Why are Vegas table game limits HIGHER???

You'd think that with reduced business, they'd make the limits lower to attract customers. But noooooo. All reports are just the opposite. Even dust joints are charging $25 minimums. $5 tables are very hard to find.

Is it just that the casinos are trying to exploit a short-lived wave of desperate addicts who will pay any amount to lose their money? Do they figure that come January, Vegas will be like a tomb, so they might as well milk everyone while they can? Don't they realize that upping the limits doesn't mean they'll make more money, it just means that people's bankrolls won't last as long and they won't have as much fun?

This almost certainly ties in to why there are almost no bargains to be had and room rates are as high or higher than they were this time last year. They are, as usual, thinking only in the short term.

The Vegas experience is so diminished now by these greedhead corporations that it's hardly worth making a trip there, especially since by doing so, you vastly increase your chance of getting sick. Vegas seems to be deciding that it wants the $10,000-weekend tourist and not the $1,000 one. We should go where our business is wanted and appreciated. There are plenty of other options out there!

I'm reasonably sure they are looking for "whatever the traffic will bear."  

I agree 1000%. I have been going to Las Vegas 2 times a year (from NC) for 34 years, and I have witnessed, as have many current and former members of this forum have, how the corporate mentality has stripped Las Vegas of all of the things that made it affordable and attractive to the masses. It is mind blowing that the corporate culture would turn $$$$$$$$$$$ away because they have made it unaffordable for the for the working class to visit or want to visit. I, like yourself have never understood how raising the table limits, raising the drink prices (which are ridiculous at bars & pools) and food prices, benefits the company in the LONG TERM? It would seem that if the majority of consumers are priced out of the market the businesses will fail but I guess there are enough people  that show up no matter what it costs that it is still a viable and profitable model. If and only if the middle class quit coming and spending will the situation ever change, which is what the bean counters know/think will never happen  so they continue to take advantage of people that are willing to be taken advantage of. At some point each individual has to draw the line in the sand and say no more. When the bottom line starts to decline is the only time things will change. IMO.  I am not sure what your economic position in life is, but as a middle class person, people like me are just hampsters on a wheel, digging out a living only to be raped and taken advantage of by corporate greed. I guess I can show up and take my ass whipping and move on or I can just not go to the place that has provided so much joy in my life. It is a very difficult position to be in and as of now,  I have decided that Las Vegas is not a desirable destination for me.  

I completely agree with you, Vegas used to be more accessible and interesting. I loved to gamble and have a good time, but now I understand that it is much cheaper to play in various online casinos than to go there.

Small limit Table games dont turn a profit unless they have alot of players playing at the same time.   Since the new COVID rules limit the number of players the only way those tables can make money is by upping the minimum bets.

If it allows them to surive then I'm all for it.   Needless to say I wont be buying in at a $25 table anywhere.       Hopefully cheaper minimums come back when things go back to normal.  

Oh, I doubt that they don't make money, even when they're dealing to three players who are each betting $5. Don't forget, even during the busiest periods, during any given hour, a randomly selected BJ seat will be empty. They simply don't average the number of hands that are dealt to a full table.

They only pay the dealers minimum wage (actually subminimum, given some interesting tricks they're allowed to pull), and the mechanical overhead is trivial--new felt for the table every couple of weeks and new decks of cards every shift (@ .85/deck).

Consider that the average player who doesn't know or ignores basic strategy normally plays at a disadvantage of 4%. With 6:5 BJ payouts, that soars over 5%. A three-handed game should get in 60 hands an hour, easily. So that's $900 in action (three handed, $5 minimum bets), for a $45+ profit every hour. Pay the dealer his crumbs and you're still making well over $35/hr.

So I do not weep for the casinos, even during these troubling times.

Caveat(s): I don't feel sorry for corporations in general (including casinos), and I almost never play anything but $5 tables. But I do question some of your math.

Wages are only part of the cost for employees. Do dealers get health insurance, employer-matching on social security or 401Ks? (Not being rhetorical here; I really don't know.) They definitely have to pay for unemployment and liability insurance. Also, do they really get new felts every 2 weeks? I don't know how much those cost, but I doubt it's insignificant. Also, they have to pay security, shift and pit bosses, utilities, free drinks, etc., etc. 

I really doubt they make much money (if any) from $5 tables

Does anyone know if any of the outlying casinos have $5 mimiums on blackjack and/or craps?

I'm thinking Red Rock, the Orleans, Gold Coast or any relatively close to downtown/the strip.

Sure. I was referring to the direct net revenue generated by a BJ table. All the other costs you mention are going to be present whether the table is open or closed. The dealer's wages are a different story, as they generally only work when there are customers--God knows, I got enough involuntary "early outs" back in the day, sometimes winding up working only four hours or less rather than a full shift.

As to employee benefits--those vary from casino to casino. Boyd, Stations, and CSR supposedly take pretty good care of their employees.

Casinos make money in any situation and with any number of visitors. This only changes the amount of their income, and given that many of them have started to create their own online casinos, their income has not changed, except that it has grown