Analysis
This is the third time in six years we’ve run this poll and your tastes in gambling games haven’t changed much in that time. You can check out the past two polls (December 12, 2012, and July 16, 2014), but there’s very little difference among the three: a point here for video poker, a point there for slots.
Combining video poker, slots, video keno, and electronic blackjack, we find that machine play accounts for 41% of your preference. No surprise there, as revenues from machines make up well over half of what the casino collects overall.
Blackjack and craps, of course, are the table-game mainstays, though 3 Card Poker, Pai Gow Poker, and Let It Ride hold steady at 3%-4%.
A couple comments on blackjack concerned the continuing complaints about 6-5.
“I have been coming to Vegas for 30+ years. I love playing blackjack and used to play it all of the time. Now I rarely play it. Increased table minimum has something to do with it but 6-5 BJ is about 99% of why I don't play as much. People might think it is only a 30-cent difference, but it is far more. I saw something that said playing 6-5 BJ instead of 3-2 is the same as paying $100 to see a movie everyone else is paying $10 to see. If "the suits" want to increase handle being, FAIR to guests is a great way to start. I know the house has to win, but at least make it fair for players or else the players won't play.”
“I play only 3-2 blackjack. Since there are virtually no viable single-deck games anymore in LV, I play double-deck. If a casino doesn't have such a game, I walk. If LV eliminates all, or most, such games, I will go elsewhere.”
We also received an interesting comment about blackjack minimums.
“I am delighted to read you will create a webpage listing the best places to play games. This is long standing gap that begs to be filled. I suspect it will be difficult to keep current. I ask that you make a distinction between best for recreational players with modest bankrolls and serious players with substantial bankrolls. One can always find good blackjack rules if one is willing to play at a minimum $100 or $500 a hand. For a $10 to $15 a hand, it is nearly impossible for a tourist to find a good game unless one is willing to drive all over Las Vegas, which entails paying a steep rake for a rental car or taxi.”
Yes, this ambition of ours, as you rightly point out, is a tall order to begin with, and tracking table minimums makes it even taller. But thanks for the suggestion; we’ll definitely keep it in mind.
Several respondents also sent in comments the machine versions of playing table games.
“Even though points are not awarded for playing e-roulette (a practice that I’m totally baffled by), it has become my new favorite game.”
“I like to play the Bally's single-player video roulette slot machine. I cannot play the multi-player roulette games with a timer, because I am old and slow making inside bets.”
“I have read that the ‘craps’ machines in casinos, while giving the same odds on most bets, are not actually as good as playing at a table. I am 60 and prefer to make my bets sitting down. Plus, the machines pay off on wins automatically, so you don't have to keep an eagle eye on the toke hustling casino employees, who sometimes conveniently forget to pay off on don't pass and come when a shooter sevens out.”
“Virtual blackjack: You know the one with a high-definition monitor and some of the hottest-looking [video] dealers around. You can play at only $1, as there is no cost for a live dealer That funky pseudo virtual craps game where again you can play for $1 and the dice (like huge fuzzy dice off of a 32 deuce coupe) jump around on some type of trampoline. With table minimums continuing to rise, I have to give up some of the personal attention and go with a machine to make my vacation dollars go farther.”
A number of respondents like the poker-based carnie games.
“In general I like playing the poker based games.”
“Mississippi Stud.”
“I can't play it anymore because it no longer exists (still not sure why. Hey! There's a Q of the Day!) but I LOVED 3-5-7 Poker. It was fun, the whole table usually got into it, and I usually did pretty well at it as well.”
And then there were these three surprises.
“They have an electronic version of the Big Six Wheel. It is called Lucky Big Wheel. It has better odds than the table game.”
“6-card Fortune Pai Gow. The only casino I've found it in is the Downstream casino outside Joplin, MO, in Oklahoma. I'm addicted to it. Much better than 7- card Pai Gow.
“Pai gow tiles.”
Thanks to everyone, as always, for participating.
