Baccarat Boom Boosts Strip Casinos in August Despite Fewer Visitors

Nevada casinos posted strong numbers in August, with the Las Vegas Strip shining for its second month in a row of growth. The state raked in $1.22 billion from gambling, up 5.5% from the same time last year, as shown in data the Nevada Gaming Control Board released on Friday.

Baccarat Gives Double-Digit Boost to Strip Earnings Despite Fewer Wagers

The Las Vegas Strip brought in $679.4 million of that total, showing a 5.5% increase from the previous year because of baccarat tables. Even though overall baccarat betting went down by double digits, casinos kept almost one out of every five dollars bet, which was about twice last year’s rate. This led to $114.1 million in earnings from the game, over 50% more than a year before. Experts pointed out that without baccarat, both table games and slot machines would have shown little to no growth.

JP Morgan’s Daniel Politzer told investors that baccarat’s performance had once again boosted the main results, but other signs gave a mixed picture. Deutsche Bank experts added that while slot machine play stayed steady, table earnings outside of baccarat dropped a bit.

Across the state, two areas reported drops – the outskirts of Clark County and North Lake Tahoe. Downtown Las Vegas saw an 8.4% jump to $63.2 million. Laughlin grew by almost 11%, while Reno showed a 4.9% boost. Elko County also had one of its best months this year, with growth exceeding 15%.

Casino Taxes Jump 34% Even Though Tourism Falls

The positive revenue reports stood in contrast to the ongoing slump in tourism. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, August saw a 6.7% drop in visitors, with 3.17 million people coming to the city. Though this decline was not as steep as those in June and July, the number of visitors so far this year is still almost 8% lower than in 2024. Hotels also faced challenges. On the Las Vegas Strip, room rates averaged $172.81, down 7%, while downtown rooms went for just over $90 a night. The number of people attending conventions fell by 8%.

Air travel patterns did not bring much hope. Harry Reid International Airport saw 4.5 million travelers in August, a 6% drop from the previous year, marking the seventh month in a row with fewer passengers. Spirit Airlines going bankrupt hit hard, as it used to be the airport’s second-biggest airline.

They cut their passenger numbers by almost half. Canadian airlines also flew less, which caused international arrivals to fall. Despite this, the casinos’ big wins showed up in gaming tax money. The state collected $77.1 million in percentage fees, a jump of 34% compared to last year. In the first three months of the fiscal year, collections are up by more than 16%.