Blackjack Popularity Continues to Wane in Las Vegas

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Tuesday, July 11th, 2017 | Written by Shane Larson

Classic casino table games have played a huge part in the evolution of the gambling industry, but over the past few decades the rising popularity of slot machines and online gambling games has significantly impacted peoples views towards table games, and especially the card game blackjack.

Three Decades of Change

Over the last 30 years, big changes have come to the gambling industry. In 1987, for instance, Las Vegas was the key state as far as US land-based casinos were concerned, and had a huge hold over the country’s gambling sector, followed closely by Atlantic City. Everything began to change when gambling went online, though, and even with laws like the Federal Wire Act of 1961, and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 attempting to halt online gambling growth, it still continued to thrive and grow stronger.

This century, gambling has not only been transferred onto mobile and online platforms, but it has also seen other land-based markets rising across the globe, such as in Singapore and Macau which now have gambling locations that are just as spectacular and vibrant as Las Vegas.

Blackjack Less Appealing

While it’s difficult to believe, there was once a time when blackjack was the most important table game for casinos, and in 1987 made up 75.88 percent of all table games that were played on the Las Vegas Strip during any given year. At that time, craps came in a distant second with a 10.53% share. Currently, however, blackjack is only played 50 percent of the time, with this huge 25 percent drop highlighting a definite decrease in the popularity of the game. Nowadays, it is now baccarat that has become the biggest money-spinner for Las Vegas based casinos, accounting for 39.70% of all table game revenues collected in 2017.

In the meantime, Blackjack has proven to be one of the most-loved casino table games that can be played online, together with Roulette and Texas Hold’em Poker. While the drop off in its land-based popularity started to happen well before the arrival of online gaming, the transition of the classic card game to mobile and online platforms undoubtedly contributed to its decline at its land-based counterparts. This is because players were subsequently able to play blackjack for free or at minimal cost at online casinos, making the motivation to drive miles to a land-based casino less appealing. In other words, real money internet casinos made it far too convenient to play from the comfort of your couch, rather than the sometime intimidating atmosphere of a live casino.

Future Prospects

In conclusion, casino focus on the profits that can be generated from table games such as blackjack, and if a game is not making enough money for the house at any given casino, land-based or online, the house is not going to devote much floor space to the game, no matter how popular it might have been in the past. It would appear that it is for this reason that blackjack has experienced a serious decline over the past tree decades, with the way that this game is now being played having been revolutionized by the onset of the online and digital revolution. Who can predict what is next in store for this card game, though? Its always possible that the game will experience a resurgence, casinos will devote more floor space toit, and gamblers will return to land-based casinos, but at this point in time that prospect seems to be heading in the opposite direction.

Poker Table Numbers Also Declining

Blackjack is not the only casino table game experiencing declining interest in Nevada, with poker also feeling a sharp decrease since peaking in 2006 with total revenues of $168 million. The situation was further compounded by Black Friday in 2011. MGM Resorts International, for instance, has since shut down its poker room, while the Aria and Bellagio, too, have no devoted poker room to offer its guests. Other major casinos to follow suit include the Hard Rock Casino Hotel, Ellis Island, Palms and Tropicana, with many of the venues revamping the floor space to feature nightclubs, shops, and restaurants, instead. As Brian Gordon from Applied Analysis, explains:

“Gaming has become a smaller portion of the overall revenue mix and things like poker rooms are candidates for further evaluation as to whether they make sense or not at a casino property.”