Las Vegas Strip's high-end casinos powered by baccarat
Some of the flashy casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip are driven by upscale baccarat, a game popular with wealthy gamblers and tourists from the Asia-Pacific region.
Casinos posted record gross gaming revenue (GGR) in December, driven by Las Vegas and Nevada. That helped the state set its third consecutive annual record. Data shows that by the end of 2023, Baccarat will have done most of the heavy lifting.
The competition, which is hugely popular in the international market, had a bustling presence on the Las Vegas Strip last November, largely due to the influx of foreign tourists Las Vegas Grand Prix. The trend continued in December. Overall, Las Vegas Strip casino operators won $218.7 million from the game last year, up nearly $73 million from the year before. Baccarat holdings increase from 17% in 2022 to 22% in 2023.
In this centuries-old game, players and the banker (banker) must think about the number of cards with face values ranging from two to nine. Numbers 10 to K have no value, A is worth one point. Baccarat typically uses six or eight decks of cards, with the goal being to get as close to nine as possible. In a hypothetical example, a player wishes to receive a 9 and a face card. When played correctly, Baccarat offers players the lowest house edge of all table games.
Baccarat returns are not consistent across the Las Vegas Strip
Before the release of the 2006 movie Casino Royale, James Bond (Daniel Craig) played Texas Hold'em, and baccarat was a standard card game in many other films in the series, adding a touch of glamor to the movie. game .
This is also proven in reality, as many casino operators have high minimum stakes at baccarat tables, which often limits the game's audience to wealthy players. These types of players often flock to the Aria, Bellagio and Cosmopolitan on the Las Vegas Strip, as well as Caesars Palace, Wynn and Encore. Aria, Bellagio and Cosmopolitan are operated by MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM).
Baccarat wins were driven by strong baccarat profits of $219 million, easily the best month since the start of the pandemic, up 5.5% year over year," CBRE analyst John DeCree ) wrote in a recent report. “While Baccarat’s holding advantage is nearly 400 basis points above the (past 12-month) average, Baccarat volumes remain at post-pandemic highs, reaching $993 million. "Baccarat also showed strong performance at the first annual Formula 1 race in November. Overall, the baccarat trends over the past two months have been positive as real estate prices increased on the Las Vegas Strip. index."
"High-end" may be in the eye of the beholder, but Deckery has previously pointed out that the above-mentioned casino hotels are the biggest beneficiaries of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Therefore, it can be said that mid-sized integrated resorts do not have a large amount of baccarat play and therefore do not get as much profit from the game as they do from blackjack or roulette.
Other Las Vegas Highlights
DeCree also noted that there has not been any negative impact on Las Vegas Strip occupancy rates since the Fontainebleau Hotel Las Vegas opened in December.
“December occupancy growth occurred despite new room supply at Fontainebleau,” the analyst noted. “With the Fontainebleau hotel opening on December 13, the Strip is clearly accommodating the new hotel. There are no issues with (3,600 rooms).”
Likewise, 2023 is shaping up to be a record year for local casinos in Las Vegas, with the newest property, Durango Casino Resort, driving the trend despite opening in early December.
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Source: www.casino.org
