Nevada casinos snapped their two-month streak of gaming revenue declines in September thanks in part to a record performance by their sportsbooks.

Figures released Tuesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board show statewide casino gaming revenue of $991.2m in September, a modest 1.2% rise over the same month last year but a significant improvement over the $913m the casinos earned in August 2018. The picture was dimmer on the Las Vegas Strip, where casinos posted a 3.7% year-on-year fall to $546m.

Nevada’s slots were in fine form in September, rising 7% to $637.2m, while revenue from ‘table, counter and card games’ was off 7.7% to $354m. Virtually all the major table games except roulette ($40m, +22.4%) were broadly negative, led by baccarat ($70.4m, -27%), blackjack ($92.1m, -17.5%) and craps ($32.7m, -10.4%). With the exception of baccarat, table betting volume was up 4.7% at Strip casinos, meaning the state simply played unlucky for the month.

On the bright side, Nevada’s sportsbooks were celebrating the return of National Football League action, which helped boost the books’ total take to a record $56.3m, up 26.7% from the same month last year and exceeding the previous record of $53.4m set in September 2012.