California has 1,600 tables
There are fewer poker tables in Nevada, reflecting a drop in play and reduced profitability for casinos, according to a report on Cardplayer.com. In October, there were 691 tables statewide with revenues of about $8.7 million. At its peak in summer 2010, during the annual World Series of Poker, the game was played on more than 1,000 tables across the state.
“In general, poker has, since 2006, become steadily less profitable for Nevada casinos,” said the report from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. “The win per table has fallen dramatically to early 1990s levels. The large number of tables, however, indicates that it is still an amenity that many choose to provide, though it does not produce significant revenues on its own.”
Due to underwhelming returns, a number of casinos have closed their poker rooms in recent years. They include Circus Circus, Sunset Station, Texas Station, the Palms, Tropicana and the Gold Coast, among others. MGM Grand and Caesars have decreased the number of tables in their poker rooms to 14 and 16 tables, respectively.
“Some of the decline is due to the gradual shrinking of the market as casinos close poker rooms,” said David G. Schwartz, head of UNLV’s gaming research department. “The rest may be rooms scaling back and taking tables out of service.”
California, on the other hand, has about 1,600 poker tables in its tribal casinos and card rooms, the website reported.
