Baccarat continues it's juggernaut

The December 2009 numbers were just published for Nevada. Baccarat had it's best month yet in the history of gaming in Nevada. An incredible $156 million earnings on $1.3 billion in play. February should be even better with Chinese New Year's Eve.

Baccarat is now way ahead of blackjack on the strip, and it is within 2-3% for statewide numbers as blackjack falls month after month and baccarat zooms forward. Practically every pit game is falling, as well.

As much as I would like to believe it, I can find no overwhelming evidence that the primary reason is the prevalence of bad rules like 6:5 payout. Blackjack is still falling in downtown Vegas even though the rules are, for the most part, still good for players downtown.

A recent new article that circulated widely back east was that PA casinos passed NJ slots only for the first time in December 2009. What the article failed to mention was that PA slot revenue came within 1.1% of Vegas Strip slot revenue the month before. Things do not bode well for NV conventional games and slots and casinos that have only those gambling offerings.

Do you have any estimates as to how much of that Baccarat play is Whales, particularly Asian Whales? If its largely Asian Whales, that's a staggering amount of money!

Do you view Pennsylvania and New Jersey casinos as necessarily being in competition for the same gamblers or is there only a slight geographic overlap? Fast food restaurants seem to do well in close proximity to each other. Downtown casinos do well despite being in walking (or staggering) proximity to each other. Strip casinos are only a bit more separated.

As long as numbers don't fall below a critical mass, is competition really all that bad?

I've played baccarat a few times and I find it incredibly boring! There's no strategy... perfect play is to bet on the bank every time, but of course just doing that would make it even more boring! What's the appeal?

Quote: jeremykay

I've played baccarat a few times and I find it incredibly boring! There's no strategy... perfect play is to bet on the bank every time, but of course just doing that would make it even more boring! What's the appeal?

I have to agree with this. Its good that it presents a low house edge with no skill involved, but I find even roulette more exciting.

I find the rise of the game a bit perplexing, and it would be interesting to look at in the context of the ratio of high-rollers to low-rollers (obviously should be more categories than that, but you get the idea) and how that is changing given the economy.

I do think baccarat has a ceiling that it will eventually hit. Maybe very soon. Whales are one thing, but I can't imagine regular gamblers will embrace it like they do roulette and blackjack. Part of the attraction of baccarat to high rollers is that they can control how the game is run a bit (even tearing up the cards if they like). Regular gamblers will never be able to do this at a mini-bac table on the floor and will always remain observers.

Quote: FleaStiff

Do you view Pennsylvania and New Jersey casinos as necessarily being in competition for the same gamblers or is there only a slight geographic overlap?

I live in northern NJ - just about the same distance to AC as Mohegan Sun/Foxwoods, but it's about half that to the closest PA casino. I and many people I talk to are looking forward to when the tables open in PA in September.

Quote: FleaStiff

Fast food restaurants seem to do well in close proximity to each other.

For the same reason that car dealerships are clustered. Zoning, land values / rent, and by being close, the consumer has a choice of several brands. The alternative is a choice between this brand or looking elsewhere. Once they leave the area, they're gone.


There's a certain charm / draw in Vegas, and even A.C. that can't be matched in stand-alone casinos. But for a quick fix, a local casino can't be beat.

As a result, the competition means the big trip will happen less often.

Quote: jeremykay

I've played baccarat a few times and I find it incredibly boring! There's no strategy... perfect play is to bet on the bank every time, but of course just doing that would make it even more boring! What's the appeal?

I find low-limit baccarat to be very fun. But I'm weird. I like that it is low variance, you don't have to play every hand, you can choose which side to wager on, and the patter among the players is good. Nobody gets angry at each other like in Blackjack. If you don't like a person, you can bet against them. If you start hitting a streak, people will start betting with you and that is pretty fun.

Anyway, here is a good article that explains why some people enjoy baccarat.