After over a year of being down, down and down some more, the Las Vegas Strip snapped back to life in March. There was a stunning, 14.5% vault upward on the Strip, reaching $780 million. Nor was the good news confined to Las Vegas Boulevard South. Casinos in Downtown exploded 21%, achieving $103 million. And the Boulder Strip leapt 14.5% to $99 million. Not to be left out, miscellaneous Clark County was up 7% to $175 million. North Las Vegas did get left out, flat at $261.5 million and gamblers seem to have bypassed Vegas Lite Laughlin in favor of the real thing: It only gained a point, to $50.5 million.
Nevada‘s two border lures for Utah performed very differently. Mesquite was up 1.5% to $19.5 million. But Wendover, concerningly, sank 9% to $23 million. Reno jumped 7.5% to $62 million, Sparks flew 8.5% to $16 million and Lake Tahoe vaulted 19.5% to $17.5 million.
While locals gambling was up 9% overall (although coin-in was down 2%), the Strip comeback was borne on the wings of baccarat. Absent that volatile game, revenue was up 3%. Slot winnings rose 2% on 5% more coin-in. But table wagering was flat, once baccarat was factored, resulting in 5.5% more win for the house. So two cheers for the Strip and let’s hope March wasn’t an outlier.
Time permitting, we’ll look this week at 1Q26 results for Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts International and Station Casinos. In the meantime, you can catch up on what certain other companies did. Vici Properties had a good quarter but they weren’t a bunch of Chatty Cathies in their earnings call. Big Gaming’s other REIT, Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. was bullish on Bally’s Chicago but a great deal more circumspect on the vaporware known as Bally’s Las Vegas. Although Monarch Resorts & Casinos only operates two properties, what remunerative properties they are! Wall Street shares our enthusiasm. Oh, and did you know New Hampshire is getting a new casino? You do now.