Nevada Casino Revenues Jump 10% to $1BN In July

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has released its latest results for July, revealing a 10% jump in revenues to just over $1 billion compared to the same month in 2015. The Silver State subsequently collected $68 million in gambling taxes, an improvement of 20% versus July of last year.
Nevada has more than 300 casinos spread out across the state, and while July’s slot machine revenues stayed mostly flat at $601 million, table games, on the other hand, reported a 29% year-over-year gain to $414 million. Breaking the table game revenues down further, baccarat was up by 44% to $150m; blackjack was up 40% to $114m; craps was up 12% to $34m; roulette was up 6% to $38m; and poker was up 7% to $12m.
Commenting on the overall impressive month in which revenues passed the $1 billion threshold for the first time since May 2015, UNLV Center for Gaming Research Director, Dr. David Schwartz, stated:
“If [baccarat and blackjack] do well, it usually bodes well for the rest of the numbers. What you saw was about half of the state’s increase coming from baccarat play on the Strip, but it was pretty good other than that. Slot play was pretty much flat statewide, so there doesn’t seem to be a huge mass market resurgence.”
Heading Nevada’s casino market in terms of growth was South Lake Tahoe up 20% to $28 million in July; followed by The Strip up 17% to $613m; Reno up 11% to $56m; Washoe County up 9.3% to $76.1 million; and Downtown Las Vegas up 3% to $42m.
On the other side of the coin, the Boulder Strip was down 8.2% to $55.7m; while North Las Vegas was also down by 4.3% to $20.3m.
When revenues for the months of May, June and July are combined, we are able to gain a clearer picture of the recent trend in Nevada’s casino market. Overall, statewide revenues are currently higher by 3.7% for the three-month period compared to 2015, with Clark County higher by 4%, The Strip higher by 3.9%, and Downtown revenues higher by 5.6%.