Nevada gaming revenue dragged down in July by decrease in Clark County

The Las Vegas Strip is shown from above in this 2015 image.

Nevada gaming revenue dropped slightly last month, led by a more significant year over year decrease in Clark County, the state reported today.

The Gaming Control Board said statewide casino revenue was $922.9 million in July, down 0.96 percent from the same month in 2014. Statewide, baccarat revenue declined 23.08 percent to $104.1 million, while slot revenue increased 5.52 percent to $600.3 million.

Baccarat revenue declined 23.08 percent to $104.1 million, while slot revenue increased 5.52 percent to $600.3 million.

Revenue from baccarat, a game played largely by high rollers on the Strip, has fared particularly poorly for the past year: It’s down more than 22 percent over the last 12 months. Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the gaming board, said the state should start seeing better year over year comparisons starting in August.

“I’m not going handicap baccarat, what I think is going to happen, but I can just tell you the comparisons start to get easier,” he said.

But Lawton said “the blow is being lessened by slots.” Excluding baccarat, statewide gaming revenue was up 2.8 percent in July, he noted.

In Clark County, where most of the state total is generated, gaming revenue dropped 1.72 percent from the year before to $786.6 million. That decline was more pronounced on the Strip, which reported $525 million in gaming revenue for the month, down 2.09 percent from 2014.

The rest of the county had more mixed results. Downtown Las Vegas reported a significant increase from last year, with gaming revenue rising 6.54 percent to $40.8 million. Mesquite also saw an increase of 1.28 percent.

But gaming revenue declined in North Las Vegas, Laughlin and the Boulder Strip by 9.41 percent, 1.77 percent and 11.06 percent, respectively.

Washoe County had a better month — gaming revenue there was $69.7 million in July, up 4.86 percent from 2014. In Reno, revenue rose 5.95 percent to $50.6 million.

South Lake Tahoe reported a significant decline from last year. There, gaming revenue was $23.3 million in July, down 7.04 percent.

The state collected $56.9 million in taxes on July’s gaming revenue, up 7.48 percent from the year before.

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