Nevada reported gaming win rose 2.5% year-over-year in May to $1.32 billion, according to the state’s Gaming Control Board. Las Vegas Strip casinos saw a 3.7% increase in gaming win for the month to $742.5 million. Gaming win was up 1.6% for downtown Las Vegas casinos, but fell 1.1% for Reno casinos. Those numbers were slightly ahead of expectations after analysts had warned consumer tightening could filter down to the gaming sector.
As usual, penny slots did a lot of the heavy lifting in Nevada, with a gaming win tally of $209 million. Baccarat generated $126 million and blackjack knocking out $117 million. Sports betting brought in $36 million for sportsbooks, which was a sizable year-over-year jump.
Notably, the events calendar in May included Sphere (SPHR) shows, Adele at Caesars Palace, Christina Aguilera at The Venetian, Carrie Underwood at Resorts World, and Shania Twain at Planet Hollywood.
May was the 39th month in a row that Nevada state gaming win topped the $1 billion level. Gaming win is up 4.5% on a fiscal year-to-date basis, led by a 6.5% rise for casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Of course, the gaming win numbers do not include all the ancillary revenue generators for casino and hotel operators in the state.
Sector watch: Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) +2.7%, MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) +1.1%, Boyd Gaming (BYD) +1.3%, Wynn Resorts (WYNN) +0.4%, Full House Resorts (FLL) +0.2%, Bally’s Corporation (BALY) -0.3%, and Red Rock Resorts (RRR) +0.5%.