Big casinos had another bumper year, according to a new report from the Gaming Control Board. They generated more than $1.8 billion on revenue of $21.4 billion in 2005, reports the Review-Journal.

The total result far exceeded the next best year on record - 1996 when $1.35 billion was the total profit. The other notable thing about these numbers is that for the first time ever, less than half the revenue came from gaming. Room revenue was over $4 billion and saw a 12 percent jump.

Analysts have been saying for over a decade that rooms, restaurant and entertainment were becoming a bigger part of the picture but this is still a very significant milestone.

Clark County, led by casinos on the Strip, drove the state’s engine, reporting net income of $1.7 billion, almost 93 percent of the state’s overall net income, on revenue of $18.3 billion. Not too much of a surprise there to anyone who’s driven the Strip or I-95 in the last year or two.

The board reports that 21 publicly traded companies accounted for 78 percent of the revenue statewide. So it really is becoming a big guy’s game.