Nevada casino win tops $1B for the 2nd month in a row; sportsbook handle sets record

Nevada casinos reported more than $1 billion in house winnings for the second month in a row in April, up 11% from April 2019, which was the year prior to the pandemic.

The state Gaming Control Board said Thursday that last month’s overall casino win amounted to nearly $1.04 billion. When comparing fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2020, the state gaming win is down barely 6%, but a comparison with a year ago wasn’t relevant because casinos statewide were closed from mid-March to early June 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Before those closures, casinos had taken in more than $1 billion for three consecutive months. They reached the $1 billion mark again in March.

Michael Lawton, senior research analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said winnings ticked up slightly in April at properties in the key Las Vegas Strip resort corridor, while casinos in downtown Las Vegas and the remainder of Clark County tallied all-time record winnings for consecutive months. “The numbers are incredible. They’re off the charts,” he said, as reported by KLAS.

While still down for the calendar year, the Strip was up 12.4 percent in April, reporting $483.4 million in total win. Slots proved to be a big winner in April bringing in the highest total in state history. The slot win was $793.7 million, and increase of 20.5%. It eclipsed the previous record of $779.6 million set in October 2007.

The Reno area recorded its highest casino winnings total since July 2008 and sports bet winnings statewide also set records in April, Lawton said. Nevada sportsbooks won $27.2 million from bettors in April on a handle of $458.1 million.

In April 2019, the sportsbooks won $21.5 million from a handle of $327.5 million, so this April’s figures showed a 26.3% increase in win and a 39.9% increase in handle over those pre-pandemic numbers, VSiN reports. The state came in third in US overall sports betting handle during April, as New Jersey handled $747 million for the month with Pennsylvania taking $479 million in bets to beat out Nevada at $458 million.

The state collected more than $79 million in revenues based on the April numbers, up from about $19,000 in April 2020.

Nevada casinos haven’t already been given permission to operate at 100% capacity, but they will be allowed to do so on June 1.