Saturday, March 4, 2017

How Much Do Gaming Casinos Win?



In an article, The Wall Street Journal dumps some public numbers:
The Parisian’s “win percentage” on mass-market table games—or the ratio of revenue retained by the house from wagers—was 18% in the fourth quarter out of a total of $895 million. At The Venetian, which is also owned by Sands, the figure was 25% out of $1.7 billion. At Wynn Palace, the win percentage was 22% out of $725 million.

9 comments:

  1. So, you're saying: If you plunk your money down on 22 at the Parisian, your return is better than a money market fund? /s

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    1. I think that's the cut of all bets placed at tables where the customers play each other and the house. Thus the players are funding each others' winnings to significant degree. So this figure has nothing to do with how much 'return' a player can expect. Only what the house can expect from operating the table. If $100K is bet at a table the house gets $20K of it. So what is better than a mutual fund is operating the table, not betting at it.

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    2. Of course, which is what the "/s" means. What I was ***literally*** saying was what the sucker, um , customer, is doing is getting (100% - 18%) = getting an 82% return in aggregate on their "investment" on number 22 at the roulette wheel.
      Much like a microscopic return in a money market fund in an inflationary environment. I know, sometimes my attempts at humor are to obscure for anyone else but me to get. Sorry.

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    3. Well, I think I expressed that incorrectly in my "correction". What I mean to say is a gambler will walk away with 82 cents for every dollar, whereas an investor in a mutual fund will walk away with +.00001% interest minus 10% inflation for a net of 90 cents walking away. OK better than the casino, but for sarcasm's sake I hyperbolized.

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    4. No the gambler doesn't just lose to the house, he loses to the other players and the house. Play the wheel and walk away with a 100% loss. ~20% goes to the house, ~80% goes to the winning players.

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  2. I wonder if this includes poker and other games "hosted" by the players - where the house only takes a rake and has none of its own money at risk.

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  3. Poker rake is not in the table game hold percentage

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  4. 18 to 22% sounds good, but how much does it cost to actually run Paris, Venetian, etc? The Venetian is really quite impressive and has its own "river" with gondolas and fake sky, etc. 22% on 1 billion gambled might not be enough to cover it, but then again, they do make some money on rooms, restaurants and expensive boutique shops. A little of it is subsidized by the gambling, but not to the extent it used to be years ago. The ubiquitous video poker machines are big money makers for bars and restaurants. I think they bring in much more revenue than food and alcohol.

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