A later Lunar New Year helped Nevada gaming win break the $1 billion mark in February for the second straight month.
Revenue hit $1.02 billion, according to figures released by the state Gaming Control Board. It was a 7.7 percent increase over February 2017 when the New Year, a popular gambling holiday for the lucrative Chinese market, fell in January.
The last time the state posted back-to-back $1 billion months was before the recession, in March and April 2008.
The Las Vegas Strip showed an 11.4 percent increase in February to $603.5 million, driven by an 82 percent surge in baccarat win to $79.7 million.
“As expected, due to the shift in the calendar for Chinese New Year, this February was much stronger,” said Control Board spokesman Michael Lawton.
Downtown Las Vegas revenue was up 2.8 percent increase to $53.2 million, while all of Clark County, which encompasses the Southern Nevada markets, was up 7.6 percent to $888.8 million, although individually North Las Vegas, the Boulder Strip and Mesquite posted slight declines of 0.4 percent, 1 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
