Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 | 2 a.m.
A Simple Guide to Baccarat
Viewing video requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player
Baccarat is a growing business here in Las Vegas. The Sun brings you an introduction to the game so you can test your own skills on the casino floor.
Sun Archive
- Baccarat defies recession by drawing gamblers willing to part with a fortune (11-16-2010)
- Baccarat, sports betting boost Strip casinos in September (11-10-2010)
- Economists project rebound in gaming but disagree about how much (11-6-2010)
- As baccarat grows in popularity, so does the cheating (8-30-2010)
- Baccarat in the sky (2-23-2010)
- High rollers bring baccarat boom to Las Vegas (2-22-2010)
- Baccarat making a big difference (1-17-2010)
Two extreme ends of the gambling spectrum — baccarat and penny slots — are helping Nevada survive the Great Recession.
Over the past decade, both games have rapidly overtaken more traditional or widely played casino games to become the state’s biggest moneymakers, hitting revenue records last year, according to the latest figures from the Gaming Control Board.
Nevada casinos generated nearly $2 billion in revenue from penny slots last year, a 21 percent increase from 2007, when the state’s gambling and tourism business peaked.
Boosted by China’s booming economy, baccarat peaked at $1.2 billion in revenue last year — more than 99 percent of that coming from the Strip, where fewer than two dozen casinos offer the game favored by Chinese high rollers.
China is a country of entrepreneurs whose propensity for risk in the business world translates into big wagers at the tables, sociologists say.
For the first time last year, baccarat generated more revenue statewide than blackjack, a game that is losing ground as the most widely played table game in Nevada casinos. There are 149 more baccarat tables than a decade ago, and 815 fewer blackjack tables.
Blackjack revenue is down 17 percent from a decade ago and has plummeted 31 percent from 2007. Anthony Curtis, publisher of Las Vegas Advisor, attributes much of the decline to the recession.
Gambling’s high end, represented by baccarat, has been least affected by the economy, Curtis said. Blackjack is a mass-market game played primarily by midrollers who can less afford to gamble, however, he said.
“This is why Vegas got hammered,” he said. “It needs the middle market.”
Nevada’s gambling revenue rose by less than 1 percent last year, reversing two years of 10 percent declines, on the strength of higher baccarat play and, to a lesser extent, penny slots.
Baccarat revenue grew by $279.9 million from 2007. But that wasn’t enough to offset the $1.8 billion decline from all forms of slot machines, which generate more than 60 percent of Nevada’s gambling revenue, since 2007’s peak.
Although baccarat is a simple, low-tech game that’s hundreds of years old, penny slots are a recent invention enabled by technology creating dozens of digital “paylines” — or sequences of winning symbols.
Penny slots are viewed by the industry as the latest evolution in gambling as mainstream entertainment, attracting casual bettors with carnival themes. Baccarat is a world apart, typically played in hushed salons by people who consider themselves serious gamblers.
Some attribute the popularity of penny slots to the fact that more paylines give players more chances to win. Those wins tend to be smaller, giving players the sense that they are winning even when some “wins” are less than the amount bet, Curtis said.
Players have gravitated to these machines in part because they are the newest gizmos on casino floors, with captivating bells and whistles. But casinos also encourage gamblers to play them by “inundating their floors with the machines they want people to play,” Curtis said.
Penny slots can be inexpensive to play because, after an initial wager of $1 or more, subsequent bets can be made for as little as a penny per spin. Many gamblers instead wager the maximum amount of $3 or more per spin to qualify for the best jackpots, making such machines more profitable for casinos than older generations of slot machines.
Despite the penny slot upswing, overall wagering on slot machines fell 22 percent from 2007 to about what gamblers wagered on slots between 1998 and 1999. Nor are individual games as profitable as they were in years past. Dividing revenue by the number of machines in operation across the state, each penny slot game generated about $47,000 last year — a 7 percent decline from 2007 and a sign of increasing competition for gamblers’ wallets.
One phrase...
6/5 payout on blackjack.
People are not stupid, and are tired of getting ripped off.. ( I guess the casinos have NOT gotten the message...)
"People are not stupid" @SinCityChauffeur --Yes they are.
6/5
There are good reasons why blackjack revenue is overshadowed by baccarat and penny slots.
Firstly, the casinos have offered poorer rules for blackjack than in years gone by. Smart players highly prefer blackjack games in other venues, e.g. Pennsylvania or Mississippi.
Secondly, the "cleverly" mis-named "Penny Slots" "return" far less money to the public; and the typical player is betting $1 every time they press the button. I have never seen anyone actually betting a penny or two. Many tourists will tell themselves words to the effect -- "Penny Slots ! That fits with my budget." A typical player will lose hundreds of dollars in a day. I suppose one could view that as tens of thousands of pennies !
6/5 Blackjack! people aren't dumb no matter how many hookers the casino has dance around in the pit of these horrible odds
"Anthony Curtis, publisher of Las Vegas Advisor, attributes much of the decline to the recession."
Couldn't be the rules change could it Anthony? You tool.
In indian casinos the penny slots even go higher! Before you know it your spending $4 at a time! I've won more on simple dollar and quarter machines without all the bells and whistles. However I know it's supposed to be a myth, I still think the machines are tighter. I used to break even or go home with more but the last 5 years you can go into a casino and not even get cherries!
If they keep having the bad blackjack games (6:5, etc.), they'll pay a price. I won't play 6:5.
Why is it reported as good news the ways the casinos are able shake loose the last pennies of a desperate,clueless clientel?I guess when the next innovation hits,like accepting food stamps or its equiv,we will read of the fine benifits to casinos.
I think the casinos don't want the people to play b-j. It's their main incentive to make money, no matter how. If they can get the money faster and easier setting up slotmachines, they will do so. Operating table games takes humans working there, and where humans work there happen mistakes. And it takes surveillance people and a floormanager, etc. A slotmachine works mainly automatic and does the job the easy way for the casino. And it has a higher hold than a b-j table.
B-J, in the future, will probably be something for the high limit players. Small time gamblers will have to play penny slots or computer black jack. That's how I see it.
In our country, you barely find b-j games under 10 dollars per hand (2 hands minimum must be played per game).
From Switzerland
I agree with the other bloggers...as long as the payouts are 6:5 (instead of 3:2) and the dealer must hit on a "soft 17", I will NOT play blackjack. A friend of mine looked into it and the numbers show that these changes shift the odds such that you will lose your money 14X faster.
I used to be a traditional slot player but the last couple of years I really migrated to the "penny machines". It took me awhile but I finally realized that I could never win a large enough jackpot to offset the money wagered. It is true that you really never just wager a penny and I found myself wagering up to five dollars. We really don't go much anymore and just found that it is just not much fun anymore.
Yes, you can expect to get a black jack every 21 hands or so. If you get paid not 15 but 12 then this means that you will have to pay approx 10-12 dollars more "for this pleasure" when playing 1 hour of black jack. That's money missing in your bankroll. A cut to 6:5 from 3:2 is a terrible downgrade and the casinos should not act as if they don't know how come less people are playing b-j but rather explain why they went to this silly 6:5 change. Honestly.
From Switzerland
I used to play BJ up to 6 hours a day for 5-6 day on vacation there. Last trip, almost nothing 1 day for 6 hours (could only find 1 table with original rules). They can stick the 3/2 BJ payout, hit soft 17, & automatic card shufflers in their A$$. Vegas is nowhere near the fun that it used to be. Between the rules, inattention to detail during game play, & some of the worst cab drivers that I have ever seen---I don't want to go anymore.
Blackjack should still pay 2 to 1. 3 to 2 is a rip off. I remember when the casinos always paid 2 to 1. I was playing when I was in Las Vegas last week and complained to the dealer that they don't pay 2 to 1 anymore. He told me they never did. I told him he was a liar and don't dare tell me something to the contrary when I know it's true. I remember it and I'm not wrong! I'm sick of being lied to. The worst liars are the ones that take your money like casinos and banks.
In addition to the smaller payout for blackjacks, the casinos are shoving more carnival games down the throats of gamblers. Straight blackjack games are a dying breed, much to the joy of casinos, forever looking for ways to milk every penny from a players wallet.
Gambling is no different from any other recreation. Just like going out to dinner or to a show, a race or a round of golf; once spent the money is gone.
A smart gambler is one who has a budget, sticks to it and pockets his initial investment if he is lucky enough to win before he taps out of his budgeted amount. Unlike other activities once can recoup some or all of the money spent.
As 3:2 gets replaced by 6:5, Blackjack will become less popular, at least among those who play on a somewhat regular besis. The average tourist who knows little about gambling rules, odds, etc. will not be affected. I'm not saying all tourists are that way, many (like Boris or me) may be tourists, but we also pay attention to what goes on, and play accordingly. To us, Vegas is something we enjoy as often as we can, not "this year's tourist destination".
Also the fact that there are very few tables (especially on the strip) with limits below $10.00 is making it a game for the higher spenders. Yes, $10 a hand is high to some of us.
See Y'all next month!
So Let me get this straight?
Some of you penny slot players actually in some kind of sublimminal way think that by playing 100x bet on a penny machine is actually cheaper than playing a dollar slot 1x
No wonder the casinos make money
ROFL!
if i worded above statement wrong,,deal with it
I dont play "penny slots"
The sarcasmous entity that exists within these pages will get my drift
peace out
This article alluded to Vegas' need for "mid-rollers. DUH! Vegas was built on mid-rollers (and a slew of low-rollers too) and somebody, somewhere should begin addressing these clientele in ernest. "Whales" and high-rollers are definite substantial sources of revenue, but we average folk enjoy gaming in Vegas also.
I agree wholeheartedly with @BRASS in that "gambling is no different than any other form of recreation". And, "A smart gambler is one who has a budget". There is no better way to enjoy Chicago, Dallas, New York or any vacation city than being on a budget. Vegas is no different! In my 35+ years of visiting Vegas, there have been just a few times that I've returned home with some of my 'budgeted' dollars in hand... but I ALWAYS have a heluva time. I've even learned to enjoy Penny Slots.
Vegas is a tremendously enjoyable vacation destination. No matter how games or dining or entertainment changes, roll with the punches and find pleasure in the 'piece' of Vegas that suits you.
It took 30 years to realize that BJ is a game of chance. That everything they said about are garbish and nobody win in that game.
I guess the point that I and many others try to make is that the cards have just become so stacked against the gambler that it is just not fun anymore. Of course most people understand that in the end you are going to lose. The problem is that the suits have just taken the fun out of the adventure. I, personally, have found another hobby. It is a shame because we really used to enjoy the ride.
Simple solution... video blackjack machines that actually play with liberal rules.
There are a few out there that actually pay time and half on black jacks, split pairs, double down and even double down after splits, six card automatic winners, and some with the surrender option (along with the insurance sucker bet).
The casino video blackjack games are crap... can't even split Aces. They won't get my business outside of a cheap buffet!
Of course blackjack revenue and tables are going in the wrong direction. Who's dumb enough to play 6:5 blackjack? Why even go to Vegas to gamble anymore unless it's for a game you can't get elsewhere? If the odds are better somewhere else then gamble somewhere else. Vegas has a lot to offer but it sure is losing its advantage.