Las Vegas casinos shine in December led by baccarat, sports books

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Las Vegas casinos shine in December led by baccarat, sports books
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Casinos in Nevada saw gaming win increase 14% in December to more than $1.31B, according to an update from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Las Vegas Strip casinos accounted for $814M of the monthly tally, which was up 25% from the level a year ago. An increase in group and convention business during the month and events like Raiders home football games, a college bowl game, the Pac 12 football championship, and a national rodeo event all helped bring extra traffic to Las Vegas in December.

The big month for the Strip helped offset some weakness with downtown Las Vegas casinos (-6.9% Y/Y) and the Boulder Strip region (-8.0%).

Counter and card game win revenue was up 40% across the state during the month, led by a huge jump in baccarat (+68%) and the sports books (+279%). Slot machine revenue win was only up 2.17% during the month on a win percentage of 6.37%.

"Nevada has continued to benefit from the surging demand for leisure travel domestically and internationally and a healthy local economy experiencing record employment levels," noted the gaming control board in a statement.

An increase in group and convention business during the month and events like Raiders home football games and the Pac 12 football championship helped traffic in Las Vegas in December.

For the year, statewide gaming win was up 11% to $14.8B and Las Vegas Strip gaming win increased 17% to $8.29B.

Sector watch: Caesars Entertainment (CZR), MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) +2.0%, Boyd Gaming (BYD) +2.0%, Wynn Resorts (WYNN) +4.5%, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) +0.8%, Full House Resorts (FLL) +0.2%, Bally's (BALY) +0.7% and Red Rock Resorts (RRR) +2.8%.