Table games have fewer players as bettors turn to slots

Dave Palermo

Thursday, Nov. 9, 2000 | 9:34 a.m.

BILOXI, Miss. - For the past two decades, the bulk of the casino industry's gambling revenue has been generated by the rows upon rows of reel and video slot machines. But the bells, whistles and "ping-ping-ping" of coins falling into a slot tray hasn't been music to the ears of executives who recall the good ol' days.

No, it's the whoop and holler surrounding the craps and blackjack tables.

"Table games provide the sizzle and excitement in the casino," said Bill Kilduff, general manager of Isle of Capri Casino Crowne Plaza Resort in Biloxi. "There's nothing more exciting than when there's a good dice game going. The money changing hands. Emotions are high. The noise levels are high."

"When you walk into a casino and hear all the screaming and yelling, do you know what you're hearing?"' said Ted Gottlieb, president of Gaming International Inc., a Las Vegas-based marketing firm.

"You're hearing the dice passing on a craps table. You very rarely hear people yelling because somebody hit a $50 jackpot or a $100 jackpot on a slot machine."

Unfortunately for the gambling purist, the popularity of table games has been on the wane since the early 1980s. The explosive growth of legal commercial and tribal government casinos in America has stretched the pool of serious gamblers paper-thin. And slot machines have become the game of choice.

About 62 percent of the win generated by Nevada casinos comes from slots, according to Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. of New York. More than 80 percent of the win from Mississippi casinos comes from the machines. And 95 percent of the revenue from limited-stakes casinos in Colorado is attributed to slot machines.

"It's no secret to anyone that over the last decade the real growth has been on the slot side of the industry," said Vic Taucer, president of Casino Creations, a Las Vegas-based consulting company.

"When we first opened (in 1992), we had eight craps tables," Kilduff said. "Now we have three."

Most industry observers believe the slot trend will continue. But the effort to maintain the popularity and profitability of table games goes on.

Dealers today are urged to be more customer friendly. Personality often is as important as the mechanics of shuffling the cards. And some dealers are even scripted in how to greet and treat the players.

Casinos continue to set aside tables for teaching patrons how to play the games, but the trend peaked about five years ago and failed to generate much interest.

And there continues to be an ongoing attempt to invent new games. Most have flopped. But games such as Caribbean Stud, Let It Ride and three-card poker have caught on. So has the introduction of progressive jackpots to traditional games such as blackjack.

"The dealer's job is to keep the customer entertained," said Taucer, who consults casinos on training the men and women behind the tables. "That means scripted scenarios. Rehearsals. Customer interaction. Body action. In essence, learning how to say hello.

"In essence, learning how to talk to someone to make them want to gamble."

Kilduff believes a script scenario might be stretching things a bit. But he does believe a dealer's personality has become a prerequisite for the job.

"We try and look for people with outgoing personalities," Kilduff said. "We try to get them to interact with the patrons. ... That's totally contrary to the old days when it was 'Just dummy up and deal.' "

The empty blackjack, dice and roulette tables with the placards reading "lessons at 4 p.m." have disappeared in many casinos.

"The big thought was that if the newer gamers got exposed to the tables, they would really enjoy it and it would spur the table game business," Kilduff said. "We offered free lessons in craps and roulette and blackjack. And, frankly, very few people took advantage of them."

Some casino executives believe there should be a continuing effort to train customers on the rules of the games.

"Five years ago there were more classes on how to play the game than there are today," Gottlieb said. "That's ridiculous, because they say 50 percent of the visitors to Las Vegas these days are first-time visitors."

Teaching people how to play may be the only way to make sure there are table games in the casino pit in 2010. Table games can be intimidating to those visiting a casino for the first time.

"Ever walk around a craps table and look at the diagram and try to figure it out?" Taucer asked. "It's like trying to read stereo instructions."

"What you have is a mystery game that the general public, especially younger people, have an aversion to," said Gottlieb. "We have to figure out, as operators, how to get people over this intimidation."

Gottlieb suggests that casino managers give slot players coupons as an incentive to play the tables.

"Cross-marketing slot players to play the table games is an essential part of this whole mix," he said. "If you have slot players in your casino losing all their money they could easily lose interest and stop playing anything."

Taucer believes technology can be incorporated into table games, but a totally virtual casino would be a hard sell to a customer; nothing more than they can get gambling on the Internet.

"There's a lot of reasons why people go to casinos. A lot of people go to play table games," he said. "There's a certain social experience that goes on with table games."

The customer, however, is the final arbiter when it comes to what sells and what doesn't.

"At the end of the day when you add up the gaming dollar, it really doesn't matter whether it comes from tables or slots," Kilduff said. "Whatever the general public wants as far as gaming opportunities, that's what we have to give them."