Strong Northern Nevada markets drive February gaming win

February gaming win topped $1 billion for the third consecutive month, posting a 3.1 percent increase compared to February 2019.

And the reason was almost entirely because of strong performance in the smaller, Northern Nevada markets.

Gaming Control Board analyst Mike Lawton said those markets enjoyed an extra weekend day and the leap year Feb. 29. So did Southern Nevada casinos, but there, the win was blunted by the fact that Chinese New Year was in January this year, not February as it was a year ago. That difference left Clark County with an increase of just a half percent and the Strip with just three-quarters of a percent.

By comparison, Washoe County was up 27 percent, South Shore Lake Tahoe was up 21.3 percent, Elko was up 16.2 percent and Carson Valley area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the capital, was up 17.1 percent. Finally, North Shore was up 48.1 percent.

Lawton said altogether, those areas accounted for 80 percent of the $30.8 million increase in total win for the month.

Sports books did well, increasing total in by 6.3 percent or $2.2 million to $38.1 million.

Statewide, casinos raked in $1.04 billion. Slot win increased 6.6 percent or $39.9 million to $648.5 million. But Game and Table win was down 2.3 percent to $394.1 million, a decrease of $9.1 million. Lawton said the volume of play was “surprisingly good” but the percentage of wagers the casinos kept, their “hold,” fell a percent and a half to 11.4.

Carson Valley reported total win of $8.8 million, a $1.3 million increase. All of the increase was from slot play, which increased 17.6 percent. That ends three consecutive decreases for the area.

South Shore casinos at Stateline reported $17.7 million total win. A $3.1 million increase and the third consecutive increase for the area.

Washoe County was up $16.4 million to $77.1 million, fully half of the statewide increase for the month. It was an easy comparison since Washoe was down 6.5 percent a year ago.

North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay ended four consecutive monthly decreases with a total win of $2.1 million in February, almost 50 percent more than the same month of 2019. It was another easy comparison since the area was down almost 25 percent a year ago. The driver was blackjack tables that lost $112,000 a year ago but won $184,000 this year.

Elko casinos won a total of $27.48 million, 16.2 percent or $3.8 million more than a year ago.

Finally, Churchill County reported an increase of just half a percent, a total win of $1.59 million, for February. Game and Table win including sports books were up 149 percent, but that category only accounts for $62,000 of Churchill’s total win. Slot play was down 1.8 percent for the month, a difference of just over $420,000.