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Survey of Table Games in Las Vegas
(Updated -- September, 2009)

Original article appears at bottom.


Copyright ©  Eliot Jacobson, Ph.D.

In September, 2009, I surveyed 64 casinos in the greater Las Vegas area and southern Nevada.  This survey included 34 strip casinos, 12 downtown casinos and 18 local’s casinos. 

In June, 2006, I surveyed 43 casinos in the greater Las Vegas area.  This survey included 24 strip casinos, 11 downtown casinos and 8 local’s casinos.  This data will be referenced for comparison purposes as needed.

The games of baccarat, blackjack and Pai Gow have both clones and side bets.  To avoid confusion, we will deal with these issues separately in our analysis.

Here are the top five carnival games surveyed in terms of the total number of casinos.  Note that they are all poker clones. 

  1. Three Card Poker (55)
  2. Let it Ride Bonus (48)
  3. Crazy 4 Poker (25)
  4. Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em (19)
  5. Texas Hold ‘em Bonus (13)

Based on the 2006 survey, the top five games then were also poker clones:

  1. Three Card Poker
  2. Let it Ride
  3. Texas Hold ‘em Bonus Poker
  4. Crazy 4 Poker
  5. Caribbean Stud

The niche of “poker clones” remains the dominant category.  There’s wry folk wisdom among professional poker players that 80% of players consider themselves to be above average players, while no poker players consider themselves below average.  That attitude is carried over to the carnival game pit.  Poker has become the game that anyone can beat.  

There are very few blackjack clones compared to poker and they have had limited success.  Most blackjack players have devoted time and effort to learning a complex basic strategy and they appreciate the game’s low edge.  Given the long learning curve, it is no wonder that they are not eager to learn a new game.  Established blackjack players appear to have less tolerance for variations.  Only Blackjack Switch has shown appreciable market gain since 2006.  A total of 38 of the 64 casinos surveyed had a blackjack clone.  Here is the list of top blackjack clones observed:

  1. Super Fun 21 (14)
  2. Blackjack Switch (13)
  3. Spanish 21 (8)

Perhaps because blackjack players hold true to the game, blackjack side bets are the dominant form of innovation.  Blackjack side bets give the player the opportunity to “variance shop.”  Here are the top blackjack side bets in terms of the total number of casinos.  It should be mentioned that during the survey, Lucky Lucky was placed into two more casinos. 

  1. Lucky Lucky (14)
  2. Pair Square (8)
  3. Lucky Ladies (7)
  4. Royal Match (7)

Like blackjack, Pai Gow Poker variants mainly focused on side bets.  Here are the top Pai Gow Poker variants in terms of total number of casinos.

  1. Fortune (27)
  2. Emperor’s Treasure (15)
  3. Dragon (12)
  4. Thrill (2)

 The top ten major strip casinos, in terms of number of different carnival games offered:

  1. Wynn (16)
  2. Bally’s (14)
  3. Harrah’s (14)
  4. Paris (14)
  5. Rio (14)
  6. Bellagio (13)
  7. MGM (13)
  8. Encore (12)
  9. Flamingo (12)
  10. Venetian (12)

Here are the numbers from 2006 for those casinos that were surveyed at that time:

  1. Harrah’s (11)
  2. Bellagio (9)
  3. Bally’s (8)
  4. Flamingo (8)
  5. MGM (8)
  6. Paris (7)

The trend is clear: more carnival games on the strip.  Similar trends hold for both downtown and locals casinos.

Top downtown casinos, in terms of number of different carnival games offered, 2009:

  1. Fitzgerald’s (9)
  2. Golden Nugget (8)
  3. Binion’s (7)
  4. Four Queens (7)
  5. Las Vegas Club (7)
  6. Plaza (7)

Here are the numbers from 2006 for these casinos:

  1. Fitzgerald’s (8)
  2. Golden Nugget (6)
  3. Four Queens (5)
  4. Binion’s (5)
  5. Las Vegas Club (4)
  6. Plaza (5)

 Top locals casinos, in terms of number of different carnival games offered, 2009:

  1. Boulder Station (12)
  2. Green Valley Ranch (10)
  3. Red Rock (10)
  4. Sunset Station (8)
  5. M Resort and Casino (7)
  6. Palace Station (7)

Here are the numbers from 2006 for those casinos that were surveyed at that time:

  1. Sunset Station (9)
  2. Green Valley Ranch (8)
  3. Palace Station (8)
  4. Boulder Station (6)
  5. Red Rock (5)

Finally, it is interesting to note the number of different carnival games operated property-wide by the major corporate casino entities in Las Vegas.  The following lists the number of distinct carnival games offered at one or more of the properties owned by the listed company.

  • Harrah’s (28)
  • Station (28)
  • MGM-Mirage (27)
  • Boyd (18)

Harrah’s offers the greatest variety of poker clones with 10.  Station offers the greatest variety of blackjack side bets with 6.

It’s not just a case of how many different carnival games are offered.  Consider the total number of carnival game tables in some of the casinos in Las Vegas:

  1. MGM (68)
  2. Rio (66)
  3. Harrah’s (63)
  4. Paris (61)
  5. Wynn (59)

The numbers here tell a fairly striking story about the evolution of the modern Las Vegas casino.  The Las Vegas transformation represents a paradigm shift that’s going on throughout the hemisphere. 

ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM 2006 FOLLOWS

In late June 2006, I surveyed 43 casinos in the greater Las Vegas area, collecting information about their carnival games.  The casinos surveyed included 24 strip casinos, 11 downtown casinos, and 8 local’s casinos.

I only surveyed those table games that are often referred to as “carnival.”  The trend in the last few years has been to increase the variety and number of carnival games while decreasing the floor space given to traditional games (blackjack, craps and roulette).    Moreover, carnival games are starting to bring players back to the tables.  The trend it towards cycling in new carnival games in a fashion similar to the shifting landscape of slots, and what’s hot right now are poker themed games.

The game of Pai Gow has many named variations which amount to the standard base game with a side-bet.  To avoid confusion, we will deal with this game and Baccarat separately in our analysis.

This article presents the data collected.  After a game or casino is listed, the number of times it was observed is indicated in parentheses.

Here are the top 10 carnival games in Las Vegas .  Note that 8 out of these 10 are poker themed games.  There is only one game with a blackjack theme among the top 10 (Super Fun 21).

  1. Three Card Poker (39)
  2. Let It Ride (34)
  3. Texas Hold ‘em Bonus Poker (20)
  4. Crazy 4 Poker (15)
  5. Caribbean Stud (9)
  6. 3-5-7 Poker (9)
  7. Super Fun 21 (8)
  8. Deuces Wild Hold ‘em Fold ‘em Stud Poker (5)
  9. World Poker Tour All-in Hold ‘em (5)
  10. Casino War (3)

A clear leader has emerged in the new niche of “Texas Hold ‘em clones”.  Here is a complete list of the Texas Hold ’em games surveyed, and the number of times each was observed. 

  1. Texas Hold ‘em Bonus Poker (20)
  2. World Poker Tour All-In Hold ‘em (5)
  3. Deuces Wild Hold ‘em Fold ‘em Stud Poker (5)
  4. Texas Shoot Out (2)
  5. Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em (1)

Likewise, the trend seems to be towards Pai Gow clones, with quite a selection of variations of the game making their way onto the floor:

  1. Pai Gow (straight) (16)
  2. Fortune Pai Gow (16)
  3. Pai Gow Plus (3)
  4. Progressive Pai Gow (2)
  5. Pai Gow Emporer’s Challenge (1)
  6. Pai Gow Mania (1)
  7. Dragon Pai Gow (1)

Baccarat had no clones, except that sometimes it is played on a smaller table (called Mini-Baccarat).  There is also a side wager called the “Dragon Bonus” that usually accompanied the Mini-Baccarat tables; it did not appear on the full game.

  1. Baccarat (20)
  2. Mini-Baccarat (10)
  3. Dragon Bonus (8)

Surprisingly, there are very few blackjack clones, indicating that most blackjack players are well educated about the small house edge of the standard game.  Here is the list of blackjack clones:

  1. Super Fun 21 (8)
  2. Blackjack Switch (3)
  3. Spanish 21 (2)
  4. Extreme 21 (1)

Because of the allegiance of blackjack players to the pure game, there are a number of side wagers that are used at the blackjack tables to add variety:

  1. Lucky Ladies (8)
  2. Pair Square (3)
  3. Royal Match (3)
  4. Wheel of Madness (2)
  5. Bonus Spin (1)
  6. Double Shot (1)
  7. Super Pair Bonus Bet (1)

There were a number of games that appeared in only one surveyed casino.  Surprisingly, ShuffleMaster’s “Four Card Poker” was not observed at any surveyed casino.  Here is a complete list of the rare games:

  1. Boston 5 Stud Poker (1)
  2. Caribbean Draw Poker (1)
  3. Extreme 21 (1)
  4. Play Four Poker (1)
  5. Sic Bo (1)
  6. Two Card Joker Poker (1)
  7. Triple Shot (1)
  8. Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em (1)

The top 3 major strip casinos, in terms of the number of different carnival games offered:

  1. Harrah’s (11)
  2. Bellagio (9)
  3. New York , Yew York (9)

 The top 3 downtown casinos in terms of the number of different carnival games offered:

  1. Fitzgerald’s (8)
  2. Freemont (6)
  3. Golden Nugget (6)

The top 3 local’s casinos in terms of the number of different carnival games offered:

  1. Sunset Station (9)
  2. Green Valley Ranch (8)
  3. Palace Station (8)

It is also interesting to consider the 3 major strip casinos with the least number of different carnival games:

  1. Luxor (3)
  2. Circus Circus (5)
  3. Imperial Palace (5)

If we were to create a hypothetical “average” casino in Las Vegas , it would have five carnival games, along with blackjack, craps, and roulette.  These five games would be Three Card Poker, Let It Ride, Texas Hold ‘em Bonus Poker, Crazy 4 Poker, and Caribbean Stud.  This casino would also offer some variation of Pai Gow, most likely Fortune Pai Gow.  If the casino is more upscale, it would certainly offer Baccarat.  The casino would also consider a blackjack side bet, most likely “Lucky Ladies,” and may have it available on selected tables.  

Which casino in Las Vegas is most average?  The games and side bets in the previous paragraph are a perfect match with those offered at the Flamingo Casino.  Someone’s doing their homework!

 

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