Players noticed major table game inflation in the years since 2020. Vegas Advantage has continuously tracked Las Vegas table game conditions since 2011, with recurring in-person surveys across every casino offering live table games. Our proprietary data proves what players have reported during the 2020s. Las Vegas table game minimum bets have increased at a rate far exceeding inflation at most casinos.
Over 90% of Las Vegas casinos have increased minimum bets during that time. The list below ranks all qualifying Las Vegas casinos in the entire market, then by its three segments: Strip, downtown, and the locals market.
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To qualify for the rankings, a casino must have been open in January 2020. That omits Circa, Durango, Fontainebleau, and Resorts World. Slots A Fun added table games for the first time in 15 years in 2024, so it also fails to qualify for this list. The casino must also have been open and still offering table games at the end of 2025.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation rose 25.6% from January 2020 to December 2025. The typical Las Vegas casino raised table minimums roughly three times as fast as inflation over this period.
Las Vegas table game minimums did not just rise with inflation. The average increase across the market was 75.71%, with a median of 77.08%. This is not a temporary post-pandemic spike. It is a structural shift in how Las Vegas casinos price table games. Higher labor costs, strong post-pandemic demand, major renovations, and a shift toward premium pricing on the Strip have all contributed to sustained higher minimum bets.
Related: Economics of Dealing Live Table Games – Video version of this story
Key Vegas Advantage data findings
- 58 of 63 casinos increased minimum bets since January 2020
- Only 12 of 63 casinos fell below the inflation rate
- Only two casinos decreased minimums, both just west of the Strip
- Three kept the same posted limits, all just east of the Strip
- The average increase was 75.71%
- The median was 77.08%
- 30% of Las Vegas casinos have at least doubled table game minimums since 2020
- Downtown had the largest average market increase
- The locals/off-Strip market had the smallest
Overall Las Vegas Market (+75.71%, on average)
- El Cortez: +353.17%
- Wynn: +294.34%
- Aria: +196.59%
- California: +168.34%
- Aliante: +132.45%
- Fremont: +131.33%
- Palazzo: +127.27%
- Sam’s Town: +127.27%
- Cannery: +120.37%
- Sahara: +120.05%
- Venetian: +119.41%
- Bally’s / Horseshoe: +117.84%
- Green Valley Ranch: +117.65%
- Encore: +117.04%
- Main Street Station: +112.44%
- Suncoast: +110.53%
- Sunset Station: +107.14%
- Orleans: +100% (tie)
- Skyline: +100% (tie)
- Four Queens: +96.78%
- Bellagio: +94.76%
- Binion’s: +94%
- MGM Grand: +91.29%
- Boulder Station: +90.91%
- Paris: +86.32%
- Circus Circus: +85.71%
- Palace Station: +83.71%
- Westgate: +82.35%
- Arizona Charlie’s Decatur: +80%
- Caesars Palace: +79.6%
- Santa Fe Station: +77.78%
- Gold Coast: +77.08%
- M Resort: +69.57%
- Plaza: +66.67%
- Linq: +57.69%
- Excalibur: +57.14% (tie)
- O’Sheas: +57.14% (tie)
- The D: +54.55%
- Silverton: +50% (tie)
- Strat: +50% (tie)
- Flamingo: +46.94%
- Rampart: +45.45%
- Downtown Grand: +40%
- Park MGM: +38.72%
- New York-New York: +37.68%
- Golden Nugget: +33.81%
- Ellis Island: +33.33%
- Cosmopolitan: +29.32%
- Luxor: +27.7%
- Harrah’s: +27.08%
- Treasure Island: +26.44%
- Red Rock: +19.61%
- Cromwell: +14.29%
- Jerry’s Nugget: +11.11%
- South Point: +9.09%
- Mandalay Bay: +4.87%
- Hard Rock / Virgin: +3.78%
- Planet Hollywood: +1.52%
- Oyo: 0% (tie)
- Silver Sevens: 0% (tie)
- Tuscany: 0% (tie)
- Rio: -16.67%
- Palms: -20.41%
Las Vegas Strip (+77.18%, on average)
The 26 qualifying Las Vegas Strip casinos showed an average increase of 77.18%, in line with the overall market. However, the median was only 57.42%. This demonstrates the increases in the luxury market, led by Wynn at 294.34%, are outliers. Mass market Las Vegas Strip casinos increased table game minimum bets at a rate far lower than most luxury properties, though mostly still well above overall inflation.
- Wynn: +294.34%
- Aria: +196.59%
- Palazzo: +127.27%
- Sahara: +120.05%
- Venetian: +119.41%
- Bally’s / Horseshoe: +117.84%
- Encore: +117.04%
- Bellagio: +94.76%
- MGM Grand: +91.29%
- Paris: +86.32%
- Circus Circus: +85.71%
- Caesars Palace: +79.6%
- Linq: +57.69%
- Excalibur: +57.14% (tie)
- O’Sheas: +57.14% (tie)
- Strat: +50%
- Flamingo: +46.94%
- Park MGM: +38.72%
- New York-New York: +37.68%
- Cosmopolitan: +29.32%
- Luxor: +27.7%
- Harrah’s: +27.08%
- Treasure Island: +26.44%
- Cromwell: +14.29%
- Mandalay Bay: +4.87%
- Planet Hollywood: +1.52%
Downtown (+115.11%, on average)
Downtown casinos raised table game minimums by an average of 115.11% since January 2020. The median was 95.39%. The downtown Las Vegas market had the largest increase in terms of percentages. However, that was mostly due to how cheap table games were entering the COVID-19 pandemic era, including $5 blackjack, and the major renovation at El Cortez, which changed much of its business model.
- El Cortez: +353.17%
- California: +168.34%
- Fremont: +131.33%
- Main Street Station: +112.44%
- Four Queens: +96.78%
- Binion’s: +94%
- Plaza: +66.67%
- The D: +54.55%
- Downtown Grand: +40%
- Golden Nugget: +33.81%
Locals and Off-Strip (+59.71%, on average)
The casinos away from downtown and the Strip saw an average bet increase of 59.71%, with a median of 77.08%. It was the only segment of the three to have a higher median than average. The increase in this market is mostly due to the large number of $5 games in January 2020 that became $10 games by December 2025. Another factor is the remodeling of many major locals casinos. The two casinos that lowered minimum bets since January 2020, and the three that kept them the same, are all in this market segment.
- Aliante: +132.45%
- Sam’s Town: +127.27%
- Cannery: +120.37%
- Green Valley Ranch: +117.65%
- Suncoast: +110.53%
- Sunset Station: +107.14%
- Orleans: +100% (tie)
- Skyline: +100% (tie)
- Boulder Station: +90.91%
- Palace Station: +83.71%
- Westgate: +82.35%
- Arizona Charlie’s Decatur: +80%
- Santa Fe Station: +77.78%
- Gold Coast: +77.08%
- M Resort: +69.57%
- Silverton: +50%
- Rampart: +45.45%
- Ellis Island: +33.33%
- Red Rock: +19.61%
- Jerry’s Nugget: +11.11%
- South Point: +9.09%
- Hard Rock / Virgin: +3.78%
- Oyo: 0% (tie)
- Silver Sevens: 0% (tie)
- Tuscany: 0% (tie)
- Rio: -16.67%
- Palms: -20.41%
Why El Cortez had the largest increase
El Cortez is no longer the classic grind joint it was for most of its existence. A $20 million renovation was completed last year. The table game pit is a different experience these days. With the exception of the back room of coin-dropper video poker and reels, the property feels like a new casino.
Another factor is how cheap the games were in January 2020. Roulette went from $2 to $15. All other table games were $5 back then. Those tables are now mostly $15 or $25. As much as players miss $5 3:2 single-deck blackjack, Vegas Advantage’s ongoing observations suggest table game business has never been better at El Cortez.
Why Wynn’s minimum bets increased so much
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average table game minimum bet at Wynn was $27.23. Several poker pit games and craps were $10 in Vegas Advantage’s January 2020 survey, and half of the comparable blackjack games were $15.
Today, nearly all Wynn table games are $25 or higher. The only consistent exception is big wheel, which increased from $2 to $5. High-limit games have mostly tripled. Pai gow games have quadrupled.
Despite these increases, Wynn’s table game demand has remained strong. This reflects its customers’ willingness to pay for a luxury experience.
Why Rio and Palms were negative
Rio and Palms were the only two casinos that saw drops in the average minimum bets. Palms changed hands during the pandemic closure, and Dreamscape took over Rio’s casino operations in 2023. The neighborhood is seeing a casino price war. Palms dropped blackjack and craps to $5. Rio has $3 craps and $5 double zero roulette. Those games were $10 or $15 in 2020 under the previous operators.
Methodology
The methodology compares only the same games using Vegas Advantage’s proprietary data from January 2020 and December 2025. If a minor blackjack rule change occurred, such as surrender being added or removed, we considered it similar enough to compare. However, if the rules related to 3:2 and 6:5 payouts, or the dealer hitting or standing on soft 17, changed, it would not be the same game.
Changes to maximum craps odds were ignored. However, the number of roulette zeros mattered. If a casino dealt triple zero roulette in 2025 but not 2020, or vice versa, the game was not included. Casinos that dealt single, double, and triple zero roulette in January 2020 and December 2025 had three games counted. A casino that only had one type of roulette in 2020 will have no more than that one game in its average.
Vegas Advantage considers similar game changes the same (Ultimate Texas Hold’em vs Heads Up Hold’em, I Luv Suits vs High Card Flush). However, if Let It Ride became Mississippi Stud, we omitted it. This methodology ensures that only apples-to-apples comparisons are used, isolating pricing changes rather than major rule or game differences.
Any mini baccarat table that became a no commission one was considered the same game, as this shift was widespread over the period covered. All pai gow poker games were considered the same, as nearly all traditional 5% commission tables were converted into face-up ones. While these are major game changes, it was due to the evolution of the two games. Omitting them when the change was nearly universal would have created an unnecessary data gap.
Each individual game counts as one, regardless of how many tables it has at the listed casino. The minimum bets were added together at each casino and then divided by the qualifying number of games. The average bet was compared from January 2020 to December 2025.
Only games present at a given casino in both January 2020 and December 2025 were included. Each casino has the same number of qualifying games compared at both points in time.
