After an early summer of taking blows from sportsbooks nationwide, bettors finally returned fire where it hurts the house the most — Las Vegas — to claw back some winnings based on a nationwide look across the U.S. sports betting landscape for August.

First, the big numbers: Handle climbed 9.6% from July’s $2.8 billion to nearly $3.07 billion, the 10th-highest total of the post-PASPA era which began in May 2018. It was a 40% increase compared to August 2020, as handle reached $3 billion for the 10th time in the last 11 months. The $45.6 billion wagered since Aug. 1, 2020, when the sports schedule began operating as close to “normal” as the post-pandemic world has allowed, has accounted for 65.8% of the nearly $69.3 billion handle post-PASPA.