January gaming revenue on the Las Vegas Strip falls nearly 8% from last year.
However, in downtown Las Vegas casinos won nearly 42 million dollars.That's a nearly 9% increase from January 2015.
The news comes as a shock to many because the Las Vegas Strip is the undisputed gaming capital of the world.
On top of that, January is huge for tourism on the Strip with New Year’s Day and the Consumer Electronics Show.
13 Action News spoke to gaming experts and gamblers themselves to get to the bottom of these numbers.
"You win more down here," said one local on Fremont Street.
Another gamer on Fremont says,” It’s a little cheaper here."
Our crew couldn't leave without stepping inside The D to talk to owner Derek Stevens about the good news.
"Obviously, I'm very excited about what's happening downtown,” he said. “There's a lot of energy here."
However, he believes that high numbers are a little bittersweet.
"I think one thing we have to remember though is that there's a big calendar effect here."
The biggest calendar effect was the Super Bowl. In 2015, the game took place on Feb. 1, which means much of the Strip's casino action took place in late January. This year, the big game was on February 7.
"That does distort the numbers and sometimes one month isn't necessarily all that good of an indication,” said Stevens.
Economic experts tell 13 Action News another reason for the downtown uptick is probably because local employment numbers are getting stronger making local gamers more willing to venture into downtown casinos.
They also mention the current economic slowdown in China which has held back several large players from taking trips to Las Vegas.
