Nevada gambling revenue falls 14 percent in February

From staff and wire reports

Friday, March 28, 2014 | 7:45 a.m.

State officials say Nevada gambling revenues tumbled 14 percent in February and took an even bigger dive on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Friday that the state's casinos won $926 million in February, down from more than $1 billion in February 2013.

But officials noted that the numbers were being compared to a strong month a year ago. “The bottom line, it was a difficult comp,” said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst of the board.

Las Vegas Strip gambling revenues fell more than 20 percent last month to $556 million. The story was happier in downtown Las Vegas, where casino revenue rose 3 percent to $43 million in February.

Reno casino revenue grew less than 1 percent to $44 million, while South Lake Tahoe casino winnings dropped almost 10 percent to $15 million.

Nevada collected almost $59 million in taxes on the February gambling revenue, which is down about 5 percent from the same time a year ago.

Winnings from table games statewide dropped 27.6 percent, while the slot machine win inched down 0.5 percent.

Las Vegas Sun reporter Cy Ryan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.