NV gaming win dips slightly in March; at $1.022 billion total

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Gaming win decreased slightly in March — just over a tenth of a percent — but still totaled a billion dollars.

The culprit was Baccarat, which was down 54.3 percent compared to a year ago, bringing in just $53.6 million. Gaming Control Board analyst Mike Lawton said it was a tough comparison since Baccarat was up more than 100 percent in March 2018.

He said if Baccarat was excluded from the numbers, gaming win would've been up 6.9 percent or $62.4 million for the month.

Among the high points for the month was Roulette which brought in $41.7 million. That's an increase of more than 43 percent and the second highest win total ever for Roulette. The highest ever for that game was $50.8 million in October 2012.

The other high point was sports books. Bettors wagered a total of $596.8 million in March, an all-time record driven by the $495.1 million bet on basketball.

But apparently, the bettors were knowledgeable since total win by sports books was down 4.8 percent compared to last year — $32.5 million.

Lawton pointed out this is the first time since March 2004 that sports book volume was higher than Baccarat volume.

Carson Valley, which includes valley portions of Douglas as well as the capital, was down six-tenths of a percent or $55,000 in March to $9.2 million.

The area was facing a tough comparison since total win was up 10.7 percent a year ago. The driver was slot win which fell 1.7 percent or $149,000 compared to an 11.4 percent increase last year. The amount wagered was up 6.6 percent but hold fell a half percent to 5.5 percent.

Stateline casinos at Lake Tahoe's South Shore won $15.9 million, an increase of 9.2 percent or $1.3 million. The driver behind that increase was the “Other Games” category. In smaller markets that means Baccarat.

Other Games increased 40 percent from a year ago or $1.9 million. The key factor was the percentage of wagers the casinos held which rose from 4.1 percent last year to 29.7 percent this March.

North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay/Incline Village won $2.1 million in March, a 2.2 percent, $45,000 increase. Slot win increased 8.6 percent or $119,000.

Washoe County was down nine-tenths of a percent to $69.9 million, a reduction of $631,000.

Churchill County's 10 non-restricted locations reported a 1.1 percent in crease to just more than $2 million for the month. Of that, $1.9 million came from slot play with just $88,000 from table games and sports betting. For the first three months of this calendar year, Churchill is down eight-tenths of a percent compared to a year ago.

Statewide, slot win totaled $675.3 million, up 5 percent or $32.2 million. That's seven consecutive monthly increases for slot win. The total wagered was $10.2 billion, the highest since May 2009.