Nevada gaming win tops $1 billion for second consecutive month

Nevada casinos reported total gaming win of more than $1 billion in July.

That is the second consecutive month when total win passed that mark and, according to Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton, unlike June, Baccarat wasn’t the driver.

Total win was $1.02 billion, an increase of 2.91 percent compared to July 2018

Baccarat win was down 23.9 percent to just $77.1 million in part because volume of play fell $108.3 million compared to the same month a year ago.

Lawton said slot win as well as increases in games including craps (up 12.1 percent), sports pool (up 154.8 percent) Mini-Baccarat (up 338 percent) and poker among others.

Without the decrease in Baccarat, he said total gaming win would have been up 5.9 percent or $52.9 million for the month.

“Slot win was the real story,” Lawton said.

Total win of $695.9 million is a 4.4 percent increase worth $29.5 million and driven by a total of $9.8 billion in play.

For the calendar year, slots have recorded only one decrease so far.

Before the last two months, gaming win was down 2.3 percent. With strong June and July numbers, Lawton said win for the calendar year is now just 0.3 percent down.

“It’s a welcome sign,” he said. “As you know, we started off the year with five consecutive decreases.”

The Carson Valley Area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County, was up 3.8 percent or $363,000 in July. After back-to-back increases, the area is now up 1.4 percent for the year. Slot win was up 2.4 percent but table games were up 34.3 percent on “21” where hold rose from 16.3 percent last year to 21.1 percent this year.

South Shore casinos at Lake Tahoe reported a 16.9 percent, $5.1 million increase to $34.99 million for July despite a very tough comparison. The area was up more than 25 percent in July 2018. Slot win was up 14.9 percent and table games rose 20.6 percent. The driver behind the game and table increase was “other games” — the category including Baccarat in Nevada’s smaller markets. That category reported a 183.4 percent increase. The percentage the casinos held rose from 10.6 percent a year ago to 24.2 percent this July.

North Shore casinos at Tahoe reported $3.6 million in win, a 3.75 percent increase. But North Shore casinos are still down 3.5 percent for the year.

Slot volume was down this year but was more than made up for by game and table win which rose $27.5 percent or $247,000. The majority of that increase was from “21” play.

Washoe County was essentially flat in July, up a tenth — about $71,000 — to $78.1 million. Washoe is down 2.1 percent for the calendar year.

Finally, Churchill County reported a 2.96 percent increase in win to $1,735,000. Slot win provided $1.69 million of that total. Game and Table win including sports pools accounted for $44,000.