This Week in Gambling: Odds of winning in Las Vegas are falling fast
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During This Week in Gambling’s edition, J. Todd takes a look at how it’s no surprise that Sin City’s revenue is increasing as the odds to take the house are dwindling quickly. Not everyone is out of luck though as J. Todd also reports on some recent Las Vegas jackpot winners.
Las Vegas and the state of Nevada have been on a huge revenue run for over two years. Some have wondered if this incredible streak of billion-dollar revenue months could be tied to changing odds on games. Now, we have the numbers you need to know before you head to Sin City.
The Las Vegas Strip is the force behind the state reaching and exceeding the $1 billion mark for the 26th consecutive month in April, according to statistics released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The casinos down on Fremont Street saw a year-on-year rise of over 10% in revenue, bringing in close to $75 million for the month. The casinos on The Las Vegas Strip were only up about 5% from the year before, but were still able to bring in close to $625 million. Slot machine revenue was up over 4% and generated close to $840 million. Meanwhile, sportsbooks revenue was up 28% and generated over $32 million, with mobile wagers making up about two-thirds of the action. Visitors to downtown and The Las Vegas Strip were up just 1% from last April.
So, why is the revenue so high? The answer might be as simple as it comes down to odds. The Las Vegas casinos are stacking the deck, figuratively speaking, in a bid to cater more exclusively to high rollers amid a flood of visitors to the gaming mecca.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the industry believes it has so many gamblers coming to The Strip to lose their money that it can afford to weed out the undesirables by lowering the odds and shrinking the payoff. Analysts at Vegas Advantage estimate that more than two-thirds of all blackjack tables on The Strip are now only offering only 6:5 payouts as opposed to more favorable 3:2 ratio they have historically offered when a player hits 21 on the first two cards, according to the Wall Street Journal. This raises the House advantage by approximately 400%.
Vegas Advantage also estimates the number of so-called “triple zero” roulette tables that feature an extra slot, thereby mathematically lowering the chance of winning, has soared. These harder tables were once a rarity with only a few in operation back in 2016, but last year there were 78. There are also approximately 111 double-zero tables that are slightly more favorable for participants.
Nevada law states that slots must pay out at least 75% and while most pay above that there is definitely fluctuation from casino to casino. According to reports, slots on The Strip and on Fremont Street have some of the worst odds in the state.
With all that said, there were some lucky Sin City guests who took the House recently as they walked away with big paydays. One visitor at The LINQ Hotel + Experience hit a mega jackpot to the tune of $239,054 while playing three-card poker. Down at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas, a player left the Crazy 4 Poker table with an extra $354,72. Lastly, a video slots player took home $100,000 while playing video poker.
