Nevada gaming operators continued their run of good fortune in February as big events like the Super Bowl, and a red-hot baccarrat market, pushed revenue to $1.34 billion for the month. That number marks an 8.5 percent leap over February 2023 and a 4 percent jump over January 2024’s $1.28 billion. (By way of comparison, January 2024 was the strongest January in Nevada gaming history.)
Leading the way to the bank, as is almost always the case, was Nevada’s slot machines. Slots drew in $826.7 million for Nevada operators. That haul was broken up into $536.6 million from multi-denominational machines and $207.6 million from penny slots. It’s worth noting that while multi-denominational revenue was up for the month, penny slot revenue was actually down a bit. This could be a reflection of event-driven demographics that leaned heavily towards men because of the Super Bowl and towards Asian customers because of the Lunar New Year Holiday.
Lunar New Year was very likely the driver behind a very impressive surge in baccarat revenue. Baccarat action, mainly on the Strip, came in at $180.5 million. That marks an incredible 81.9 percent leap from February 2023. The increase in baccarat action is also heading back to pre-pandemic levels – another very good sign for Nevada.
Michael Lawton, the Senior Analyst for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, commented on the February revenue in the Las Vegas Review-Journal saying, “It was a pretty incredible month, and if there were 31 days, we might have set an all-time record for gross gaming revenue. It was the new all-time record for the month of February.”
Given the incredible, and sustained, growth in Nevada gaming revenue – March 2023 will probably prove to be another record-breaker.