Las Vegas Strip Baccarat: A Record January, a 21% December Reversal, and the Lesson in Between
Nevada Gaming Control Board data show Strip baccarat win more than doubled in January 2025 and fell 20.7% in December — while volume barely moved. Hold, not demand, drove the headlines.
At a Glance
- January 2025: Strip baccarat win $214.3 million, up 121%; hold 26.74% vs 16.43%
- December 2025: Strip baccarat win $156.4 million, down 20.7%; volume up 1.4%; hold 16.3% vs 20.8%
- Full-year 2025: Nevada win up 1.2%, Strip win up 0.3%, visitation down 7.5% to 38.5 million
- January 2026: statewide baccarat drop up 17.8% to $950.2 million; hold 12.98% vs 26.66%
Baccarat was the single biggest swing factor in Las Vegas Strip results across 2025, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board's monthly Gaming Revenue Reports — and the swings had far more to do with how the cards fell than with how many people were betting.
January: Everything Goes Right
In January 2025, Strip baccarat win more than doubled to $214.3 million, up 121% year-on-year. Volume rose 35.8% to $801.3 million, but the real driver was hold: casinos kept 26.74% of the money wagered, against 16.43% a year earlier. The result helped the Strip to its third-highest revenue month on record (Nevada Gaming Control Board, February 2025; CDC Gaming).
December: The Same Players, the Other Side of the Coin
By year-end the picture had reversed. In December 2025, Strip baccarat win fell 20.7% — $40.8 million — to $156.4 million, even though volume edged up 1.4% to $961.7 million. Hold dropped to 16.3% from 20.8%. That single swing was a key reason total Strip win fell 6.1% to $827.7 million for the month (Nevada Gaming Control Board, January 2026).
November had told a similar story: Strip baccarat win of $137.7 million was down 6% on a drop of $948.6 million that was up 8.6%, as hold slipped to 14.5% from 16.8%.
The Year, and the Year After
For the full year, Nevada's total gaming win still rose 1.2% and Strip win rose 0.3% — even though Las Vegas visitation fell 7.5% to 38.5 million, its first post-pandemic annual decline, with December the twelfth straight month of year-on-year visitor declines (Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, via Las Vegas Review-Journal; CDC Gaming).
The volatility carried into January 2026, when statewide baccarat drop rose 17.8% to $950.2 million but hold collapsed to 12.98% from 26.66% — and Strip win fell 11% (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2026).
Baccarat's outsized effect comes from its concentration. The Gaming Control Board's senior economic analyst has noted that the game is played at only a few dozen locations statewide by a limited number of customers permitted to wager six-figure sums per hand.
Why It Matters for Baccarat Players
Read a Las Vegas 'record' or 'slump' headline and ask one question: was it volume or hold? Across 2025 baccarat volume — actual player demand — was steady to rising, while the dramatic monthly numbers were almost entirely the result of short-run luck. That is the same variance every baccarat player lives with, at a scale of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Where to Play
For US players who can't get to the Strip, these operators offer live and RNG baccarat; see each card for the states they serve. Links are affiliate links; see our full casino comparison for US-player status and terms.
Sources
- Nevada Gaming Control Board, Monthly Revenue Report, December 2025 (PDF)
- CDC Gaming: Baccarat win boosts Strip to its third-highest month (February 2025)
- CDC Gaming: Nevada and Strip see slight increase in 2025 gaming revenue (January 2026)
- Las Vegas Review-Journal: Strip gaming win plunges 11% in January (2026)
Editor's note: Monthly figures are as reported by the Gaming Control Board's analysts and the outlets above; statewide and Strip baccarat totals differ slightly (e.g., $215.2 million statewide vs $214.3 million Strip in January 2025).