Nevada casino win drops for 4th straight month in April; weather a factor

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Total gaming win ticked down 1.8 percent in April to $936.5 million, a decrease of $17.3 million compared to April last year.

That marks the fourth straight month this calendar year that gaming win has declined in the Silver State.

Nevada Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said the culprit was game and table win that fell 5.8 percent in April. That category is now down 6.4 percent for the calendar year.

Surprisingly, he said, Baccarat was not the issue in April. Baccarat reported a 2.5 percent increase to $66.8 million, the first increase for that game since last November.

“The real reason for this decrease is non-Baccarat game and table win is down 8.2 percent or $18.7 million,” Lawton said.

Blackjack win fell 11.1 percent, Craps 12.2 percent and Roulette 23.5 percent.

He said the positive note in game and table numbers came from the sportsbooks, which reported $27.1 million in win, a 32.7 percent increase on volumes of $321.8 million.

Slot win was down two tenths to $658.8 million, down just two tenths of a percent.

Lawton said nearly all of the decreases were “miniscule.” The exceptions were the markets most dependent on the weather. South Shore casinos at Stateline and North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay/Incline Village in the Tahoe Basin were both down double digits as bad weather rolled through northwestern Nevada throughout April.

At South Shore casinos, total win was $13.1 million, a 12.5 percent, $1.9 million decrease. In addition to April's sketchy weather, that market suffered a negative hold in the “Other Games” category. That's the category where Baccarat play is recorded in Nevada's smaller markets.

Weather is also blamed for the 16.1 percent, $250,000 decrease in North Lake Tahoe casino win. The volume of play, as at the south end of the lake, was down significantly.

Lawton said weather likely accounted for the weak performance of Reno-Sparks casinos as well. The county as a whole was up but by less than 1 percent to $65.9 million. While Reno casinos were up 3.2 percent, all other markets in the county were down. Washoe is down 1.6 percent for the calendar year thus far.

Carson Valley, which includes valley parts of Douglas County as well as the capital, was also down but by just one tenth of a percent — $5,000. That's the third consecutive decrease for the Carson Valley after 20 consecutive increases. Total win was $9 million for the month.

Finally, Churchill County defied the pattern experienced by the rest of the state, reporting a 2.15 percent increase in total win. The 10 non-restricted locations in Churchill reported $1.82 million for the month, all but $44,000 of that from slot play.