Casino win up big in Reno, Washoe County in January

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Across Nevada, January gaming win was hurt by the fact the Chinese New Year didn’t begin until February this year, officials said.

Because of that, high rollers from Asian markets didn’t show up until February, resulting in a 28.3 percent decrease — $44.8 million — in Baccarat win compared to January 2017, according to the figures released last week by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

However, win was up double digits in Carson City, South Lake Tahoe and Washoe County.

Across the state, sports pool win was up 215.8 percent, or $17.1 million, to a total of 25.1 million; Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said wagering on the NFL Playoffs was the reason.

He said the sports books did well on football this year “because the underdogs were very successful against the spread in January.”

But, he said, a weak month for blackjack took a lot of that money back.

Still, Washoe County casinos reported an 11.14 percent increase in win in January to $60.7 million. That’s Washoe’s ninth consecutive monthly increase. The area is up 6.3 percent for the fiscal year.

Casinos in the city of Reno also fared well in January, posting a total win of $39.25 million — that’s a 13.8 percent increase from a year ago.

In the Carson Valley Area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County, total win was up 7.2 percent to $8.1 million. The area has been up over the same month of 2017 for eight consecutive months and is up 7 percent for the fiscal year.

Slot win was up 5.3 percent, or $383,000, but Game and Table win increased some 240 percent to $346,000 because of winnings on football playoff bets. That was reduced significantly, however, by the nearly 60 percent decrease in blackjack win to just $140,000. But slot win helped total win, increasing 5.3 percent or $383,000 in January.

At North Lake Tahoe, the story was similar. Total win was $1.7 million for the month, down 1.5 percent, or $25,000. Slot win was down 7.5 percent, or $100,000, while Game and Table win increased 19.5 percent, with sports pool win increasing 187 percent to $162,000. As in Carson, that increase was significantly offset by a 79 percent decrease in blackjack win to $62,000.

At Lake Tahoe’s south shore casinos in Stateline, total win was $19.6 million, a 14.8 percent increase over January 2017. That area is up just under 1 percent for the fiscal year.

Stateline casinos did well considering they were facing a difficult comparison — win a year ago was up 10.8 percent. Again, the sports pool was up $463,000, but that was more than erased by blackjack, which was down more than $2 million. Slot win made up the vast majority of the increase, rising 47 percent to $13.8 million.

Churchill County reported total win of $1.72 million in January, a 10 percent increase. There, all categories had a good month. Sports pool win was up 75 percent to $15,000 and other table games up 20.6 percent to $41,000. In addition, slot win was up 9.5 percent to $1.67 million.