Baccarat may not have a huge casino following online, where poker, slots and blackjack still rule, but that is not the case in brick and mortar casinos. Where blackjack used to be the big money-maker at Vegas casinos, they now rely on baccarat to make a profit.
According to the Associated Press, baccarat accounts for most of the table game revenue at Las Vegas casinos, including 60% of the revenue at the MGM Grand. Part of it is because baccarat attracts more high-stakes gamblers, who bet big money on each turn. This is taken to an entirely different level at the same time every year, when we are approaching Chinese New Year.
The week and days leading up to the Chinese New Year, which was on January 23 this year, bring a lot of Asian customers to the Las Vegas casinos. A large number of those customers are high rollers and they love to play baccarat, which is more popular in Asia than in the United States. At the baccarat tables, the players will place wagers of $100,000 or $200,000 on each hand.
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, MGM Grand Senior Vice President Debra Nutton said that “for us to make money in gaming today without baccarat is almost impossible.” She attributed the big blackjack numbers to the big spenders. “We need the big whales to make money.” A whale in casino terms is the biggest of high-stakes gamblers. The casinos cater to them by offering high-stakes games with expensive table limits, such as baccarat games where you have to wager at least $10,000 per hand.
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