For the second straight month, Nevada gaming revenues took a positive turn and topped the $1 billion mark.
This time, it was done without high-end baccarat play leading the charge.
The Gaming Control Board on Wednesday said state gaming revenues topped $1.023 billion in July, an increase of 2.9% from a year ago. This second straight monthly increase followed five straight months of gaming revenue declines.
The state’s major gaming markets also reported a positive July; Las Vegas Strip revenues topped $541.8 million, an increase of 1.6%, and Reno revenues were more than $57.3 million, an increase of 1.5%.
Through July, gaming revenues statewide are up 0.3%, while the Strip is down 1%. Northern Nevada’s Washoe County as a whole, which includes Reno, is down 2.1% for year.
In Southern Nevada, the Las Vegas locals markets combined are up 2% through July, while gaming revenues in the downtown Las Vegas market are up 5%. In July, downtown Las Vegas revenues increased more than 7.5%.
Baccarat play, which typically drives the monthly revenue figures on the Strip, had revenues of $77.1 million, a decline of almost 23.6%. Wagering on baccarat declined 15%.
However, results from slot machine wagering and non-baccarat table games more than made up for the loss from high-end gambling. Slot machine revenue increased 4.4% statewide and 6.4% on the Strip.
“While gross gaming revenue appeared strong in July on the (mass market) side, we want to note that last summer provided an easy comparison,” Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Chad Beynon told investors. “(High-end play) continued its choppy year.”
Gaming Control Board Senior Research Analyst Michael Lawton said the amount wagered on slot machines has decreased only once in the past 12 months and are currently up 1.9% through July.
“Meanwhile, slot win has recorded increases in six of the first seven months this calendar year and are currently up 2.7%,” Lawton said.
Non-baccarat table game revenues grew almost 11% to $172.9 million, an increase of $23.3 million.
Beynon suggested in a research note that mass market play “will continue to show strength” during the third quarter and that high-end play “will remain a wildcard.”
Statewide, revenue from sports betting was $10.5 million. New Jersey sportsbooks collected sports betting revenues of $17.9 million in the same month. The figured marked the second time New Jersey topped Nevada’s monthly numbers since sports betting was legalized nationwide 15 months ago.
All the major markets in Nevada had a positive July. Casinos in South Lake Tahoe reported the largest revenue increase, more than 16.8%.
The Control Board said gaming tax collections for the first two months of the fiscal year – July revenues are recorded through Aug. 27 – are up more than 26%.
Lawton said a 32% increase based on just the July numbers included payment from credit play and zero tax credits taken by casinos, compared to $10.2 million taken a year ago. Gaming taxes are second to sales taxes as a percentage of Nevada’s $14 billion annual budget, according to the Associated Press.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
