Can You Guess the Biggest Games in Las Vegas?

[MULTIZ321]

Can You Guess the Biggest Games in Las Vegas? - by Travis Hoium/ Investing/ General/ The Motley Fool/ fool.com

"The top game in Las Vegas isn't blackjack or craps. In fact, you may not have heard of it until now.

We all know that Las Vegas' megaresorts are built on the back of billions of dollars in gambling losses. But do you know where those losses come from?

Blackjack, craps, and poker are commonly played table games in the U.S., but they're not even close to taking the top spot for revenue generators in the casino. Here's where casinos really make their money.

The table game you've never heard of
Baccarat may not be a table game you've ever heard of, but more than one out of every three dollars bet at gaming tables are put on baccarat. In the past 12 months, $1.38 billion was lost at baccarat tables on the Las Vegas Strip, easily outpacing $831.0 million lost on blackjack and $258.0 million lost on craps.

The reason you may not know about baccarat is that it's often played in hidden VIP rooms where high rollers gamble privately. But when they play, they bet big. High-end casinos such as Wynn Las Vegas, Bellagio, and MGM Grand's Mansion area will take bets of $250,000 per hand, or more. That can lead to big wins and big losses, but long-term the house always wins..."

makes big money in private baccarat rooms. Image: Wynn Resorts.


Richard

 

[am1]

We should all thank the high rollers for building Vegas.

 

[Ty1on]

Can You Guess the Biggest Games in Las Vegas? - by Travis Hoium/ Investing/ General/ The Motley Fool/ fool.com

"The top game in Las Vegas isn't blackjack or craps. In fact, you may not have heard of it until now.

We all know that Las Vegas' megaresorts are built on the back of billions of dollars in gambling losses. But do you know where those losses come from?

Blackjack, craps, and poker are commonly played table games in the U.S., but they're not even close to taking the top spot for revenue generators in the casino. Here's where casinos really make their money.

The table game you've never heard of
Baccarat may not be a table game you've ever heard of, but more than one out of every three dollars bet at gaming tables are put on baccarat. In the past 12 months, $1.38 billion was lost at baccarat tables on the Las Vegas Strip, easily outpacing $831.0 million lost on blackjack and $258.0 million lost on craps.

The reason you may not know about baccarat is that it's often played in hidden VIP rooms where high rollers gamble privately. But when they play, they bet big. High-end casinos such as Wynn Las Vegas, Bellagio, and MGM Grand's Mansion area will take bets of $250,000 per hand, or more. That can lead to big wins and big losses, but long-term the house always wins..."

makes big money in private baccarat rooms. Image: Wynn Resorts.


Richard

The reason is that Baccarat has table limits ranging up to $1M per hand, where blackjack typically caps out at $10K or $25K, depending on where you are playing and your credit limit or front money deposit amount. Of course, casinos can waive the limit and I've seen players bet up to $100K per hand in BJ, but likewise, they also waive the limit on Bac for players they know with enormous bankrolls.

So by dollar volume, a few Baccarat players account for more drop than the houseful of BJ players, but by count, BJ is still king of the table games.

The reason for the disparity in limits is that Bac players cannot apply skill to decrease house advantage, thus there is less risk in Bac than in BJ.