Nevada gambling revenues down 2.7 percent in January

From staff and wire reports

Friday, Feb. 28, 2014 | 7:47 a.m.

CARSON CITY — State officials say Nevada gambling revenue dropped 2.7 percent in January compared with the same time a year ago.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released a report Friday on the $884 million in revenue that rolled in last month.

Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the board, said a big reason for the drop was baccarat. The casinos' win on baccarat fell 16.4 percent as players won more of their bets. Lawton said there was no indication that the decline had anything to do with the advent of full-scale internet gambling in New Jersey and Delaware.

Las Vegas Strip winnings of just under half a billion dollars were down a little more than 1 percent last month.

Downtown Las Vegas winnings of $43 million were down 3 percent. North Las Vegas was off 13.4 percent; Boulder Highway casinos were off 18.1 percent, and Mesquite inched down 0.4 percent.

The win, computed before business expenses and taxes, increased 4.5 percent in Laughlin and 0.5 percent in the balance of Clark County.

Reno casinos brought in $38 million in January, which was up 1 percent year-over year. South Lake Tahoe revenues of $15 million were down 12 percent.

The state collected $69 million in taxes on the January winnings, which marked a 2 percent increase from the same time last year.

Las Vegas Sun reporter Cy Ryan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.