Nevada Strip gaming revenue edges up on tighter slot hold in September

The Nevada Gaming Control Board says Las Vegas Strip gross gaming revenue reached $693.5 million in September, a 0.8% increase on the same month in 2025.

The gain came almost entirely from slot machines, where the hold rate climbed to 8.23% from 8.04% a year earlier. Slot GGR for the month totalled $452.6 million.

Table games and sports betting moved the other way, generating $240.9 million, down 3% year-on-year. Barry Jonas of Truist Securities said table game handle fell 5%, but strong hold on the games played limited the impact on revenue.

The breakdown within table games was uneven. Blackjack win dropped 6% to $94 million, while craps revenue sank further still, losing a quarter of its value to finish at $32.6 million. Several smaller games, including 3-Card Poker, mini-baccarat, bingo, Let It Ride and Pai Gow Poker, also posted declines.

Baccarat bucked the trend, with the banker-versus-player game producing $58.6 million, up 12%. Roulette revenue jumped 20% to $33.6 million.

Jonas attributed part of September's strength to the calendar. "In 2026, Labor Day landed on Monday, Sept. 7, with the holiday weekend entirely in September," he explained, noting that in 2025 Labor Day fell on 1 September, pushing most of that holiday's hotel nights into August instead.

Statewide, Nevada gaming revenue was essentially flat at $1.28 billion. September marked the 67th consecutive month that statewide revenue has exceeded $1 billion, a run that began in March 2021 and has already far outlasted the previous record of eight straight months, set between October 2006 and May 2007.

Visitation data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority painted a more muted picture of the destination's draw. Overall visitor volume was flat at nearly 3.1 million for the month, while convention attendance rose 1.8% to roughly 436,200.

Strip casinos appeared to be courting leisure travellers with lower room rates, cutting resort hotel prices by almost 11% to an average of $185 a night. Downtown hotel rates fell 3% to $96.

The discounting did not fully translate into higher occupancy. Citywide occupancy dipped to 78.1%, though weekends remained much busier at 89.8%. On the Strip itself, revenue per available room came in at $139.51, down nearly 7% on the year. Through the first nine months of 2026, LVCVA figures show visitor volume essentially unchanged, down 0.1% from the same period in 2025.

October is shaping up as a stronger month for the Strip. The month includes an extra Saturday compared with 2025 and falls so that Halloween lands on a Saturday, typically a boost for casino and nightlife spending. Strip GGR in October 2025 stood at $748.8 million, the baseline this year's figure will be measured against.

Convention business should also support the month, with the National Association of Convenience Stores, the National Business Association Convention and Exhibition, FABTECH and SuiteWorld all scheduled to bring a combined total well over 100,000 attendees to Las Vegas in October 2026.