Nevada casinos finish year strong with $11.57 billion in December win

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Carson Valley casinos finished the calendar year with a strong 10 percent increase in total win — $9.33 million in December — according to recent figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

That gives the area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the capital, a 4 percent gain over the previous year, a total of $104.4 million in winnings.

The big gain came from Game and Table win, which grew 9.3 percent in 2017. But table games account for just $6.2 million of the total. Slot win grew by 3.7 percent, finishing the year at just more than $98 million.

The state as a whole was up just over 2.8 percent for the year to $11.57 billion. Total win by nonrestricted casinos in Nevada has now increased in seven of the past eight years, and, in 2017, every major market in the state except North Lake Tahoe posted an increase.

North Shore casinos were down for the year, but just by nine-tenths of a percent. Total win there was $26.1 million for the year. Those casinos finished the year with a 10 percent decrease for December, but it was a difficult comparison since December 2016 was a 25 percent increase. The culprit was a 23.4 percent, $242,000 decrease in “21” win.

South Shore casinos at Lake Tahoe also finished the year down, but only by 1.2 percent to $18.5 million in December. For the year, South Shore casinos won $221.4 million, a 2.3 percent increase over the previous year.

Washoe County casinos won $829.4 million in 2017, a 2.5 percent increase. That’s the county’s highest total win since calendar year 2008. Gaming win is now up in Washoe for three consecutive years.

Churchill County casinos reported a 5.75 percent increase in December to $1.78 million. For the year, those 10 non-restricted casinos won $20.68 million, a 1.9 percent increase from 2016. All but $745,000 of that total comes from slot play.

Statewide Game and Table win was up 1.1 percent for the year to $4.1 billion. That increase came despite the fact Baccarat was down 5.6 percent or $1.2 billion in 2017. Baccarat win has now been down in four consecutive years.

But Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said the “21” tables saved the day, posting a $1.2 billion, 5.4 percent increase. He said this is the first time “21” win has been greater than the Baccarat tables since calendar 2009.

Statewide sports books posted another record, raking in $248.8 million, a 13.5 percent increase, on total wagers of $4.9 billion. This is the eighth consecutive annual record for sports book play — both win and the total wagered.

Slot play was up 3.8 percent over 2016, winning a total of $7.4 billion for casino owners. That comes to 64.2 percent of total gaming win.

The total wagered statewide on slots and table games was $140.3 billion in 2017. Of that total, $110.2 billion was bet on slots and $30.1 billion on table games.