- Nevada’s blackjack win fell 6.29% to $94.01 million in September, with the Strip’s 1,016 tables winning $73.95 million.
- Strip tables kept 11.85% of what players bought in with, down from 12.98%, a gap worth about $7 million.
- Tables outside the Strip won about $20.1 million, down 14%, and made up 52% of the statewide decline.
- Strip blackjack win rose 2.92% over July through September, and the statewide 12-month total is up 2.36% to $1.24 billion.
LAS VEGAS – Nevada’s casinos won $94.01 million from blackjack in September, down 6.29% from a year earlier, as hold on the Las Vegas Strip’s 1,016 tables slipped to 11.85% from 12.98%, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s monthly revenue report.
Strip Hold Fell 1.13 Points While Play Rose About 5%
Hold is the share of drop, the money players bought in with, that the casino kept, which the board labels win percent. The Strip’s 34 locations won $73.95 million, down 3.93%, or about 79% of the statewide total, and their 11.85% hold compares with 12.98% in the board’s September 2025 report, when 34 locations won about $77 million on 1,025 tables, nine more than this September.
Dividing win by the report’s win percent puts the Strip’s September drop at about $624 million, against about $593 million a year earlier. That is an estimate, since the board adjusts win percent for credit play, but it shows the Strip’s tables drawing roughly 5% more money while keeping a smaller share of it. At last September’s hold, that play would have produced about $81 million, roughly $7 million more than the tables kept. The report does not say why hold moved.
Tables Outside The Strip Lost 14%, Supplying 52% Of The Decline
Statewide, the board’s “Twenty One” line, its label for blackjack, covers 102 locations and 1,905 tables. Hold there fell to 11.90% from 13.39% in the board’s September 2025 report, when 1,937 tables won about $100.3 million.
Taking the Strip out leaves 889 tables at 68 other locations, 23 fewer tables than a year earlier, and they won about $20.06 million, down 14.1% from about $23.3 million. That is about $3.3 million of the roughly $6.3 million statewide decline, from a segment that produced 21% of the win. The Strip’s own decline was about $3.0 million, or 48%. The same subtraction puts hold outside the Strip near 12.1%, against about 14.9% a year earlier, on play up about 6%.
| Location | Win | Change | Hold | Hold in September 2025 | Tables |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide | $94.01 million | Down 6.29% | 11.90% | 13.39% | 1,905 |
| Las Vegas Strip | $73.95 million | Down 3.93% | 11.85% | 12.98% | 1,016 |
| Outside the Strip, calculated | $20.06 million | Down 14.1% | About 12.1% | About 14.9% | 889 |
Hold Measures Buy-Ins, Not The Cost Of A Hand
A hold of 11.85% does not mean blackjack costs players 11.85% of every bet. Basic strategy on a 3:2 table with good rules gives the house roughly 0.3% to 0.5% of each wager, and hold is measured against the money players bought in with, which gets bet again and again before it is lost. A 1.13-point slip therefore means the Strip’s players kept about 1.13 cents more of each buy-in dollar than a year earlier, not that the game got looser.
The report lists no payout rules, so it cannot show how many of the Strip’s 1,016 tables pay 6:5 on a natural, a change from 3:2 that adds 1.39 points to the house edge. Because hold ignores how many tables a casino runs, it is also the figure that lets Nevada’s results be read beside other states’ blackjack reports on USA blackjack sites.
The Strip Is Up 2.9% For The Quarter And 4.3% For The Year
Across July through September, the Strip’s blackjack win rose 2.92% to $222.66 million at an 11.03% hold, down from 12.18% a year earlier, which the win and hold columns put at roughly 14% more play. Statewide, the quarter’s win fell 1.76% to $290.78 million at 11.39%, against 12.83% a year earlier. Over 12 months, the Strip won $940.85 million, up 4.34%, at 11.83%, while statewide win rose 2.36% to $1.24 billion at 12.46%.
September’s 11.85% Strip hold sits level with the 11.83% of the full year, which makes the 12.98% of September 2025, against 12.37% for the 12 months before it, the unusual month in the comparison.
The board’s October report, expected near the end of November, is the next reading on Nevada blackjack.
