Casino gaming revenue on the Las Vegas Strip stood at US$609.9 million in January, up 14.4 percent year-on-year, show data disclosed on Tuesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Win for baccarat – the table game of choice for Chinese and other Asian gamblers – jumped 52.5 percent year-on-year in January at Las Vegas Strip casinos. Such win for baccarat – the amount of money retained by casinos after payment of prizes – was US$154.7 million during the month.
Baccarat volumes were up 44.3 percent year-on-year, with hold at 17.1 percent for the month, up about 92 basis points year-on-year.
Baccarat was the largest contributor to Las Vegas Strip gaming revenue in January, accounting for 25.4 percent of overall gaming revenue that month.
The Las Vegas Strip, in Clark County in the state of Nevada, is the main gaming hub in the United States.
Aggregate table win on the Las Vegas Strip expanded by 22.2 percent year-on-year, to US$334.6 million in January; slot revenue increased by 6.1 percent to US$274.3 million, showed the official data.
“Strip revenue was up 14.4 percent year-on-year versus our +6.4 percent forecast, as a result of Chinese New Year shifting into January,” said analysts Carlo Santarelli and Danny Valoy of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
The Chinese New Year is usually a period when hundreds of thousands of mainland Chinese tourists take advantage of the week-long break to travel. This year, the Chinese New Year began on January 28, with the holiday period extending into the first days of February.
Analyst John DeCree of brokerage Union Gaming Research LLC stated that January’s growth in revenue on the Las Vegas Strip occurred “despite an unfavourable calendar in January that had two fewer weekend days than the prior year period”.
“That said, the Strip did benefit from the shift in Chinese New Year into January this year, while the locals market saw a larger than normal spillover of slot collections in December as New Year’s Eve landed on a Saturday,” said Mr DeCree in a note on Tuesday.
Casinos state wide in Nevada won approximately US$1.04 billion from all gamblers during January, a nearly 12.0 percent increase compared to the same month in 2015.
