Nevada casinos rake in $831 million in June, an 8 percent drop from a year earlier

Baccarat, the card game that can be a windfall or whiplash for Las Vegas casinos, was the latter in June.

Nevada's casinos earned nearly $831 million of what was gambled last month, a drop of about 8 percent from a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Baccarat, which is only available at 461 tables in 70 casinos statewide, broke records last year when casinos reported keeping nearly $133 million of $1.1 billion bet on the lucrative but volatile game in June 2014. This year, casinos kept just $58.5 million of $623.3 million wagered.

"The baccarat business's world was completely different in June," said Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the Gaming Control Board.

Gambling revenue on the Las Vegas Strip fell 16 percent to $445 million, with baccarat dropping by more than half from a year ago.

Lawton said he expects to see a better year-over-year comparison of how the state's gambling industry is faring starting in August. Spending and winning on the game began to slide during that month last year.

For the fiscal year through June 30, casino gambling revenue has dropped 1.6 percent from the previous year.

The amount of money gamblers wagered on all games and slot machines was down in June. Table game and sports betting combined dropped by more than half a billion to $2.2 billion. Slot machine wagers dropped less than 1 percent to $8.4 billion.

Of those wagers, the state's casinos kept $259 million from table games and sports betting, and $556 million from slots. Both amounts are less than a year ago.

South Lake Tahoe casinos saw a 44 percent boost in June to nearly $18 million. Washoe County, including Reno, dropped slightly compared to a year ago.

The Gaming Control Board says the state collected 8 percent more in fees for the month, for $48.7 million total.