Nevada gaming win makes major improvement in July but still down from 2019

Nevada casinos rebounded in July, winning $756.8 million.

“This month’s numbers, I think, exceeded everyone’s expectations,” said Gaming Control Board analyst Mike Lawton.

That’s a major improvement over the $566.8 million casinos won in June but still 26.2 percent or $268 million less than they won in July 2019.

“The question now is can we continue to grow off this,” said Lawton.

A review of the numbers shows that smaller markets outside of Las Vegas and those that get the majority of their win from slots are recovering much faster than those depending more heavily on game and table win. The Strip, where eight large resorts are still closed, was down 39 percent below a year ago at $330 million in total win, accounting for almost 80 percent of the statewide decrease. The list of resorts still closed includes the Mirage (which is planning to reopen Thursday), Planet Hollywood and the Tropicana.

Also suffering are the two Tahoe Basin reporting areas. South Shore casinos won $21.1 million, a decrease of just under 40 percent from last year. Slot win fell 33 percent and table games 51.5 percent.

North Shore casinos won $2.4 million, a 33.2 percent decrease. Slot win was down 21.8 percent to $545,000 but game and table win fell over 58 percent.

In both reporting areas, the volume of play was far less than a year ago.

The Carson Valley Area, which includes Carson City and valley portions of Douglas County, was trending much better, said Lawton, reporting total win of $9.6 million. That’s only 2.6 percent below a year ago. Table game win was 51 percent below July 2019 at just $273,000 but slot win was actually up a third of a percent to $9.3 million.

Washoe County didn’t fare as well as Carson, but the county as a whole was off just 7.5 percent to $72.3 million. While slot win was down just 1.8 percent, game and table win decreased 30.8 percent.

One bright spot in Washoe was Sparks where total win increased 2.8 percent to $11.9 million in July.

In Churchill County, game and table win fell 76.5 percent to just $10,000. But slot play was up 18.5 percent to a bit more than $2 million. Overall, the county’s 13 licensees notched a 16.5 percent increase over last year, finishing July at $2,021,000.

Statewide, game and table win was down 36.1 percent to $210.4 million. Slot win totaled $546.4 million, a decrease of 21.5 percent or $149.5 million.

Sports pools were down 40.2 percent to $6.3 million. Of that total, wagers made with mobile apps accounted for $5.8 million.