“There is all this talk from politicians and whatnot about Vegas coming back,” Sykes said. But the contours of that comeback are not fully drawn, and many wonder whether they will return to the livelihoods they lost or be forced into another year of uncertainty. It is, in a sense, a test of America’s ability to reclaim itself. In Las Vegas, where gambling revenue plummeted by nearly 45% last year and tens of thousands of the city’s service industry employees remain out of work, casinos and restaurants are set to return to full capacity Tuesday. is emerging from the aftershock of a pandemic crisis that dimmed blackjack tables and led to long lines at food banks. “I’ve been out of work ever since.”Ī year and two months since the coronavirus paralyzed the nation and drove record unemployment - including staggeringly high percentages among service industry employees, who make up more than a quarter of this city’s workforce - the U.S. “They let me go immediately,” Sykes said, recalling the start of pandemic shutdowns that cost him his $14-an-hour job. House winnings from blackjack and other card games, baccarat, craps and roulette were all higher in 2022 than in 2021.Then, last spring, like a dust devil of bad luck, Sykes’ life shattered. Table-game winnings statewide of $4.8 billion topped the previous record of $4.4 billion set in 2007, Lawton said. Several businesses closed, including the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge & Casino, and the Fiesta, Texas Station and Fiesta Henderson properties in the Las Vegas area.

Lawton noted that a large, new gambling property opened in Nevada in 2022: Legends Bay Casino in Sparks.

It counted just under 5 million people at conferences and trade shows in 2022, or about three‐quarters of the 2019 tally of 6.6 million convention attendees. “Our entertainment mix has grown through COVID and beyond,” she said, citing, “sports, shows, concerts, and of course, gambling.”Ĭonvention attendance has also been recovering in Las Vegas, the visitors authority said.

“We’re still feeling the effects of pent-up demand from COVID, as well as overall growth of interest,” said Brett Abarbanel, executive director of the International Gaming Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

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