Nevada casino win tops $1 billion; 8th time in 12 months

CARSON CITY,Nev. — Nevada gambling licensees broke the $1 billion total win mark in January, reporting a 5.5 percent increase compared to January 2019.

That is the eighth time total win has surpassed $1 billion in the past 12 months.

But Nevada Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said that number — $1.038 billion — comes with a caveat.

The total was likely fattened up a bit by the fact that Chinese New Year was in January this year, but February in 2019. When that happens, January and February have to be analyzed together since Baccarat in particular may be down next month.

Still, Lawton said it was a good month overall because the gains weren't tied to just Baccarat but spread across the board. Even without Baccarat, statewide win would have been up 4.2 percent for the month.

Game and Table win was up 12.1 percent, or $39.5 million, to $365.7 million, buoyed by a 17 percent, $16.3 million gain in Baccarat. Blackjack win was up 6.9 percent, roulette up 17.6 percent and sports book win grew by 36 percent compared to a year ago.

Games volume was up 22.8 percent to $2.9 billion.

Slots also did well in January, winning $672.5 million, a 2.2 percent gain. Slot win is up 3.2 percent for the fiscal year so far on coin in volume of $9.4 billion, a 6.6 percent growth. The state has not recorded 11 consecutive increases in slot volume.

The Carson Valley Area won $8.7 million. That is down 1.9 percent or $163,000, but Lawton said Carson Valley, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the capital, was up against a difficult comparison since total win was up 9 percent a year ago.

Carson has now suffered three consecutive decreases and is down a bit more than a half percent for the fiscal year. The primary culprit was game and table play which was down a fraction over 20 percent ($88,000) on volumes that were down more than 27 percent.

The Tahoe markets were split, with North Shore down but South Shore up. North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay/Incline Village reported a decrease of 6.9 percent or $118,000 to $1.6 million. That is the area's fourth consecutive decrease, and the area is now down 6.2 percent for the fiscal year.

South Shore casinos at Stateline reported a 17.9 percent, $3.1 million increase to $20.2 million. Slot win increased 9.1 percent, $1.2 million. Game and Table win was up 44.4 percent or $1.9 million. Most of that increase, $1.5 million, came form the blackjack tables.

Washoe County reported $65.5 million in win, a 7.8 percent, $4.7 million increase. Lawton credited better weather and an extra weekend day compared to January 2019. Washoe is now up 1.3 percent for the fiscal year.

Churchill County reported $1,861,000 in total win for the month. That is a 7.48 percent increase over the previous January.

The increase came despite a 46 percent decrease in table games, race and sports book win. But those games make up just a tiny percentage of total win in Churchill — some $22,000.

That decrease was completely overwhelmed by increases in slot win, particularly the multi-denominational and penny machines.

Lawton said there are two new categories of betting to report as of January.

For the first time, he said they broke out mobile sports betting. Turns out bets on phones, tablets and computers made up 49 percent of total sports wagers —$245.8 million of the total $502 million wagered.

The second new category as of January is hockey betting, which is now broken out because of the Vegas Golden Knights. Hockey brought in $1.1 million for the casinos during the month on $24.1 million in total wagers.