Nevada sports books won $38M off March basketball betting
Nevada sports books saw a record basketball betting handle in March for the seventh consecutive year.
A record $436.5 million was wagered on basketball — college and pro — in the month, with the NCAA Tournament accounting for an estimated $305.5 million.
That amount almost doubled the state’s record Super Bowl handle of $158.6 million set in February.
The books won $38 million on basketball, down 7.88 percent from the 2017 record win of $41.2 million.
The books won $34.1 million overall from a total handle of $521.6 million that was the most ever for the month of March.
The basketball numbers aren’t separated into college and NBA, but based on feedback from the books, 70 percent of the March handle is generated from the NCAA Tournament, according to Gaming Control Board senior research analyst Michael Lawton.
The Nevada basketball betting handle for March exploded from $368 million in 2015 to $422 million in 2016. It climbed to $429.5 million in 2017.
The state’s sports books haven’t had a losing month since July 2013.
The state’s casinos won more than $1 billion overall, with $283.4 million from penny slots, $267.4 million from multi-denomination slots and $117.2 million from baccarat.
More betting: Follow all of our sports betting coverage online at reviewjournal.com/betting and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
