Nevada sportsbooks posted a record win of $61.8m in November.
Several factors contributed to the new mark, which was set despite an overall handle of nearly $607m, down from the record handle of $660m in October.
First, November 2020 had five Sundays, unusual for a 30-day month. This meant an extra day of wagering on professional football, and football handle was $502m, an increase of 149% from November 2019.
Handle is part of the picture, winning is another. Sportsbooks normally expect to win approximately 5% to 6% of football wagers, but last month Nevada operators held 11.2% of bets, contributing to their overall win.
The sports parlay cards category was another significant source of income for the books, as they won 55.6% of parlay wagers for nearly $5.7m in revenue. The dollar amount was up 141.8% from November 2019.
The overall win percentage for the books in November was 10.1%.
Bettors who used mobile wagering were tougher nuts to crack. The books won 6.8% of bets placed via phone, tablet or computer. Books won $23.5m from mobile bets.
The mobile handle was 56% of the total sports handle, down slightly from 57% the previous month.
The sports betting win numbers were good news for Nevada’s casinos, which otherwise posted poor results in November as visitor numbers declined. The overall gaming win was $771m last month, down from $937m in November 2019, and off from the $823m won in October 2020.
