Nevada casino revenue slips in March despite slots and sportsbook gains

Nevada casino gaming revenue fell in March as pretty much every vertical except slots and sports betting slid into negative territory.

Total gaming revenue was $951.2m in March, down 3.15% from the same month last year. The loss was far more pronounced on the Las Vegas Strip, which saw revenue fall 9.6% to $507m. Nevada has now posted revenue declines in seven of the last eight months. Numbers for the fiscal year to date, which began in July 2014, are down 2.1% to $8.3b.

The reluctance of China’s VIP gamblers to engage in any indulgence that might attract Beijing’s eagle eye had an alarming effect on Vegas’ baccarat winnings, which fell by one-third to $68.1m. Also contributing to the decrease was baccarat hold, which fell to 8.3%, well below the state’s 12% average. Those two factors allowed blackjack to claim top table game ranking with $98.5m, although this was down 7% year-on-year.

Virtually all table games were in negative territory for the month, including craps ($38.7m, -8%), roulette ($24.9m, -18.7%), three-card poker ($13.7m, -10.1%), pai gow poker ($9.2m, -4.8%), mini-baccarat ($6.1m, -42.4%) and pai gow ($1.1m, -43.4%). The only monthly gainers were let it ride ($3.8m, +0.3%), keno ($2.5m, +8.9%) and bingo ($1.9m, +51.6%). Poker revenue – which includes an unknown contribution from the state’s two remaining online poker licensees – fell 6.5% to $9.7m.