Nevada sports books win record amount on basketball in March

The state’s sports books won a record $41.275 million on basketball, a hold of 9.61 percent from a record handle of $429.5 million, according to the monthly revenue report released Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The amount wagered was $7.5 million more than the $422 million wagered on basketball in March 2016 and an increase of $54 million from March 2015.

The numbers on college and pro basketball are combined, but based on feedback from the books, Gaming Control Board research analyst Michael Lawton previously estimated that about 70 percent of the basketball handle was from the NCAA Tournament. That would translate to $300.6 million, up from $295.4 million wagered on the 2016 tournament. That is more than twice that of the state’s record Super Bowl handle of $138.5 million set in February.

Nevada sports books won $31.4 million overall in March, a 225 percent increase from March 2016. The state’s casinos won more than $991 million overall in March, more than $655 million on slot machines.

The books lost $8.25 million on football in January. It was the second-worst in-season month on football ever tracked by the state.

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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.