Nevada casinos experienced its fourth straight month of revenue decline in April.
Silver State casinos won $936.5 million from gamblers, according to numbers released from the Nevada Gaming Control Board at the outset of the World Series of Poker. It represents a 1.8 percent drop in revenue year-over-year.
Most of that revenue came from Clark County casinos, which won $808 million, down 2.02 percent from April 2018. Strip casinos were down 3.53 percent, generating $481.9 million, while Downtown casinos were one of the few areas of Nevada that experienced a year-over-year increase.
Downtown casinos won $61.8 million, which marked a 2.13 percent increase. Mesquite experienced the greatest increase in the state, winning $12.2 million, up 4 percent.
The Lake Tahoe area experienced the greatest decrease of any other region in the state. South Lake Tahoe was down 12.5 percent, winning $13.1 million, while North Lake Tahoe casinos witnessed a 16.1 percent drop with a $1.3 million win.
Michael Lawton, a senior research analyst for the Gaming Control Board blamed the decrease squarely on non-baccarat table games. He told the Las Vegas Review Journal that non-baccarat games were down $18.7 million, or 8.2 percent because of both a poor hold percentage and lower volumes.
Baccarat revenue was up 2.5 percent, which was the first time casinos experienced an increase in baccarat revenue since November. Sportsbooks also experienced an increase in revenue and are on pace to set a record for total handle in 2019.
Sportsbooks won $21.66 million in April, which marked a whopping 32.6 percent increase, which comes after a slight year-over-year decrease in March, despite a record handle..
The win came from a $328.1 million handle in April. Casinos are on pace for a $5.5 billion total handle, which would destroy last year’s record-setting total.
Despite the continued decrease in revenue, there are other indicators that give a positive outlook for the future. Citywide hotel occupancy for the month was 91 percent.
