‘Average’ win now means $1.3 billion for Nevada casinos

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — Nevada casinos won $1.3 billion from gamblers in July, the new definition of an “average” month.

The state has reported gaming wins over $1 billion for the past 41 consecutive months, and the average over the past 12 months has been $1.306 billion, according to Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst for the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Las Vegas Strip casinos won $709.3 million, down 15% compared to July 2023 when the Strip had the second-highest month ever at $834.9 million . The closing of The Mirage halfway through the month likely played some part in the decline compared to last year.

Locals casinos lumped together in the “Balance of Clark County” set a record, pulling in $171.1 million. That category includes about 60 properties that hold nonrestricted gaming licenses, ranging from neighborhood casinos like Dotty’s, PT’s Place and Jackpot Joanie’s to bigger casinos like Wildfire to large resort casinos like Red Rock Resort, South Point and casinos at the Nevada-California state line. But the biggest addition to that category came in December — Durango Casino & Resort in the southwest valley.

Station Casinos is already talking about options for expanding the wildly successful Durango property, which tapped into the fast-growing southwest Las Vegas valley.

Downtown Las Vegas and the Boulder Strip both reported improved numbers compared to July 2023. Downtown casinos won $71.8 million, up 9.8% over last July, and the Boulder Strip reported $85.6 million, up 7.8%. Mesquite casinos won $13.7 million, up 4.1%.

The other numbers for Clark County were down, and the county as a whole was down 7.3%.

The month of July has been good to casinos in recent years, but this year’s casino win was lower than the last three years. Does that mean the market is changing?

“I don’t see this month’s results showing signs that demand is cooling off,” Lawton said. He explained it’s more about comparisons to very high numbers in previous Julys — and fluctuations in the baccarat room, where high rollers can change a casino’s bottom line in a hurry.

“To put last July into perspective, the games hold percentage was 14.39% this July vs. 17.62% last year with the baccarat hold coming in at 9.69% this July vs 23.52% last year,” Lawton said.

“The State’s games hold last July was the highest since October 1987 and the baccarat hold was highest baccarat hold since June 2003,” he said.

Lawton said if you exclude baccarat, the state’s gaming win was actually up 1.9% — about $22.7 million.

Also, there were two fewer weekend days this July compared to July 2023.

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