Las Vegas had 80 casinos with live table games in March 2020 when the pandemic closure was ordered. Today, 69 casinos in the market offer live table games. However, that number will drop to 67 when Golden Gate removes its pit later this month and Poker Palace closes at the end of September.
This drop of 13 includes five casinos adding table games. Circa, Durango, Fontainebleau, and Resorts World opened new casinos. Slots A Fun brought live games back after a 15-year absence. This means 18 Las Vegas casinos removed live table games, either through complete closures or by going slots-only. Most casinos that have not removed all tables have at least reduced the number.
Why table games keep disappearing
Golden Gate is a great example of the economics of dealing live table games in 2025. The company owns two other casinos, Circa and The D, with pits within walking distance. When the pit stopped pulling its weight, moving in another direction became an easy decision.
Golden Gate deals $10 craps, double zero roulette, 3/2 eight-deck blackjack, Three Card Poker, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em. These games saw most of the action. The other options are $25 3/2 Free Bet Blackjack, $25 six-deck blackjack, and $50 double-deck blackjack. The $25 and $50 games see little action.
What the house makes from $10 table games
Golden Gate has a typical mix of games. The lists below show how much each table theoretically makes in gross revenue per hour based on the number of players. The player count lists are found at Wizard of Odds.
Blackjack
The average number of hands dealt at a blackjack table changes based on the number of players.
- One player: 209
- Two players: 139
- Three players: 105
- Four players: 84
- Five players: 70
- Six players: 60
This is the table’s handle when each number of players bets $15 per hand, which is a good estimate for the average wager at a $10 game.
- One player: $3135
- Two players: $4170
- Three players: $4725
- Four players: $5040
- Five players: $5250
- Six players: $5400
This $10 Golden Gate blackjack game deals eight decks, pays 3/2, and allows doubling down before and after splitting. Surrender and re-splitting aces are not permitted. The dealer hits soft 17. The house edge is 0.66%. That likely doubles when including player strategy errors. The following numbers take the handle from the list above and hold 1.3% for the house.
- One player: $40.76
- Two players: $54.21
- Three players: $61.43
- Four players: $65.52
- Five players: $68.25
- Six players: $70.20
Let’s assume each player receives $6 an hour in comped drinks, including the labor. The list below removes that cost from the house gaming win.
- One player: $34.76
- Two players: $42.21
- Three players: $43.43
- Four players: $41.52
- Five players: $38.25
- Six players: $34.20
This leaves about $40 per hour to pay for the dealer, breaker, supervisor, surveillance, security, chips, cards, tables, licensing, and shuffling machines. This $10 blackjack table loses money every hour, regardless of the number of players seated. The one-and-a-half dealers required to run the game, when including the breaker, take more than half of the hold when considering the $12 Nevada minimum wage, benefits, and payroll taxes. Multiply this loss by every open blackjack table, and the pit can lose several hundred dollars per hour on this one type of game.
Roulette is a little better
All Golden Gate roulette is double zero. That holds 5.26% on all but one uncommon bet. The Wizard of Odds estimates the following roulette spins per hour:
- One player: 112
- Two players: 76
- Three players: 60
- Four players: 55
- Five players: 48
- Six players: 35
The next list is the hourly handle. It assumes the average bet at this $10 table is $15.
- One player: $1680
- Two players: $2280
- Three players: $2700
- Four players: $3300
- Five players: $3600
- Six players: $3150
This is the hold on that handle at 5.26%:
- One player: $88.37
- Two players: $119.93
- Three players: $142.02
- Four players: $173.58
- Five players: $189.36
- Six players: $165.69
This is the hold after removing the drink allowance:
- One player: $82.37
- Two players: $107.93
- Three players $142.02
- Four players: $149.58
- Five players: $159.36
- Six players: $129.69
These numbers likely make a $10 double zero roulette game profitable. However, Golden Gate typically only had one table with little action open during our visits.
Craps is labor-intensive
A craps game requires three dealers and a supervisor. Add the breaker in, and a craps game needs about 5.5 employees to operate before considering drink service, surveillance, and security. It is by far the most expensive live table game to operate.
Craps theoretical table holds are difficult to calculate for a variety of reasons. Some bets are resolved on one roll. Others take an average of more than three. The average bet hold percentage is around 2.5% under average conditions where there is not a lot of hopping or hardway action. The average amount of action at a $10 table is double the roulette numbers described above. However, it takes about three times more labor to operate a craps game, making those numbers likely unprofitable at craps.
Casino operator options
Casinos without table games have less energy than ones with active pits. Each operator on the lower end of the market must decide if loss-leader table games are worth it to them. In Golden Gate’s case, it is easy enough to send players across Fremont Street to Circa. Independent operators often choose to lose small amounts of money in the hopes of it bringing other action, much like the theory behind offering a poker room.
Only two casinos in the market removed live table games in the last 15 years and eventually closed. Those are Silver Nugget and Wild Wild West. Both were probably doomed anyway, as the buildings were dilapidated and the neighborhoods deteriorated. All others that went slots-only still operate. Most seem to work out well without live tables. Jokers Wild is the only one that appears totally dead, and it will be replaced by Cadence Crossing next year.
Expect more casinos to give up on live table games in the coming years. Vegas Advantage expects that two or three per year will move to all slots or close entirely.
