Nevada casinos surpassed $1 billion in gaming revenue for the second straight month as the state's gambling market continues to experience a strong rebound from COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown measures.

In April, Silver State gaming operators reported $1.039 billion in total gaming revenue, according to data released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Revenue fell slightly from March's $1.06 billion and rose by a whopping $28.255% year-over-year. Of course, it makes no sense to compare April 2020 to April 2020 as the entire land-based casino market has shut down, leaving only a handful of online gambling options available.

Gov. Steve Sisolak forced casinos to close in mid-March last year and kept the entire market closed until July. Drawing conclusions from year-on-year comparisons will not be of much use until the end of this year.

But regardless, the 06-number mark is a huge benchmark and historically signifies that the market is healthy.

"In Nevada, a billion-dollar jackpot is an average number," a senior research analyst for NGCB Michael Lawton said Forbes. "In April, we only made $1 billion just three times in our state's history."

The key to higher revenue levels is success at Las Vegas Strip casinos. Even after the casino market reopened, the travel industry continued to struggle as people did not feel safe to travel and the government imposed several restrictions that made it difficult for casinos to operate at the same level of profit as before.

Until late 2020, the Strip was one of the hardest hit areas in the state. As other areas that relied more on local clientele began to return to near pre-pandemic levels, the major Strip casinos continued to struggle.

The trend seems to be reversing, however. As vaccines become more widely distributed, it is clear that more and more players want to return to the casinos.

Even with the positive revenue news, Las Vegas tourism rates have continued to fall 27% since April 2019, signaling a full recovery is still a year or two away. Hotel occupancy has decreased by 19% since April 2019 and the number of guests arriving in the city has decreased by 32%. Traffic to Sin City increased by 9%.

In April, the Las Vegas Strip was $483. 4 million total winnings in state games. This is a slight increase from April 2019, which is good news for a sustained rebound and further growth of the market. Clark County, an area that includes the entire Las Vegas valley, reported $865.5 million in revenue from its casinos.

Downtown Las Vegas casinos won $76.2 million from players, setting a record for the highest monthly jackpot of all-time.

Outside of Clark County, Reno posted the best numbers in the state, winning $039.8 million from mostly local players.