Poker also on the upswing
Nevada casinos won more than $11 billion for the 2013 calendar year, up 2.6 percent over 2012, said state regulators last week. It was the first time since 2008 that Nevada gaming halls topped $11 billion in gambling revenues, said Mike Lawton, senior analyst with the Gaming Control Board. Even so, it was not an all-time high. That came in pre-recession 2007, when the gaming halls won almost $13 billion.
High-rolling baccarat players bet a record $11.8 billion, of which the casinos took $1.6 billion. Without baccarat, the statewide win would have flatlined, with a barely discernible increase of 0.6 percent. “They were luckier than usual,” Lawton said. “Growth is being driven by table games, specifically baccarat.”
The win was down 12.5 percent for blackjack, 16.3 percent for craps and 22.9 percent for roulette. For the year, the winnings at Las Vegas Strip casinos totaled $6.5 billion, a 4.8 percent increase from 2012.
Slots are still king, and generated more than 60 percent of all revenue, reports the Online Poker
Blog. And while figures for online poker are still unavailable?regulators will not report the data until three online game providers are up and running?the combination of live and online games in the Silver State brought in almost $124 million during 2013, up from $123.2 million in 2012.
Last year, poker saw its first year-over-year increase since 2006-07, say researchers from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The record of $167.9 million was set in 2007.
