Record Downtown Las Vegas gaming win lifts Nevada

The state’s 437 non-restricted licensees won $1.3 billion from gamblers, a 4.8 percent increase from October 2021.

Clark County’s 215 locations won $1.1 billion, a 4.5 percent increase over last year, while the Strip’s 58 licensees won $705.8 million, a 0.5 percent increase over the previous year.

Downtown Las Vegas casinos had a record win of $90.5 million, beating the previous high of $86.4 million set in March.

Of the 19 submarkets monitored by the Control Board, only one — North Lake Tahoe — showed a decline from October 2021 levels.

Through the first 10 months of the calendar year, every major market in the state is up year-to-date through October.

Gaming win is important to the state because it takes a percentage of it in gaming taxes. Percentage fee collections through Monday totaled $76.4 million this month, a 6.4 percent year-over-year increase. From July through Nov. 28, the state has collected $406.1 million for the general fund, a 0.6 percent decline from last year.

Strip falls flat

Michael Lawton, the Control Board’s senior economic analyst, said flat results on the Strip could be traced to table games, particularly baccarat.

“The Las Vegas Strip was flat due to game and table win decreasing primarily due to lower baccarat win totals as a result of lower volumes and hold,” he said. “Additionally, poker was down significantly due to the World Series of Poker being held last October compared to June and July this year.”

Although the Strip continued to register record levels of gaming win in October with a total win of $705.8 million, it was only an increase of 0.5 percent, or $3.7 million over October 2021. However, October 2022 was up 31.1 percent, or $167.3 million, over pre-pandemic October 2019.

“The Strip continued to benefit from another incredibly strong sports and entertainment calendar, which included concerts, residencies and three high-profile sporting events,” Lawton said.

During the month, Eddie Vedder performed at the Park MGM on Oct. 7, and Usher returned to the Park MGM from Oct. 12-29. Van Morrison played at the Colosseum inside Caesars Palace Oct. 7-9. The NASCAR Cup Series returned on Oct. 6 with the South Point 400. Panic at the Disco played at the T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 21, and the Las Vegas Raiders played two home games at Allegiant Stadium Oct. 2 and Oct. 23.

Carlo Santarelli, gaming industry analyst at Deutsche Bank, said higher slot machine revenue offset the baccarat slump on the Strip.

Santarelli said Strip slot revenue was $410.4 million, up 11.5 percent year over year. Slot hold, the amount won by the casinos, was right at the industry average of 8.2 percent.

“Baccarat volumes were down 18 percent year over year, while revenue was down 31.1 percent year over year, as baccarat hold of 12.8 percent was down about 241 basis points year-over-year for the month. The 12.8 percent baccarat hold compares to the average hold of 14.3 percent,” Santarelli said.

“Overall, October Strip table revenue of $285.3 million (excluding poker) was down 6.6 percent year over year, as drop was down 9.9 percent and table hold of 13.8 percent was up about 49 basis points.”

The 13.8 percent hold was right on the industry average.

Nevada sportsbooks won $56.9 million, up 17.7 percent compared with October 2021 due to a hold percentage of 6.2 percent versus 4.4 percent last year, Lawton said. Sportsbook wagers totaled $920.8 million, down 16.3 percent, or $179.2 million, compared with October 2021. Mobile wagers totaled $613.5 million, down 12.9 percent, or $90.7 million, and accounted for 66.6 percent of total wagers.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.