Nevada gaming win tops $1 billion in October; sixth month this year

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Despite falling nearly 4 percent compared with a year ago, Nevada's October gaming win still topped $1 billion.

This is the sixth time this calendar year that total monthly win has exceeded $1 billion.

Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said the $1.02 billion in win by non-restricted gaming licensees amounts to a 3.85 percent decrease and the reason was largely Baccarat, which brought in just $56.7 million. That is a 25.7 percent, $19.6 million decrease compared to a year ago.

But Baccarat wasn't alone. “21” win fell 26.5 percent or $33.2 million to just $92.3 million and Roulette was down 30.3 percent to $28.2 million as a result of decreased volume of play and lower percentage holds.

The result was a 9.25 percent decrease in win on the Las Vegas Strip.

Lawton said the one positive was the sports books where bettors dropped $47.9 million, a 61.7 percent increase over a year ago. He said Nevada's sports books continue to record monthly increases despite growing competition since sports betting is now legal in several other states.

Slot win, he said, “is chugging along,” raking in $699.1 million in October. That is very close to the $700 million mark Nevada casinos last hit in March 2008. Slot win is up 2.7 percent for the calendar year.

The Carson Valley Area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the capital, had a strong month, reporting an 8.3 percent, $755,000 increase, the result of a 9.1 percent increase n slot win. Total gaming win in Carson City was $9.87 million.

South Shore casinos at Lake Tahoe had a strong month, up 14.3 percent to $19.5 million. The reason for the increase was game and table win that increased 115.7 percent or 2.6 million. The story is in the “Other Games” category where Baccarat is reported in Nevada's smaller jurisdictions. The casinos held 27.4 percent of bets in that category compared to a negative-33 percent a year ago.

North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay/Incline Village were a different story in October. Total win was down 17.7 percent or $382,000 to just $1.9 million. North Shore was up against a difficult comparison since win was up 18.7 percent last year. For the calendar year, North Shore is now down 6.3 percent.

Washoe County casinos won $76.6 million, a 3.9 percent, $2.7 million increase. But Washoe is still down for the year by just under 1 percent.

Churchill County's 10 non-restricted locations totaled $1.71 million in October. That is 5.59 percent down from a year ago. The big loss was in the multi-denominational slot machines that account for nearly $840,000 of that total. That total is just about 28 percent less than a year ago. Game and table win was pretty much flat.

Lyon County's 20 locations posted an 11.7 percent increase to $4.55 million. There, the multi-denominational machines reported a 14.7 percent increase to 2.2 million, just under half the month's total.