Nevada gambling revenue exceeds $1 billion for January
Gambling administrators in Nevada feared that total revenue for January was going to be bad. Yet gambling revenue climbed above the expected $1 billion mark for January.
Administrators said it could have been higher if not for decreased weekends within the month as well as the timing of the Chinese New Year. In spite of crossing the $1 billion threshhold for one month, regulators agree the revenue declined by as much as 2.1% in year-over-year measures.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board revealed that the state made $1.02 billion from casinos in the state. However, this gaming revenue still amounted to a $21.2 million decrease in year-over-year ratings.
The casinos in the Las Vegas Strip suffered the highest decline with a revenue of $554.8 million, a decline of 8.9 per cent. Even though the state generated a considerable $1.02 billion for January, Mike Lawton of the Nevada gaming board said the revenue for January 2017 was higher by 12 per cent.
According to Lawton, several factors contributed to the 2.1% decline for January 2018, these include:
- The shift in the Chinese New Year calendar
- One weekend lesser than that of January 2017
- Significant decline in baccarat play
According to the senior analyst, the Chinese New Year was expected to hold in January but its eventual shift to February hurt the month’s gaming revenue. This shift in holiday significantly hurt baccarat play, since the crowd of Asian gamblers that could have exercised their luck with baccarat play failed to eventuate.
Baccarat is a card game played in casinos in which two or more punters gamble against the banker; the player who holds two or three cards with a total close to nine wins the game. The game could make or break casinos financially. Game and table winnings which included baccarat generated $359.5 million this January, a loss of 10.5% in comparison with January 2017. Baccarat winnings alone earned $113.2 million, which is lesser by as much as 28.3% when compared to the same period last year.
“If you remove baccarat from the equation, total win in the state would have increased by 2.7 percent or $23.6 million,” Lawton said.
Nevada Still generated $68.7 million in percentage fees after taxes
Baccarat winnings, especially on the Las Vegas Strip, suffered a terrible fate this time around. This game is a dominant force on the Strip. However, the total baccarat volume dropped by as much as $220.3 or 23.5% to generate a total of $715.7 million for the state in the month of January.
While baccarat suffered on the Strip, other markets in other parts of the state made good with football betting. Sports books realized an increase of 215.8% to generate $25.1 million in January.
“That was primarily due to the fact that during the playoffs, the underdogs covered against the spread in almost every game,” Lawton said. “So, that really helps the sports book, and in turn, the public got beat there on those playoff games.”
All in all, Nevada generated about $68.7 million in percentage fees after gambling revenues were taxed for January. This is however a decline of 8.8% when analyzed side by side with earnings from January 2017.