Nevada gaming revenue up 3.5 percent in May

By Thomas Moore

Thursday, June 29, 2017 | 9:56 a.m.

Nevada recorded another positive month for gaming, according to the state Gaming Control Board, which today released May’s revenue numbers for large casinos.

The board, which tracks revenue for nonrestricted casinos — locations with 15 or more slot machines — said the state had a gaming win of $991,604,782 last month, compared to $957,937,998 in May 2016.

“We were up 3.5 percent, or $33.7 million,” said Michael Lawton, a senior research analyst with the board’s Tax and License Division. “I think, overall, it was a very positive month for Nevada gaming revenue. We’ve recorded three consecutive increases of 3.8 percent for the calendar year to date. I’m pleased with results and optimistic for the future.”

Lawton said the revenue was broad based.

“Slots and tables games grew equally,” he said. “Both saw increase in volume.”

There was also positive news for baccarat. “We’ve seen increases in volume three times this year; last year we only saw an increase in volume once. So we are starting to see some consistency there, some smoother water.”

You can read the board’s summary of May’s revenue numbers here and a full report, broken down by games and locations, here.

The board also tracks revenue numbers for specific areas in Nevada.

In Southern Nevada, the board separately tracks the Strip, downtown, North Las Vegas, Laughlin, the Boulder Strip and Mesquite. All areas saw revenue increases in May except North Las Vegas, where the gaming win was down 1.39 percent.

Revenue on the Strip was up 2.97 percent, and downtown Las Vegas was up 9.54 percent. In Laughlin, revenue was up 9.26 percent, and the Boulder Strip and Mesquite were up 3.14 percent and 10.77 percent, respectively.

For its part, the state collected $52,314,6312 in fees, a 2.62 percent increase over last May.