Baccarat Drives Nevada to Its Second-Best Month Ever
Record Numbers
- Historic Win Total
- Strong Baccarat Performance
Nevada's nonrestricted gaming licensees won $1.43 billion in January 2025, a 12.5% increase on January 2024 and the second-highest monthly total in state history, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Only December 2024's $1.46 billion has been higher. The Las Vegas Strip accounted for $840 million of it, its third-best month on record and the end of six consecutive months of year-on-year decline.
The Numbers
- Statewide gaming win: $1.43 billion, up 12.5%
- Las Vegas Strip win: $840 million
- Strip baccarat win: $214.3 million, up $117.3 million (121%)
- Strip baccarat volume: $801.3 million, up 35.8%
- Baccarat hold: 26.74%, against 16.43% a year earlier
How Much of It Was Baccarat
The Strip accounted for very nearly all of the state's roughly $215 million in baccarat win. Blackjack, the next-largest table game, brought in $86 million. Stripping baccarat out of the statewide figure leaves an increase of 3.7%, or $43.3 million, rather than 12.5% — most of the month's gain came from one game.
The swing was driven by hold rather than volume alone. Michael Lawton, senior economic analyst at the Gaming Control Board, has noted that baccarat is played at just 31 locations across Nevada, on only 441 tables. "With that limited footprint the game is not played by masses at every casino in the state," he said. "Instead it is played by a limited number of customers who are allowed to wager six-figure amounts per hand."
Market Analysis
That concentration cuts both ways. A handful of high-limit players and a favorable hold produced a near-record month; the same structure produced six months of Strip decline immediately before it. January was also the 47th consecutive month in which Nevada recorded gaming win above $1 billion. Visitation was flat — the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported 3.34 million visitors in January, down 1.1% year on year — so the gain came from how the cards fell, not from more people arriving.
Source: Nevada Gaming Control Board monthly revenue report, January 2025.