September Was Another Win for Nevada’s Casinos as Revenue Tops $1.2B

Article by : Erik Gibbs Nov 1, 2023

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September’s gaming revenue in Nevada would have been quite different without the high-stakes baccarat games on the Strip and the earnings from slot machines in Laughlin’s casinos.

Instead, the state achieved another month of billion-dollar gaming revenue in September, as reported by the Gaming Control Board on Tuesday.

Casinos raked in over $1.27 billion, showing a 1.7% increase compared to the previous year and more than a 20% boost from the same month in 2019 before the pandemic. Nevada is currently outpacing the 2022 annual revenue total by 3.4%, which was $14.8 billion.

However, aside from the Strip and Laughlin, all major gaming markets in Clark and Washoe counties experienced significant year-over-year declines in gaming revenue for September.

Analysts noted that September 2022 was one of the strongest months of the year for gaming revenue, especially in Northern Nevada.

Sparks casinos achieved a new record for monthly gaming revenue, and South Lake Tahoe casinos rebounded after a year of closure due to the devastating Calder Fire in California, which had closed them over the Labor Day weekend in 2021.

In Clark County, downtown Las Vegas casinos experienced a nearly 7.9% drop in revenue, and the Boulder Strip, which includes Henderson, saw a 9.4 % decline. Reno’s casino market also decreased by 7%.

Sparks, which had benefited over the past year from the opening of Legends Bay Casino, saw its first decline in gaming revenue in 13 months, with a decrease of more than 6.7%.

The Strip’s gaming revenue in September reached a total of $741.2 million, marking a 6.9% increase from 2022. This increase was significantly boosted by $147.4 million in baccarat play, reflecting an 87.8% surge from the previous year.

The baccarat revenue accounted for 20% of the Strip’s total revenue, offsetting a 6.4% decline in revenue from slot machines. Table game revenue on the Strip, which included baccarat, rose by 26.3%.

Although betting on baccarat decreased by 3.2% to $62.5 million from the previous year, the age of wagers that casinos won from gamblers was 22.2%, nearly double the hold percentage from September 2022.

Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli pointed out that the Strip’s September results exceeded all his previous estimates but were primarily driven by baccarat.

Santarelli observed in a research note to investors that the 6.9% growth surpassed their initial forecast and probably surpassed the majority of expectations, emphasizing the significance of taking into account the influence of the baccarat hold on the year-over-year comparison.

Santarelli also suggested that, by normalizing the low hold percentage from the previous year and considering this year’s unusually high hold percentage, gaming revenue on the Strip would have been down by more than 3%.

In Laughlin, the gaming revenue for September from the community’s eight casinos along the Colorado River was $41.6 million, reflecting a 6.4 % increase from the previous year.

Slot machine revenue was almost $38 million, up 6.6% from the previous year, and total wagering increased by 5.3 % to reach $452.8 million.