Las Vegas strip on a roll

[JSTAT]

The profits of Las Vegas strip casinos in November were up 8.26% compared to a year earlier according to the Gaming Revenue Report (Archive copy) of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Table game revenue surpassed slot machines as "smart" players revolted against the one armed bandits in favor of lower house percentage games such as craps or mini-baccarat. Baccarat was again the cash cow for Strip casinos with $92.7 million in winnings while surpassing blackjack. A few years ago, blackjack was the leader of table gambing profits until some casinos decided to pay 6:5 on blackjacks instead of 3:2. Many blackjack games now hit on soft 17 (dealer hitting S17 adds .20 to the house edge) and decks are increased to eight to lower the chances of receiving blackjacks. The percentage won from 21 players is lower because some casinos wrongly assumed that the higher house percentage would reflect in higher profits. Baccarat offers some of the lowest odds at the plush casinos on the Strip with the Banker bet only at a 1.06% disadvantage to the house. How come the game with such low odds as baccarat, is the biggest money-maker on the Las Vegas Strip?

Games       Casinos    Tables(strip)  Money Won    % change     % won
                                                                   
TWENTY-ONE    36        1,327          $60,809,000      4.02       11.38
CRAPS         36          183          $15,158,000    -32.49        9.27
ROULETTE      36          261          $21,378,000     13.39       16.09
3-CARD POKER  31          118           $7,608,000      1.74       28.30
BACCARAT      16          191          $92,710,000    136.29       13.42
MINI-BACCARAT  23          86           $5,539,000    -24.64       11.31
TOTAL GAMES    36       2,650         $236,964,000      23.71      12.57

TOTAL SLOT      41      48,796         $230,503,000   -3.77         7.20
MACHINES
TOTAL GAMING WIN (Strip)           $473,831,000       8.26

 

[kewljason]

This report is a bit deceiving. Baccarat up 136%! Take that out of the equation and it is down across the board again, as it has been for some time.

 

[shadroch]

BJ is down because they have less BJ tables. Walk thru a casino and look at all the Texas Hold Em, Three Card Poker, Super Fun21, and various other table games. These have replaced what were BJ tables ten or twenty years ago. They make more money for the house than a tradional BJ table.
Even a 6-5 BJ table doesn't have a HE that these new table games have.
People seem to love games that allow them to lose there money faster than ever.

 

[Doofus]

The baccarat number could very well be because of one or two whales having a very bad month.

I agree that the important number is the continuing downward numbers for the non-whale games.

 

[Guynoire]

The baccarat number has got to be whale driven, just compare it to blackjack. They made 50% more money off baccarat despite have less than 10% the number of tables blackjack has.

The one thing no one is talking about is that the biggest revenue source, slot machines, is still down.

 

[Homeschool]

Consider the fact that alot of foreigners are what is keeping vegas afloat, and that people from other countries play alot of baccarat.......

Homeschool

 

[JSTAT]

The baccarat number has got to be whale driven, just compare it to blackjack. They made 50% more money off baccarat despite have less than 10% the number of tables blackjack has.

The one thing no one is talking about is that the biggest revenue source, slot machines, is still down.

It used to be that slots routed table games by an at least a 2-1 ratio in the past and now table games make more! A trend that has to be disturbing to Strip resorts. Baccarat has been the revenue leader for the last few months and most likely will continue with the Super Bowl and Chinese New Year's approaching. Baccarat is the only game that can lose money as a whole as it has done in the past if some whales go on a winning streak, this would shatter Vegas revenues.

 

[ycming]

Knowing the HE is not enough, you really need to have amonut waged as well. Then take the percentage of amount won/lost over amonut wager.

Ming

 

[moo321]

I've been long on MGM for awhile now, anticipating this.

 

[bigplayer]

Don't Believe the Hype

The casinos had a lucky month at the big baccarat tables due to the bad luck of some very high rolling Asians. To the guy who is long on MGM/Mirage I wish you luck, but the coming City Center debacle has yet to reveal itself.