Las Vegas Strip drives Nevada to second-highest casino winnings in history as baccarat favors the house

Las Vegas Strip casinos had their third-best month in history with $840 million in January, propelling the state to $1.46 billion in winnings for the month, according to figures released Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB).

Strip casinos are turning their luck around at the baccarat tables, where nearly all of the state’s $215 million in baccarat winnings came from. Blackjack tables brought in $86 million for the month, a distant second for table games.

Baccarat attracts high rollers and is played at 31 locations. There are only 441 baccarat tables in the state, according to Michael Lawton, NGCB senior analyst. It’s an extremely volatile game, he said.

“With that limited footprint the game is not played by masses at every casino in the state. Instead it is played by a limited number of customers who are allowed to wager six-figure amounts per hand,” Lawton said.

“This creates the volatility in year-over-year comparisons due to the fact that it is impossible to determine which players will arrive in a given month and how lucky or unlucky the game will play,” he said.

The baccarat win on the Strip was a dramatic improvement for casinos, 121% better than January 2024, Statewide, baccarat was 119.5% better.

“January’s baccarat win amount is the fourth highest total all-time,” Lawton said. “Baccarat’s hold percentage was 26.47% vs. 16.13% last year.”

If you take baccarat out of the picture, the statewide gaming win increased 3.7% ($43.3 million) compared to January 2024. With baccarat included, it was a 12.5% improvement ($160.4 million).

Statewide, slot machines took in $915 million, a 3.4% improvement over last January.

Here’s a look at some of the totals that contributed to January’s gaming win:

• Statewide: $1,439,329,029*
• Las Vegas Strip: $840,083,401**
• Clark County total: $1,265,336,543
• Balance of Clark County (includes off-Strip and neighborhood casinos): $170,638,117*
• Boulder Strip: $87,379,781
• Downtown: $83,754,047
• Reno: $67,067,908
• Laughlin: $42,240,329
  *-second-highest of all time.
  **-third-highest of all time

Nevada has collected $108.7 million in percentage fees so far during the month of February, an 8.9% increase compared to February 2024.