Sports betting and baccarat revenue totals have hurt the state of Nevada as far as overall casino revenues are concerned as both categories shifted down by double digits for the month of February. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has released the February totals, which show that the casinos of the state saw an overall decline of 4.5% when compared to February of 2015.
Overall casino gaming revenue for Nevada came in at $946.6 million for February which is a 4.5% decline from the same month last year. The Las Vegas Strip saw a larger decline, with $542 million in earnings for the month, which is 5% less than what was earned when compared to last year.
Slots were down statewide at 4.5% to $581.7 million in earnings. The game of blackjack was the top table game for the month, bringing in $106.4 million which is an increase of 12.3%. Roulette saw a huge jump of 59%, bringing in $38.6 million in earnings.
On the downside, baccarat and sports betting underperformed for February. The baccarat tables saw a decline in revenues by 19.3% with $98.4 million earned. The figure was down quite a bit from January, but that month was boosted due to the celebrations taking place during the Chinese New Year. Craps was also down for the month, dropping just over 20% with earnings of $35.6 million.
As far as sports betting is concerned, sportsbooks saw a drop in revenues by almost 26% when compared to year-on-year totals with $20.7 million in earnings. However, despite seeing a decrease, the amount is way better than the $8 million earned in January. Overall, the total betting handle came in at $380.7 million, which is actually a new record for February for Nevada.
Football provided $7.1 million of the revenues in the sports betting category while basketball wagers came in at $11.5 million. Both of these categories saw a decrease, with football dropping 45% for February while basketball was down just over 13%.
The only areas of sports betting which saw an increase were parlay cards and ‘other’ sports. Parlay cards earned $1.1 million, which is an increase of 27.2%. The ‘other’ sports category added up to $1.5 million which is a large increase of 29.9%.