenue was up less than 1% to $122.1m, despite a respectable hold of 12.9% and the month containing the Lunar New Year holiday period. By contrast, slots had a very strong month, rising nearly 8% to $609.4m.
Blackjack revenue was up a modest 5.3% to $94.6m, while craps gained nearly 32% to $44.6m and roulette fell 13% to $24.3m. The rest of the table games fared as follows: three-card poker ($12.3m, -1%), mini-baccarat ($10.1m, +8.3%), pai gow poker ($8, -11.1%), let it ride ($3.2m, -1.4%), keno ($2.3m, +2.3%), pai gow ($1.4m, -10.1%) and bingo ($900k, -25%). Other tables and games were up 17% to $15.5m, while poker revenue gained 5.4% to $9m.
The state’s sportsbooks had another strong month, with total revenue up 99% to $28m. The books handled $362.7m in wagers last month, a new record for the month of February. Basketball led the charge, rising 83.1% to $13.4m on a hold of 6.5%. Football enjoyed a much larger gain in percentage terms, rising 286% to $12.9m on a nearly 10% hold.
All other sports categories were broadly negative, led by baseball, which reported a net loss of $276k, while parlay cards were down 30% to $846k and other sports fell by half to $1.1m. The state’s race books were up 15.7% to just under $4m.
