The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported $1.16 billion in casino revenue for August on Thursday, which was down slightly from last year.
Overall revenue was down 3.8% compared to the $1.21 billion generated in 2023, with key declines in baccarat and slot winnings. The figure also includes the $25 million-plus won by sportsbooks in August. The month-over-month decline was sharper, with revenue down 10.9% from the $1.31 billion claimed across the Silver State to start the second half of the year.
Action on the Las Vegas Strip largely mirrored the overall decline, with revenue down 3.5% to $643.7 million. Lighter baccarat revenue accounted for the majority of the drop, as the $366.9 million in slot revenue was down only 0.4% from last year.
It has been a slow start to the Fiscal Year on the Strip, with the $1.35 billion in revenue in the first two months down 9.9% from last year. That is the largest decline among all specific geographical groupings published by the NGCB and notably steeper than the 5.5% statewide falloff.
The state collected $57.7 million in percentage fees during September for taxable revenues generated in August. That was down 23.9% year-over-year, a difference of $18.1 million.
Baccarat Bettors Rise Up in August
Year-over-year baccarat revenue statewide plunged 34.3% to $76.3 million despite an 11.7% increase in drop to $739 million. The 10.3% hold for the card game was more than 7.2 percentage points lower compared to last year.
Percentages on the Strip nearly mirrored the statewide action: Revenue was down 33.8% to $75.7 million as handle climbed 12.4% to $721.8 million. The hold on the Strip was 10.5% this August compared to 17.8% last year.
The backslide in baccarat revenue meant blackjack winnings were the top source of revenue for operators when it came to table, counter and card games. The $105.9 million claimed statewide was up 6.9% from last year, slightly more than $6.8 million. That lagged slightly behind the 8.4% bump in drop to $707.4 million as the 15% hold was two-tenths of a percentage point lower.
While the house fared better this year when it came to roulette with $49 million, up 22.9% from the previous August, bettors clawed some back at the craps tables as revenue there slipped 7.8% to $33.4 million.
Overall revenue from table, counter and card games was $365.5 million, down 3.8% from last year despite a 10.4% increase in wagering to $2.64 billion, an increase of $252 million.
Sometimes Timing Is Everything
Though slot revenue declined 3.8% to $798.3 million, some of that can be attributed to Nevada's collection methods for revenue.
NGCB Senior Economic Analyst Michael Lawton explained that "slot drop and count schedules are property by property decisions. The individual properties can determine when they want to drop, count and record the slot revenue on a cash or accrual basis.
"In individual markets, where certain properties “move the needle” more than others, when the month ends on a weekend day, the “roll-over” of the slot drop can have a significant impact on the totals reported during the month."
Lawton cited the Boulder Strip as an example. It had a 23.3% decline in slot wins despite a 1.8% increase in volume. That is because "a portion of the slot drop has not been physically dropped and counted however, the coin-in or volume has been recorded via meters."
The bulk of licensee winnings for slots came via multidenominational units, which totaled 79,302 in August and accounted for 62.7% of all slot gaming positions in the state compared to 54.4% at this time last year. Revenue was up 15.2% to $555 million despite the hold declining one-third of a percentage point to 6.1%. Drop for those slots reached $9.1 billion, a 22.3% increase of $1.66 billion.
Slots with specific denominations from one cent to $5 all had sizable year-over-year declines due to the combination of fewer positions and timing. Penny slots accounted for the largest amount of revenue among those units at $171.1 million, plummeting 33.5% with nearly 7,000 fewer positions and an 8.2% hold more than 1.5 percentage points lower than August 2023.
Dollar slots were down 26.5% to $38.7 million, while quarter slots were the only other denomination to reach eight figures at $14 million, down 21.8% from 12 months prior.
