Clark County gaming win, lifted by Resorts World, tops $1B in June

Gamblers in Clark County did it again.

State gaming win exceeded $1 billion for the fourth straight month and Clark County win hit the $1 billion plateau for the third time ever in June, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Thursday.

June gaming win — the amount casinos get from casino players — hit $1.193 billion, a 110.5 percent increase over June 2020, the month when casinos were allowed to reopen after a 78-day pandemic-related shutdown that began in March 2020.

The last time the state had four consecutive months of $1 billion-plus win was January 2008 to April 2008, just before the Great Recession.

Clark County win was up 130.3 percent to $1.015 billion. The total amount won in the county was second only to the previous month, May, when a record $1.052 billion was collected.

Win on the Strip was up 156.3 percent to $610.6 million and downtown Las Vegas soared 241 percent to $79.1 million compared with June 2020. Downtown win set a record, surpassing April’s $76.3 million total.

The Strip benefited from the June 24 opening of Resorts World Las Vegas and Clark County had three casinos — Resorts World, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas and Circa — operating in June that weren’t open a year ago.

Historic high

Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the administration division of the Control Board, said he expects the impact of Resorts World’s opening will be more pronounced in July since the property was only open six full days in June.

“This was the largest gaming win recorded in a calendar quarter in state history,” Lawton said. “The $3.462 billion beat the previous high recorded in the fourth quarter of 2006 of $3.266 billion.”

The only negative in the state statistics was that gaming win on the Strip was still below the amount won in June 2019.

Carlo Santarelli, a gaming analyst for the New York office of Deutsche Bank, said in a report Thursday that Strip gaming revenue of $610.6 million was 1 percent below the amount recorded in June 2019, but it was still better than analysts’ expectations.

Lawton said slot machine win was up 153 percent, or $430.9 million, from June 2020 and up 36.3 percent, or $189.9 million, compared with June 2019 in Clark County.

Game and table win was up 90.1 percent, or $143.6 million, compared with June 2020 and down 21.1 percent, or $81.1 million, compared with June 2019. The reason for the decline in tables compared with June 2019 was baccarat being down $114.9 million, or 73.2 percent, due to lower volumes and poor hold.

Slots on fire

What appears to be missing from the Strip is elevated table game play, including baccarat, because slot machine win hit record levels statewide.

Statewide slot win of $868.1 million increased 120.2 percent, or $473.9 million, vs. June 2020 and up 36.4 percent, or $231.6 million, in June 2019. Lawton said that represents the highest total in state history, eclipsing the record set last month of $840.6 million. The previous record was $779.6 million set in October 2007.

Sports betting hit record highs in June. Sports pools won $29.2 million, beating June 2019 numbers by 76 percent, or $12.6 million. Sportsbooks were helped by a hold of 5.35 percent and compared with a loss of 0.62 percent in June 2020. Win and volume were all-time records for the month of June.

Sports wagers made with mobile apps won $14.7 million on $314.6 million in wagers, holding 4.7 percent. This write amount accounted for 57.7 percent of all sports wagers.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.