Las Vegas residents have long avoided the Strip’s notoriously stingy one-armed bandits, and for good reason, as Nevada’s recently released 2017 gaming revenues confirm once again.
Figures compiled by the Nevada Gaming Control Board from the state’s 336 non-restricted licensees show Strip slots averaged the highest win percentage for the house last year at 8.04 percent, meaning the machines returned 91.96 percent of all wagers.
Compared with the lowest win percentage, the 5.53 percent averaged on the city’s Boulder Strip, the difference is significant.
Downtown Las Vegas posted the biggest percentage change in favor of the house, up from 7.06 percent to 7.34 percent.
Statewide, the best win deal for the house was on found on Megabucks machines, which held 12.07 percent. The best deal for players: the $25 slots, which had a win percentage of 4.97 percent.
Penny slots were the biggest money-maker statewide, totaling $3.17 billion in win from 54,754 machines. Multi-denomination machines generated $3.13 billion from 70,568 machines.
On the table games side, blackjack held 14.8 percent of wagers at 2,582 tables, leading the sector with $1.21 billion in win, a 5.4 percent increase over 2016. Baccarat revenue, which had been steadily climbing since the recession, totaled $1.15 billion, down 5.6 percent, from 382 tables at a win percentage of 12.7 percent.
For the year, total gaming revenue statewide was $11.57, up 2.8 percent over 2016.
The all-time high was $12.85 billion, posted in 2007, the year before the recession hit.
