Carson City gaming win up 4th straight month

The Carson Valley Area recorded its fourth consecutive monthly gaming win increase in September.

Casinos in Carson, which includes valley portions of Douglas County in addition to the Capital, reported $9.22 million in winnings, a 4.48 percent or $396,000 increase.

Carson is up 3 percent for the nine months of this calendar year.

Slot win, the majority of Carson’s gaming, was up just 2.4 percent but Gaming Control Board analyst Mike Lawton said game and table win rose 36.2 percent. He said the driver behind that increase was in the sports books. Football winnings just about doubled compared to September 2016, accounting for $207,000 of the total $293,000 in sports book win.

Statewide, non-restricted casinos won $979.9 million in September. That’s a 3.25 percent, $30.9 million increase over last September. Statewide, only one market is now down this year.

That market, however, is North Shore at Lake Tahoe which is still off a percent compared to the first nine months of 2016.

Lawton said, however, North Shore casinos had a stellar September, winning $2.9 million — a 16.2 percent increase over last September. It was North Shore’s third consecutive monthly increase.

“They could get into positive territory with another month like this,” he said.

The statewide story in September was sports pool betting. The $558.4 million wagered is an all time record and the $44.4 million casinos won is the fifth largest win ever. Football accounted for $40.7 million of that total, the second highest all time win for that category behind September 2012.

Washoe County also had a strong month, reporting $80 million in total winnings, an 8.14 percent or $6 million increase. Washoe is up just 1.8 percent for the calendar year but September was its fifth consecutive increase. The gains are in significant part driven by increased visitation: up 4 percent in September and 5.3 percent for the calendar year.

South Shore casinos at Stateline were down a bit — 2.96 percent or $643,000 — in September, reporting $21.1 million in total win. The problem was game and table win, which was down 14 percent or $906,000.

Churchill County was also hit by a decrease in game and table win. That category fell 20.69 percent but table games make up just a tiny part of Churchill’s overall gaming win. Slot win totaled $1.59 million compared to just $63,000 from the tables. Total September win in Churchill was $1.66 million, a 1.69 percent increase.

Churchill casino win is pretty much flat for the nine months of this year.