Washoe Co., Tahoe, Carson Valley see August casino win increase

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada casinos reported the lowest total win this calendar year in August.

The $912.9 million amounts to a 7.74 percent, $76.5 million decrease compared to August 2017.

Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said the explanation is simple: August a year ago was up 14.9 percent because of the Mayweather-McGregor fight in Las Vegas.

With no major event this time around, Game and Table win was down 19.2 percent or $70 million. Baccarat win was down 8.7 percent, but the other major games suffered even more: “21” down 25.8 percent, Craps 14.2 percent and Roulette down 18.5 percent.

The biggest hit was in sports betting, which fell 62.9 percent compared to a year earlier when thousands of people placed bets on the Mayweather-McGregor fight.

As a result, the Las Vegas Strip was down 12.4 percent in August to $477.9 million and Clark County down 10.2 percent to $756 million.

The rest of the state, however, helped offset that loss.

The Carson Valley Area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County as well as the capital, was up 2.8 percent or $260,000 despite having a tough comparison because August 2017 was up 9 percent. Total win there was $9.65 million.

That marks the 15th consecutive monthly increase and the driver was slot win, which increased 4 percent or $325,000.

Washoe County also had a strong month. Casinos there reported $82.9 million in win, a 7.4 percent or $1.2 million increase. That came despite an extremely difficult comparison since win was up 10.1 percent last August. Washoe is up 6.2 percent for the calendar year with 16 consecutive monthly increases.

Lake Tahoe reporting areas also had a good month. North Shore casinos at Crystal Bay raked in $3.2 million, a 3.2 percent, $100,000 increase over the 10.4 percent increase reported a year ago. North Shore casinos have six consecutive increases and are up 4.8 percent for the calendar year.

South Shore casinos at Stateline won $26.8 million, a 4.74 percent, $1.2 million increase from the previous August, which was up 7 percent from the year before that. The driver was table games which were up 17.8 percent, $1 million. South Shore is now up 8.4 percent for the year with five consecutive increases.

Churchill County’s 10 non-restricted licensees had a banner month, reporting total win of $1.84 million. That’s an 11 percent increase over the previous August. Slot win was the key, accounting for $1.79 million of that total — a 13.2 percent increase.

Table games suffered a 40 percent decrease to just $40,000, primarily because of the sports pool.