Sports betting rolls
Lawton also said sports betting continued to roll as books recorded $566.4 million in wagers in the month, a record that beat the previous mark of $558.2 million in September.
Baseball wagers set a record for the month of October totaling $101.5 million, which beat the previous high of $66.4 million set last October. That made this year’s World Series the most heavily bet ever. $78.7 million.
Statewide, win was flat at 0.3 percent to $988.7 million for the month.
Tough comparison with 2016
Michael Lawton, the Control
Board Tax and License Division’s senior analyst, said October Strip gaming numbers already were up against a tough comparison from the previous year because the calendar had one fewer weekend date.
“We aren’t surprised the Strip was down 6.1 percent,” Lawton said.
“The decrease on the Strip was driven by decreases in both slot volume, down 3.8 percent, and game and table volume, down 6.5 percent.
Still, overall the trend line remains intact as the Strip is up 2.6 percent for the calendar year to date with much softer comparisons ahead for November and December.”
Downtown Las Vegas casino executive Derek Stevens predicted a strong October for downtown after a lukewarm September that he attributed to the timing of the revenue count.
The more revealing three-month win total that evens out the volatility of the timing of reporting showed Strip win up 5.6 percent, downtown up 7.7 percent and Clark County up 5.7 percent. Statewide, win was up 5.8 percent over three months to $2.96 billion won.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702477-3893. Follow @Rickvelotta on Twitter.