Nevada gambling revenues up 7.4 percent in September

Nevada land casinos won $958.8 million from gamblers in September 2013, representing a 7.4 percent increase over the same month last year due largely to big betting on baccarat and luck that favoured the house, the Nevada Gaming Control Board revealed Thursday.

It was the second-highest monthly total for the calendar year behind February, said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the regulator.

A major boxing tournament helped bring more high rollers to Las Vegas, which helped to build momentum, Lawton told the Associated Press news agency.

Winnings on the Las Vegas Strip of $563.1 million were up 13.4 percent from the same month last year, while downtown Las Vegas revenues of $45.3 million were up 2 percent.

Reno casinos saw their winnings drop 2.3 percent to $48.3 million, while winnings in Washoe County as a whole fell 3.8 percent. South Lake Tahoe saw revenue jump 23.2 percent to $22.1 million in September.

The state collected $62.9 million in taxes based on September gambling winnings.

$2.7 billion was bet on card and dice games while $8.6 billion was wagered on video and slot machines.

Statewide win for game and table games was $377.9 million, up 13.5 percent of $44.9 million. Of that, baccarat, a high-roller game favored by Asian players, accounted for $116.6 million. Baccarat bettors wagered $765.5 million, an increase of $62.8 million or 8.9 percent over September 2012.

Besides the high volume of baccarat play, casinos also were extremely lucky, keeping 15.7 percent of all wagers compared with 11.1 percent last year, Lawton said.

For the fiscal year that began July 1, statewide casino winnings are up 3 percent.