Nevada: Lake Tahoe casinos see strong July

South Shore casinos at Lake Tahoe reported a 16.9%, $5.1 million increase to $34.99 million for July despite a very tough comparison. The area was up more than 25% in July 2018. Slot win was up 14.9% and table games rose 20.6%.

The driver behind the game and table increase was “other games” — the category including Baccarat in Nevada’s smaller markets. That category reported a 183.4% increase. The percentage the casinos held rose from 10.6% a year ago to 24.2% this July.

North Shore casinos at Tahoe reported $3.6 million in win, a 3.75% increase. But North Shore casinos are still down 3.5% for the year.

Lake Tahoe casinos saw a strong July, according to gaming numbers released by the state, which saw total gaming win of more than $1 billion.

That is the second consecutive month when total win passed that mark and, according to Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton, unlike June, Baccarat wasn’t the driver.

Total win was $1.02 billion, an increase of 2.91% compared to July 2018.
Baccarat win was down 23.9% to just $77.1 million in part because volume of play fell $108.3 million compared to the same month a year ago.

Lawton said slot win as well as increases in games including craps (up 12.1%), sports pool (up 154.8%) Mini-Baccarat (up 338%) and poker among others.

Without the decrease in Baccarat, he said total gaming win would have been up 5.9% or $52.9 million for the month. “Slot win was the real story,” Lawton said.

Total win of $695.9 million is a 4.4% increase worth $29.5 million and driven by a total of $9.8 billion in play. For the calendar year, slots have recorded only one decrease so far.

Before the last two months, gaming win was down 2.3%. With strong June and July numbers, Lawton said win for the calendar year is now just 0.3 percent down. “It’s a welcome sign,” he said. “As you know, we started off the year with five consecutive decreases.”

South Shore casinos at Lake Tahoe reported a 16.9%, $5.1 million increase to $34.99 million for July despite a very tough comparison. The area was up more than 25% in July 2018. Slot win was up 14.9% and table games rose 20.6%.

The driver behind the game and table increase was “other games” — the category including Baccarat in Nevada’s smaller markets. That category reported a 183.4% increase. The percentage the casinos held rose from 10.6% a year ago to 24.2% this July.

North Shore casinos at Tahoe reported $3.6 million in win, a 3.75% increase. But North Shore casinos are still down 3.5% for the year.

Slot volume was down this year but was more than made up for by game and table win which rose 27.5% or $247,000. The majority of that increase was from “21” play.

Washoe County was essentially flat in July, up a tenth — about $71,000 — to $78.1 million. Washoe is down 2.1% for the calendar year.

The Carson Valley Area, which includes valley portions of Douglas County, was up 3.8% or $363,000 in July. After back-to-back increases, the area is now up 1.4% for the year. Slot win was up 2.4% but table games were up 34.3% on “21” where hold rose from 16.3% last year to 21.1% this year.

Finally, Churchill County reported a 2.96% increase in win to $1,735,000. Slot win provided $1.69 million of that total. Game and Table win including sports pools accounted for $44,000