Nevada July gambling numbers up 1.7 percent

The Nevada Gaming Control Board issued its July 2017 numbers Wednesday, reporting that casino revenues rose 1.7 percent year-on-year to $998 million despite a weaker performance on the Las Vegas Strip, where revenues dipped almost 8 percent to $565.6 million.

Fortunately the other Nevada gambling assets performed well in a traditionally rather quiet month.

Overall, almost all the table games – particularly the usually high win baccarat – disappointed, with revenues declining 11.7 percent at $365.8 million. The exception was craps, which delivered $40.4 million in revenue – up a creditable 19 percent.

Slots were up 5.1 percent to $632.1 million and poker benefitted from the recent World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, rising 1 percent to $12.4 million.

Sportsbook revenue fell seriously – down 95.3 percent at $524,000 and the lowest in the last three years, with hold a mere 0.24 percent. At $218.2 million, handle was down slightly from last year, when $221.5 million in bets flowed through the Nevada books.

Almost all of the betting action was on major league baseball, where handle was down by $6 million y-o-y at a little over $180 million, but the books held a mere 1 percent, generating just $1.7 million in revenue.

The August figures should be better in sports betting terms following the highly publicised Mayweather-MacGregor fight completed last weekend.