Guests play poker at Aria Hotel Casino on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review Journal) @rookie__rae
Nevada’s number of game wins in January was flat compared to a year ago, but that’s OK considering January 2023 was the best first month of the year ever.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported Thursday that the state’s 438 major casinos took in $1.27 billion in the month, an increase of 0.5% from January 2023.
Strip prize money decreased by 3.8% from last January’s record. This is the first time the Strip’s winnings have declined since June, halting a six-month streak. Michael Laughton, senior economic analyst at the Gambling Control Board, said after setting an all-time winning record in December, some tourists may not want to travel because of the first Super Bowl in Las Vegas and the Lunar New Year. I speculated that it might have been postponed from January to February. It fell in February, not January.
One of the brightest stories this month was Clark County’s winning balance increased 10.9% to $169.3 million on the strength of Durango’s December opener.
Numbers for Reno and Washoe counties rose 55 percent and 35.4 percent, respectively, due to the timing of slot machine winnings and a combination of areas experiencing a weaker-than-normal January of 2023 due to bad weather.
This is a developing story. Please check the latest information.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.to follow @RickVelotta At X.
