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In late June 2006, I surveyed 43 casinos in the greater Las Vegas area, collecting information about their carnival games. The casinos surveyed included 24 strip casinos, 11 downtown casinos, and 8 locals’ casinos.
I only surveyed those table games that are often referred to as “carnival.” The trend in the last few years has been to increase the variety and number of carnival games while decreasing the floor space given to traditional games (blackjack, craps and roulette). Moreover, carnival games are starting to bring players back to the tables. The trend it towards cycling in new carnival games in a fashion similar to the shifting landscape of slots, and what’s hot right now are poker themed games.
The game of Pai Gow has many named variations which amount to the standard base game with a side-bet. To avoid confusion, we will deal with this game and Baccarat separately in our analysis.
This article presents the data collected. After a game or casino is listed, the number of times it was observed is indicated in parentheses.
Here are the top 10 carnival games in Las Vegas. Note that 8 out of these 10 are poker themed games. There is only one game with a blackjack theme among the top 10 (Super Fun 21).
1. Three Card Poker (39)
2. Let It Ride (34)
3. Texas Hold ‘em Bonus Poker (20)
4. Crazy 4 Poker (15)
5. Caribbean Stud (9)
6. 3-5-7 Poker (9)
7. Super Fun 21 (8)
8. Deuces Wild Hold ‘em Fold ‘em Stud Poker (5)
9. World Poker Tour All-in Hold ‘em (5)
10. Casino War (3)
A clear leader has emerged in the new niche of “Texas Hold ‘em clones”. Here is a complete list of the Texas Hold ’em games surveyed, and the number of times each was observed.
1. Texas Hold ‘em Bonus Poker (20)
2. World Poker Tour All-In Hold ‘em (5)
3. Deuces Wild Hold ‘em Fold ‘em Stud Poker (5)
4. Texas Shoot Out (2)
5. Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em (1)
Likewise, the trend seems to be towards Pai Gow clones, with quite a selection of variations of the game making their way onto the floor:
1. Pai Gow (straight) (16)
2. Fortune Pai Gow (16)
3. Pai Gow Plus (3)
4. Progressive Pai Gow (2)
5. Pai Gow Emporer’s Challenge (1)
6. Pai Gow Mania (1)
7. Dragon Pai Gow (1)
Baccarat had no clones, except that sometimes it is played on a smaller table (called Mini-Baccarat). There is also a side wager called the “Dragon Bonus” that usually accompanied the Mini-Baccarat tables; it did not appear on the full game.
1. Baccarat (20)
2. Mini-Baccarat (10)
3. Dragon Bonus (8)
Surprisingly, there are very few blackjack clones, indicating that most blackjack players are well educated about the small house edge of the standard game. Here is the list of blackjack clones:
1. Super Fun 21 (8)
2. Blackjack Switch (3)
3. Spanish 21 (2)
4. Extreme 21 (1)
Because of the allegiance of blackjack players to the pure game, there are a number of side wagers that are used at the blackjack tables to add variety:
1. Lucky Ladies (8)
2. Pair Square (3)
3. Royal Match (3)
4. Wheel of Madness (2)
5. Bonus Spin (1)
6. Double Shot (1)
7. Super Pair Bonus Bet (1)
There were a number of games that appeared in only one surveyed casino. Surprisingly, ShuffleMaster’s “Four Card Poker” was not observed at any surveyed casino. Here is a complete list of the rare games:
1. Boston 5 Stud Poker (1)
2. Caribbean Draw Poker (1)
3. Extreme 21 (1)
4. Play Four Poker (1)
5. Sic Bo (1)
6. Two Card Joker Poker (1)
7. Triple Shot (1)
8. Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em (1)
The top 3 major strip casinos, in terms of the number of different carnival games offered:
1. Harrah’s (11)
2. Bellagio (9)
3. New York, Yew York (9)
The top 3 downtown casinos in terms of the number of different carnival games offered:
1. Fitzgerald’s (8)
2. Freemont (6)
3. Golden Nugget (6)
The top 3 locals’ casinos in terms of the number of different carnival games offered:
1. Sunset Station (9)
2. Green Valley Ranch (8)
3. Palace Station (8)
It is also interesting to consider the 3 major strip casinos with the least number of different carnival games:
1. Luxor (3)
2. Circus Circus (5)
3. Imperial Palace (5)
If we were to create a hypothetical “average” casino in Las Vegas, it would have five carnival games, along with blackjack, craps, and roulette. These five games would be Three Card Poker, Let It Ride, Texas Hold ‘em Bonus Poker, Crazy 4 Poker, and Caribbean Stud. This casino would also offer some variation of Pai Gow, most likely Fortune Pai Gow. If the casino is more upscale, it would certainly offer Baccarat. The casino would also consider a blackjack side bet, most likely “Lucky Ladies,” and may have it available on selected tables.
Which casino in Las Vegas is most average? The games and side bets in the previous paragraph are a perfect match with those offered at the Flamingo Casino. Someone’s doing their homework!
Eliot Jacobson, Ph.D.
Originally appeared in "Table Talk" at compdance.com.
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