Gambling revenue in Nevada was down 2.6% month-on-month, but stayed above the $1bn mark, in April.
Comparisons to April 2020 were not available for the vast majority of verticals, as all gaming establishments in the state were closed because of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
April 2021’s $1.04bn total marked a second consecutive month in which state revenue passed $1bn, after March this year marked the first time Nevada hit that milestone since February 2020.
Slots continued to be the main source of revenue, bringing in $793.7m, up 2.8% from March, as players staked $11.05bn. Multi-denomination slots brought in $355.2m, while penny slot revenue came to $340.8m.
Table games, meanwhile, produced revenue of $245.8m, down 16.7% month-over-month, as amounts wagered declined 6.5% to $2.02bn.
Blackjack was by far the top table game in terms of revenue, bringing in $70.2m, more than twice as much as the next product, but down slightly from March.
That second-placed game was roulette with $32.4m, which overtook Baccarat – which brought in $29.4m – its strongest month since September 2020. Craps brought in $28.1m.
Blackjack was also in first place in amounts staked, with $572.7m. Here, however, Baccarat stayed in second with $376.0m while players bet $186.1m on craps and $184.0m on roulette.
Sports betting, meanwhile, brought in $27.2m – down 30.8% on handle of $457.8m, a 28.6% decline. Of this revenue figure, $17.9m was generated online, from bets of $297.1m.
The majority of sports betting revenue came from baseball, which brought in $14.1m with customers staking $163.7m.
The most popular sport for staking was basketball, however, with $181.m wagered, as the NCAA Basketball Tournament and NBA regular season both came to their conclusions.
Football, which had no major on-field events but did see the NFL Draft take place, posted a loss of $2.5m for the month. As only $3.5m was staked in April, this was likely mostly due to large amounts of bets that had been placed in previous months only being paid out in April.
Hockey brought in $2.1m and other sports $4.9m, while parlay card revenue was just $8,000.
Revenue in Clark County – which includes Las Vegas – came to $865.5m, with $226.2m from table games and $639.2m from slots.
Revenue from the Las Vegas Strip specifically was $483.4m, still significantly below pre-pandemic levels, with operators having brought in $596.2m in February 2020, the last month before Covid-19-induced restrictions.
While a number of operators have already returned to full capacity, the Nevada Gaming Control Board yesterday (26 May) announced an end to all remaining social distancing and capacity limits in the state’s casinos, from June 1.