Question of the Day - 01 March 2020

[Editor's Note: Spotlight on Andrew Uyal, floor supervisor at the Cromwell and author of The Blackjack Insiders, who also answered yesterday's question. We think you'll find his take on $20 minimums interesting.]

It seems logical that there would be $20 tables, since there are $5, $10, $15, and $25 tables. From what I’ve seen out playing and here on the inside, $20 games are actually on the rise. They’re usually seen in high-volume casinos that can fluctuate their minimums constantly as the business streams in and out.

The $15 minimum has a similar backstory. Prior to 10 years or so ago, $15 games were never seen on the floor. I never saw a $15 table until I’d already worked at two different casinos and was in the early phases of my playing career.

It stands to reason that the same evolution will happen with $20 tables. But I’m now going to tell you why that’s a bad idea.

I can’t say exactly why other casino execs haven’t adopted more $20 tables. I can tell you why I personally stay away from them. I'm a partially educated, fairly rational casino guy, so maybe this is why you don’t see them more.

When you raise the table limit from $5 to $10, you’re doubling the amount of money wagered. It’s a great move for the casino that runs a risk of chasing away players, but the reward more than makes up for it.

The problem with going to $20 from there, for me, is the percentage increase is now even smaller, with the same risk of chasing away players. But $15 players are the same type of players as $20 players. The increase in the hold is much smaller at this higher level, making it nonsensical to chase the $15 players away.

Now, when you get to that $25 mark, everything changes. The most important thing that changes is the color of the chip. The color itself isn’t that important. It’s the denomination, the unit. If you add two chips to a $15 bet, it becomes $25. If you add two chips to a $25 bet, it goes to $75! Jumps like that have huge effects on the hold\ and the amount of money being bought in. This is the effect of forcing into that next denomination of chip.

Sure, people could get red chips and make smaller betting units. In reality, though, when the vast majority of people buy in for $200 on a $25 game, they expect to get eight green chips to play. This is just how quarter tables are.

All that being said, it makes the $20 minimum completely worth skipping over.