Month: May 2025

Will it be prime rib or crab legs? Or maybe some Italian dishes are in order tonight? And don’t forget dessert, the key lime pie looks great but a bit of chocolate cake is pretty enticing as well. These are just a few of the thoughts that gamblers may be considering when heading to a casino buffet.

These expansive smorgasbords literally offer something for everyone and have become staples in today’s mega-resort gambling houses. Worked up an appetite? Today’s modern buffets can fit the bill – and possibly help pack on some pounds.

But why have buffets become synonymous with casinos and Las Vegas? Keep reading to learn a bit of the history of these food fiestas.

After-Midnight Sandwiches

For years, Las Vegas boasted plenty of budget meal options – from cheap steaks to shrimp cocktail to free drinks. Visitors enjoyed a great but low-cost meal with their gambling. The city’s first all-you-can-eat option debuted at the El Rancho casino in 1945.

A visitor to the property, which was the first to open on the Vegas Strip in 1941, named Herb McDonald was looking for a late-night bite to eat, so a helpful employee brought out some cold cuts, cheese, and bread to make a sandwich at the bar. Other hungry casino guests began stopping by and asking for a sandwich as well.

The casino’s owner, Beldon Katleman, apparently realized this could be a good idea that could keep gamblers at the casino. The property’s Buckaroo Buffet soon became a regular option at the casino and came with a price of just one dollar.

“When the fixed-price all-you-can-eat midnight feast proved to be a roaring success, it was quickly adopted by operators all over town, keen to keep hungry patrons gambling on the graveyard shift without having to cover the expense of a full-service restaurant,” the Las Vegas Advisor noted.

Food and Wine magazine also added: “The casino lost money on its buffet (for the most part, they still do), but profits weren’t the point. The whole objective was to keep patrons inside and gambling as long as possible.”

More People & More Meals

With more casinos adding buffets of their own, casino management realized how popular these dining options could be. In the 1950s, other properties also began offering buffets during more normal hours. The Frontier and the Dunes began offering breakfast buffets for those looking for eggs, sausage, and other options to help kickstart a day at the slotsor blackjack tables.

By the 1960s and ‘70s, as more visitors came to gamble, the buffets also expanded across Sin City to offer dining for all three meals. The quality greatly improved from that original El Rancho offering with many more options and trained chefs looking to whet any possible appetite.

For hotel guests, the buffets offered an easy and speedy way to grab some grub to suit any taste and not have to worry about actually placing an order. A buffet also still offered plenty of bang for the buck. Even into the 1970s, a plate at one of these colossal cornucopias could be had for just a few dollars. The buffets were “loss leaders,” meaning the casinos would take a loss but keep visitors happy – and keep them gambling as well.

However, that began to change in the 1980s as properties ramped up the food offerings even more. Diners could now find carving stations, steak dinners, lobster, omelets made to order, delectable desserts, champagne brunches, and almost any possible food combination one could think of.

More buffets also began offering Asian, Mexican, and other cuisines from other parts of the world. All these expanded eating options began to include higher prices as the quantity and quality of food began to go up.

A Look at Today’s Buffets

Decades later, the buffet remains a key amenity for hundreds of casinos around the world. While COVID saw many buffets shut down, a large number have

returned offering just about anything a hungry gambler might desire.

As legalized casino states also expanded across the U.S. and around the world, the buffet also became more popular in other states as well. From Oklahoma to Atlantic City and everywhere in between, gamblers continued lining up to grab a plate and pile on the meats, vegetables, desserts, and more.

Despite Las Vegas seeing an elevated culinary reputation over the last couple decades, the buffet remains at many casinos – but now often with higher-quality options than those early feeding frenzies.

“Eighty years later, the buffet remains a popular commodity — often located just off the casino floor,” Eater.com notes. “While the house is poised to always ‘win,’ the buffet offers a tantalizing opportunity for travelers to succeed in getting their money’s worth by eating their weight in low-margin proteins. That’s only part of the appeal, though. While Las Vegas is home to some of the most esteemed restaurants in the country, the sheer volume of choice can easily overwhelm, especially when contrasted with the seemingly infinite possibilities of a buffet line.”

Today’s buffets don’t come with those bargain-basement prices from the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, but they also usually come with better-quality options are can be more higher-end experiences. Eater recently rated some of Vegas’s best buffets with some insight on what diners can expect when dishing out some food on their plates.

The 12,000-square-foot Market Place Buffet at Rampart Casino rated well and offers some insight on how some buffets now feature themed nights to serve guests with some unique options. For $31.99, hungry guests can enjoy a prime rib dinner on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Champagne brunch is served on Saturday and Sunday and is priced at $32.99. An Hawaiian-themed dinner also is scheduled on Saturdays for $31.99.

The Wynn remains one of the most luxurious casinos in Las Vegas and the property’s buffet ranks high among diners. The eatery features 16 cooking stations with rotisserie grilled steakhouse cuts, a wide variety of seafood, an eggs Benedict station, and a “Latin Street Food” station.

Those hitting the Wynn buffet have plenty to choose from – withmore than 90 dishes available. The establishment also follows a newer buffet trend with many choices made to order. Brunch is also a popular option, starting at $54.99 with extras like unlimited mimosas, wine, and beer starting at $32.99.

Conclusion

Casino buffets have been popular through the years for many reasons, including the low cost, numerous food options, usually short wait times to get a table, no ordering involved, and the ability to serve yourself.

Today’s buffets still attract plenty of people looking for a few minutes away from the casino floor. At Wynn, this food option is so popular that waits can get up to an hour and a half. But like other aspects of buffets, this element has also changed. Guests can reserve and prepay for a meal online to steer clear of the rush.

Diners getting in line for a meal at many casinos will find some excellent culinary options. The casino buffet looks like it’s here to stay. These eating options have come a long way from that first sandwich bar at the El Rancho and will continue to change and adapt. Working up an appetite? Grab a plate and get in line.

Like many companies around the world, the casino and gaming industry has been forced to deal with a growing technological concern over the last few years – cyber attacks. Cyber security has never been a bigger concern as casinos around the world have experienced breaches in recent years.

Harvard Business Review recently reported a 20% increase in data breaches from 2022 to 2023 and that looks to continue going up.

“For many years, organizations have struggled to protect themselves from cyberattacks: companies, universities, and government agencies have expended enormous amounts of resources to secure themselves,” the report noted.

Casinos have also seen a major uptick in cyber attacks in recent years, including some major cases in 2023 with a couple of cases drawing some major headlines.

MGM Resorts

In September 2023, MGM Resorts experienced a cybersecurity attack that left many of the company’s computer systems down. The outage affected company websites, email accounts, reservation systems, and even slot machines at casinos across the U.S.

“MGM Resorts recently identified a cybersecurity issue affecting some of the company’s systems,” the company said in a statement at the time. “Promptly after detecting the issue, we quickly began an investigation with assistance from leading external cybersecurity experts.”

The company notified law enforcement and also consulted with outside security experts to combat the cyber attack. However, the breech greatly affected the company with casinos reverting back to operations one might have seen years ago – with many transactions and reservations conducted by hand rather than computer. Slot payouts were even made in cash for a time.

After several days, the company began to get things back to normal, but that came with considerable costs financially, with a drop in earnings for the third quarter of about $100 million. Hotel occupancy dropped to 5% compared to September 2022, which actually may not be too bad considering the issues the company faced.

MGM’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing reported that MGM also saw a $10 million one-time expense for technology consulting services, legal fees, and the use of other advisors during the cyber attack. Several lawsuits were also filed against the company.

MGM also said in the filing: “While no company can ever eliminate the risk of a cyber attack, the company has taken significant measures, working with industry-leading third-party experts, to further enhance its system safeguards. These efforts are ongoing.”

The FBI said the attack was the work of a group called “Scattered Spider,” which has cost companies millions of dollars since it began operating in 2021.

Caesars Entertainment

MGM wasn’t the only company to experience an attempted cyber attack in 2023. Caesars Entertainment, the company that operates numerous major casinos including Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Flamingo, Harrahs, and numerous others, also experienced a cyber attack around the same time as MGM, with hackers demanding a ransom.

The company took a different route to getting back control of the companies’ system, according to the Wall Street Journal, and ultimately paid a $30 million ransom. The high-tech bandits used a similar scheme as with MGM to initially gain control of the company’s systems.

“Hackers used a social-engineering scheme, in which a person pretending to be an employee contacted the company IT help desk to have a password changed,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Caesars said that the incident resulted from a social engineering attack on an outsourced IT support vendor, without providing further detail on ‘the unauthorized actor’ responsible for it.”

The company quickly activated response protocols for this type of situation and enacted containment and remediation measures for Caesars computer systems. Management was able to gain back its systems completely after paying the ransom, according to reports.

The Journal noted: “Hotels and casinos are potentially lucrative targets for hackers because of the amount of personal and financial data they collect from customers.”

Shutting Down in Canada

American gaming companies haven’t been the only gaming and casino operators affected by cyber crime and a major case in Canada offers a look at how these cases can hurt employees. In April 2023, Gateway Casinos and Entertainment shut down casinos all across the province of Ontario after undergoing a ransomware attack.

The shutdowns lasted two weeks and greatly affected Gateway employees in the province, who weren’t able to work. The company operates gaming properties in British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta and has annual revenues of more than $200 million. Management brought in outside experts to help regain access to computer systems and to protect customer data.

Some of the recent cyber attacks against gaming firms point to what should be a growing concern, according to a report from web performance and security firm Cloudflare.

“Over 5.41% of the total DDoS attack traffic recorded by Cloudflare in Q3 (2023) targeted gambling and gaming sites, taking over the cryptocurrency sector that was previously the most targeted,” Canadian Gaming and Business noted. “Looking at specific regions, Cloudflare reported a 10% increase in Canadian cyberattacks year-on-year. Canada ranks fifth globally for DDoS attack traffic, behind the US, Singapore, Vietnam, and China. In total, Canada is responsible for a 1.687% share of all DDoS traffic globally.

Other Hacking Cases

There have been more casino and gaming-related cyber security breaches in recent years as well. In February, Arizona’s Casino Del Sol in the U.S. was the victim of an attempted cyber attack and faced serious disruptions to the property’s computer systems. The attack affected the casino’s phone systems, bingo operations, rewards club, and more.

As noted, online operators have not been immune to these types of attacks as well. In September 2023, CoinTelegraph.com reported that a major crypto gambling site lost $41 million after being hacked. The site reported that the gaming site was drained of three different cryptocurrencies to an account that had previously seen no activity.

“Crypto gambling site Stake experienced $41 million in withdrawals on Sept. 4 in what blockchain security analysts have called ‘suspicious outflows,’” CoinTelegraph reported. “The withdrawing account has been labeled ‘Stake.com Hacker’ by Etherscan, implying that the drained funds may be the result of a stolen private key.”

In November 2023, Mexican online gaming operator Strendus allegedly left open access to numerous users’ personal data in what some media reports have called a “rookie mistake.” Cybernews reported that the “data was likely compromised by unauthorized actors.”

The site reported that significant personal data was available including names, home addresses, phone numbers, government ID numbers, email addresses, IP addresses, and more.

In 2002, one of the world’s largest online poker operators also experienced a serious setback after being cyber attacked. The attempted hack occurred during a major online poker series and left the company forced to reschedule many events.

No doubt casinos and other gaming entities will be targets in the coming years and technology staff members must remain vigilant in the war against these high-tech criminals.

“As the technology we use advances and progresses, the enormous potential for cyber crime also grows,” business insurance firm Embroker notes. “Not only is the number of cyber attacks growing, but incidents are becoming more sophisticated and dangerous. Cybercrime costs are on the rise, and it is expected to cost the world more than $24 trillion by 2027.”

The horses head down the stretch and the excitement builds. Fans leap to their feet and cheer on their jockeys. Within a few minutes the horses race across the finish line. Some bettors celebrate and others are disappointed with the results. Hopefully that ticket is a winner and if it’s not, maybe a few spins of the reels at the slot machines or some blackjack play might instead bring some winnings.

These are some of the gambling options one might find in the unique gambling properties known as “racinos” – a combination of the words a mash-up of “casino” and “racetrack.” These popular destinations have grown in popularity in recent years and some even offer modern amenities one might experience in Las Vegas.

Birth of the Racino

It may seem like a simple idea. Horse racing bettors may want to spend a few minutes playing slot machinesor at the blackjack tables when not making those daily double and trifecta selections. Or perhaps when it’s not racing season, an empty track might benefit financially from running a casino year-round, complete with a nice hotel, great restaurants, and some simulcast horse betting as well.

But the idea didn’t come to fruition until 1995, when the Prairie Meadows racetrack in Iowa added some slots in an effort to bring in more customers. At that time, the idea of a racino was a novel idea but the effort revived the racetrack. That success also inspired other states to also legalize slots and other gaming options at horse and dog tracks.

“The initial premise behind permitting casino gaming at racetracks in states with parimutuel racing and wagering was to preserve and promote horse and dog racing,” Global Gaming Business magazine notes. “The parimutuel racing industry was recognized as having been adversely affected by competition from other forms of gaming. Specifically, provisions were included that required a percentage of slot machine revenue to be allocated for payment of purses, to owners of racing animals at the racetrack, and in some cases breeders of racing stock in the state in which the racinos were located.”

Racinos were soon flourishing across the country with slot machines, video lottery terminals, and table games found at many tracks. Many of these racinos are now full-service resorts with great hotels, restaurants, showrooms, and major entertainment options.

Historical Horse Racing Machines

Another interesting aspect of the American racino and gaming industry is the emergence of historical horse racing (HHR) machines, which further intertwines gaming and racing.

The games were invented in 1997 and are similar to slot machines. As the name implies, the results are based on the results of past horse races. The games are officially considered a type of parimutuel wagering (just like horse racing, with money pooled and paid out based on the odds of winning), and players can officially look at handicapping information when playing.

Early versions looked like race betting terminals, but now most look more like slot machines. Most HHRs now feature symbols on spinning reels that correspond to the results of the player’s wager. A video of the race can be found in a small video in the corner of the screen while others may show a computer-generated animated reenactment of a race.

HHRs have become big business. Traditional horse racing companies like Churchill Downs (also the name of the track that is the home of the famed Kentucky Derby) owns several HHR gaming facilities. The company began constructing the $100 million Owensboro Racing & Gaming HHR facility this year as an extension of Ellis Park racetrack in Henderson, Kentucky, which already has HHR games as well.

However, the machines initially sparked some controversy in the state, where casino gaming is technically illegal. But most gamblers would probably not be able to tell the difference between these games and traditional slots. Opponents argue that the machines are “horse racing” games in name only and most don’t even have a link to horse racing in any way. They believe the games are simply slot machines just with a different name.

Supporters argued that the games have played a critical role in shoring up the state’s horse race industry in recent years by adding to purses and tracks’ financial security. Kentucky legilators officially made the games legal in February.

“If it were not for historical horse racing, Ellis Park would be closed and Churchill Downs would not be rebuilding Turfway Park,” Elisabeth Jansen, executive vice president of the Kentucky Equine Education Alliance, said in 2021 of adding HHRs to tracks in the state. “Without historical horse racing, we would have a few days of racing at Churchill Downs and a few days of racing at Keeneland and that would be about it.”

Historical horse racing games remain controversial in other states, but can are or have been in operation in Minnesota, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Virginia, and Wyoming.

Growth of the Industry

As racinos have grown in popularity over the last decade, they have become even more critical to the horse racing industry. In many locations, revenues generated from casino gaming also help add to purses that horse owners can win on the track. They also help fund tracks and pay employees.

The concept of the racino can also be found in other parts of the world outside the U.S. In Canada, gamblers can find racing/casino options in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec.

One of the best of those, and perhaps one of the best in the world, was unveiled in 2023 when Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto opened next to Woodbine Racetrack. The property features a modern resort casino with “transformative architecture” and 328,000 square feet of gaming space with 4,800 slot machines and 145 table games as well as VIP rooms and sports betting kiosks.

The casino is located on 33 acres adjacent to Woodbine and also boasts a 400-room hotel, 5,000-person live entertainment venue, and numerous on-site dining options. The $1 billion resort Toronto is now the largest casino property in the country and one of the largest private sector projects in Ontario. This racino really ramped up the experience.

Another example of international racinos can be found in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo features opened in 1876 and is one of the most modern tracks in South America and also houses two buildings for casino gaming with more than 1,000 slot machines.

In recent years, casino gaming has greatly cut into the horse racing market and many see adding casinos to these complexes as a way to keep racing alive. In turn, the facilities have also helped grow the casino industry in the U.S., Canada, and other locations.

“While the introduction and growth of racino gaming has been a mixed blessing to the race horse industry, it has been a boon to the casino business,” Global Gaming Business magazine reports. “It has had the intended effect of increasing purses with resulting increases in spending, employment and preservation of green space by the industry in state and local economies. Further, the presence of live and import simulcast races at racetracks has been found to increase slot machine wagering significantly.”

In the United States, the outcome of the presidential election, which will be decided on Nov. 5, is expressed primarily by people voting. In Great Britain and other jurisdictions around the world, it is expressed by people betting.

Considering that, in line with previous years’ numbers, billions are expected to be wagered on America’s presidential campaign outcomes. In the UK alone, the money generated by the event is massive and anticipated to be in the nine figures.

Stateside, however, betting on the upcoming election is only gray-area legal and fairly tepid: less than $1 million in wagers from American punters on two different exchanges.

The action is considerably more robust on at least one crypto gaming site that already has in excess of $1.2 billion staked on Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris. And the wagering is expected to amp up significantly as Election Day approaches.

But there is no need to go too far out of your way if you happen to be in the right place.

Inside the Odds

At the time of this writing, on Oct. 19, the oddsmaking wizards working for 888 have Trump at 8/13 and Harris at 11/8. This makes Trump the favorite to win right now. Bet $130 on Trump and you will take down $80 if he comes in. Wager $80 on Harris and you will win $110 if she snags the election.

As far as the gamblers and the bookies are concerned, Trump is the favorite to win and those who bet on him to do so give up a premium for the privilege. Harris, as a longshot, will pay off more handsomely.

While this is fun for most of us and profitable for sharp gamblers, it is also meaningful for those who have a non-monetary interest in the election. Election odds, derived from gambling, are great predictors of actual outcomes.

The US presidential candidate who was favored by oddsmakers has lost only twice since 1866. Once was in 1948 and the second time was in 2016 when Hillary Clinton pooched it against Donald Trump.

So, that last bit might be comforting to people who oppose Trump as the leader of the United States.

Looking Ahead

The 2016 outcome provides recent proof that the odds do not always pan out. Such was the case, to a wild degree, outside of politics, when the heavily favored Mike Tyson lost a fight to Buster Douglas. Douglas was a 42/1 underdog and his 10th round knockout of Tyson cost the bookies a bundle. A similar outcome could happen with the presidential election.

It’s also worth noting that, heading toward the November showdown, election polls in America show what is pretty much a neck-and-neck race.

Not so in the world where people put their money where their mouths are. On the top crypto site, Trump has a 60% chance of winning and where it is legal for Americans to wager on the election, Trump trades at 56%.

That said, when it comes to voting, it’s one ballot per person. Where wagering is concerned, a whale with strong convictions and deep pockets can swing the odds one way or the other. But anyone who dares to discount the wagering side of things does so at his peril.

Bloomberg News, a major disseminator of business information in the United States, displays the gambling market right alongside the polling numbers in showing who is likeliest to make it as President of the United States.

While there are plenty of Americans who like to bet on elections, there are also those who take issue with people wagering on political outcomes. The general concern is that they’re turning something serious into the equivalent of a sporting event and possibly influencing the way that people vote.

Elon Musk does not count himself among the naysayers. In fact, he recently crowed on his social media site X, “Trump now leading Kamala by 3% in betting markets [a number that has expanded since his post]. More accurate than polls, as actual money is on the line.”

All of us who follow and participate in the betting world – whether it’s wagering on blackjack or pushing money through slot machines – would likely agree with Musk’s sentiment. But the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates the trading of commodities on Wall Street, has expressed a different view.

The commission has described election betting as “contrary to the public interest.” It also maintained that making bets on elections “essentially reduce key facets of the democratic process to a source of revenue for some, fascination and entertainment for others.”

Those of us who enjoy gambling and advocate it – including me – might yawn and wonder what is wrong with betting for profit, fascination and entertainment. Isn’t that why we do it?

Besides, election wagering has a venerable history that should be embraced rather than scoffed at.

History Lesson

Between 1868 and 1940, betting on presidential elections was common and organized if not exactly legal. Half the election betting in the United States took place in New York City. It started in pool rooms and taverns, out of which bookies operated. But by the 1880s, it was pretty much run by a predecessor to the American Stock Exchange and the amount in action on the election sometimes eclipsed that in the stock market.

Brokers shouted out betting odds as if they were on a trading floor, offering bids that others would take. The betting died down as a way of predicting elections when more official polling came into vogue during the 1940s.

Before then, however, the New York Times,ran a story statingin 1924 that Wall Street’s betting odds are never wrong. The article also made clear that sharp bettors do not let sentiment get in the way of a strong wager. I am with the golden-age gamblers on that one. I feel that there is nothing wrong with favoring one side for money and the other for politics.

Personally, I’d bet on Trump to win while voting for Harris. It’s like gambling against the Dallas Cowboys even as you root them on because you are a fan. Some people are all heart, others are all wallet, some of us are both. I fall into the latter category, with a vote to cast and money to bet. On the upside, no matter what happens with the election, at least I will have one positive result.

There’s nothing quite like rolling the dice at the craps table. There are plenty of cheers and high-fives as players watch those cubes tumble down the table and hopefully hit a much-needed point number. The chips move about the table at a fast pace as dealers pay off winners and collect losing wagers.

There are so many social dynamics that go into a game of craps making this an interesting setting that has inspired film directors and producers through the years. Whether shooting dice on the street or taking a spot at a high-end luxury casino, craps has served as an interesting activity in numerous films. Here’s a quick look at some movies that have featured craps games.

Casino (1995)

Ginger (played by Sharon Stone), the eventual girlfriend and later wife of Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro), had some serious self-destructive tendencies. The Martin Scorsese masterpiece that reflected some of the real-life mafia events that took place in Las Vegas. In this scene, Ginger hits the craps tables and “earns” some cash from the player she is stealing chips from. Ace becomes infatuated with her “Ginger’s mission in life is money,” Ace says. Casino earned numerous award nominations and Stone won a Golden Globe and also was nominated for an Oscar.

Hard Eight (1996)

This thriller was written by Paul Thomas Anderson and was also his directorial debut. Hard Eight boasts a superb cast including Philip Baker Hall (Seinfeld fans may remember him as Mr. Bookman), John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson, with the action revolving around an older gambler who takes on a homeless man as his protege. The film earned positive reviews with Roger Ebert noting: “Movies like Hard Eight remind me of what original, compelling characters the movies can sometimes give us.”

Owning Mahowny (2003)

With a great cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Minnie Driver, this film tells the story of a Canadian bank executive who steals $10 million to help fuel his gambling addiction. The film could be a warning for those who believe they may have gambling issues and sees Dan Mahowny taking his casino gambling much too far. He uses the cash for regular trips to Atlantic City and that includes some time at the craps table. The film is based on a true story as featured in the 1987 book Stung and things eventually come crashing down for Mahowny. Owning Mahowny was a dud at the box office, but earned plenty of accolades for the story and Hoffman’s performance.

The Cooler (2003)

William H. Macy stars as a casino “cooler” who is sent to winning tables. His inherent bad luck ultimately leads to losses in various casino games. His presence at the tables ends gamblers’ winning streaks and helps the house recover those winnings. The film had a great cast that also included Alec Baldwin, Ron Livingston, Maria Bello, and Paul Sorvino. The Cooler earned some nice reviews and Baldwin and Bello earned Golden Globe nominations. In the scene below, cooler Bernie Lootz amazingly finds a massive streak of luck at the craps table.

A Bronx Tale (1993)

This crime drama stars Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri and tells the story of an Italian-American boy grappling with whether to become a member of organized crime or to walk the straight and narrow. The film also features an underground craps involving a young boy. The story is based on Palminteri’s one-man stage show and much of the story was based on his own childhood. DeNiro acquired the rights to the story and made it his directorial debut. A Bronx Tale became a critical favorite and has been recognized as one of the best gangster films of all time by the American Film Institute.

Getting Back to Zero (2013)

In this craps-centric dark comedy, two brothers work to overcome the death of their father after inheriting his dice table and gambling debt. That cash is owed to some guys who are more than willing to collect the cash using their fists and more. There are plenty of ups and downs as the two brothers try and work that debt back to zero. The film may not have been seen by many, but generally earned a positive critical response. It’s a nice addition to this list and craps is a central part of the narrative.

Guys & Dolls (1955)

Frank Sinatra spent plenty of time in Las Vegas and seems like a natural fit for any movie involving craps. This film version of the famous Broaday musical also features Marlon Brando. In the film, one of the main characters regularly runs an underground craps game. Check out the trailer below for a look at some of the on-screen dice action.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

James Bond is known more for playing Baccarat while on her majesty’s secret service, but also mixed in some dice playing while on a trip to Las Vegas in this film. 007 (Sean Connery) comes decked out in a sharp-looking white tuxedo and impresses a nice lady named Plenty O’Toole, who just can’t seem to win. When he takes the dice, Bond rolls a 10 and takes full odds with an additional $200 on the hardway 10. When the dust settles, the superspy walks away a winner with $50,000 and gives a nice tip to the dealers with another $5,000 for Plenty. The film drew positive reviews and stayed No. 1 at the box office for seven weeks.

The House (2017)

This comedy stars stars Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler as Scott and Kate Johansen, parents who devise a unique way to pay for their daughter’s college – running an underground casino on a friend’s house. It’s a bit of a flimsy premise and the movie didn’t receive great reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes noting that The House had a “shortage of comic momentum.” However, there are plenty of gambling scenes including some action at the craps table.

The Big Town (1987)

Matt Dillon stars as J.C. Cullen, a small town craps player who heads to Chicago to try and hit it big as a professional gambler. Along the way he falls in love with two women, including a stripper named Lorry Dane (Diane Lane). He gets involved with a revenge plan hatched by Lorry and plenty of drama ensues. The film is based off the 1967 novel The Arm and was supposed to be similar to other coming-of-age gambling moves like The Hustler (billiards) and The Cincinnati Kid (poker), but didn’t receive the critical praise of those productions. The Big Town earns just a 50% score on Rotten Tomatoes despite the solid cast that also included Tommy Lee Jones. But few films may make craps as much of a centerpiece of the action as this entry on the list.

When casino managers look over new table games, there are specifics they must see before offering the games to the public.

The game must be easy to learn and play. No one wants players to be intimidated and walk away. Empty tables earn no money.

Table layouts must be clean and clear, not cluttered and confusing. The game must be easy to deal. The house edge must hit a sweet spot between earning profit for the house and being so high it chases players away. Everyone must feel like they have a shot to win.

And managers must see enough appeal in a game that it’s worth bumping another game off a casino floor.

That’s particularly important in live casinos, where physical space is limited. Often, you’ll see new table games get wider distribution in online casinos.

Still, many games come along every year that seem to fill the bill. Once they get their trial, either online or in live play, the public will decide if they have staying power.

Let’s check out a few of the latest and greatest table games to look for in the coming year.

Knockout 52 (M&M Entertainment)

Most new table games are based either on poker or blackjack. Not Knockout 52. It’s a match game that deals up to 52 cards to see if a card matches a denomination on one of 13 table spaces.

Lined up on the layout are 13 spaces marked in card denominations in order from Ace low at the players’ right through King high on the left. Up to four rounds of 13 cards are dealt one at a time until one matches the marked space.

As soon as there’s a match, or if 52 cards are dealt with no match, the hand ends. If an Ace is dealt on the first card, the hand stops without seeing any more cards. If it takes two-plus rounds of 13 cards plus a few more on the third round, then the hand ends on the third round.

Players have betting spaces with five options: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, or All the Way. If you bet on Round 3, you win if there is a match on the third round, or lose if the hand ends on rounds one or two or goes unto the fourth round.

Payoffs differ depending on round. A Round 1 winner pays at 1-2 odds, so if you bet $10, you win $5 in addition to keeping your wager. Winners pay 3-1 on Round 2, 10-1 on Round 3 and 30-1 on Round 4. If you bet on All the Way and four rounds are dealt with no matches, it pays a whopping 50-1.

That’s in keeping with the chances of winning. In a single-deck game, a match will come on Round 1 an average of 64.3% of the time, with 23% ending on Round 2, 8.2% on Round 3, 2.9% on Round 4 and 1.6% going all the way with no match. Numbers are slightly different if more decks are added, but not by much.

Michael Shackelford at wizardofodds.com calculates the house edge is lowest if you stick with Round 1 bets despite the low payback. In single-deck games, he lists house edges at 3.5% on Round 1, 8.2% on Round 2, 9.9% on Round 3, 9.4% on Round 4, and an enormous 17.2% for the long shot on All the Way. Given an eight-deck game, edges starting at Round 1 are 3.1%, 8.6%, 11.1%, 11.3% and 20%.

Knockout 52 is easy to play and can be a fun diversion, but beware those house edges, especially for two or more rounds.

Dead Man’s Hand Blackjack (Dunow Gaming)

A blackjack side bet, Dead Man’s Hand is named for the hand Wild West legend Wild Bill Hickok is said to have held when he was shot to death in 1876 in Deadwood, in part of the Dakota Territory that became South Dakota.

While playing poker, Hickok supposedly held pairs of Aces and 8s when Jack McCall shot him in the back of the head. Whether he actually had that hand is open for discussion. No reports from the time include the cards, and reports from the next few decades differ on hand composition.

Nonetheless, it’s a good piece of folklore. The blackjack bet plays into the Dead Man’s Hand motif by paying off anytime you’re dealt an Ace or an 8 in the first two cards. Bigger payoffs come for pairs of Aces or 8s, and drawing extra Aces and 8s after splitting those pairs.

Either an Ace or an 8 in the first two cards brings a 2-1 payoff. You get 4-1 with both an Ace and an 8.

Pairs can bring bigger rewards. Ace-Ace or 8-8 with no further dead man’s cards after splitting pay 4-1, unless the dealer has a blackjack. Then your pair is a big payer at 50-1.

If you split Aces or 8s and wind up with one Ace-8 in the first two hands after splitting, you win 20-1. And if you wind up with two Ace-8s, it’s worth a 100-1 bonanza.

The house edge decreases slightly with more decks. At wizardofodds.com, Shackelford lists edges of 4.98% with two decks, 4.63% with four, 4.51% with six or 4.45% with eight.

As with most side bets, all those edges are higher than the base game of blackjack, where basic strategy players face a house edge of less than 1%, with precise numbers depending on house rules.

If you’re looking for the best percentage play, stick with the base game. Dead Man’s Hand’s attraction is for players willing to spot an extra edge for a shot at bigger one-hand payoffs.

Split’em Stud (House Way Gaming)

Based on seven-card stud poker, Split’em Stud has similarities to pai gow poker in that you split an initial hand in two. It also has a pay table that will look familiar to Mississippi Stud Poker players.

To start, players must make an ante. Each player then is dealt four cards, and three community cards are dealt face down in front of the dealer.

Next, it’s decision time. You may either play or fold. If you fold, you lose your ante. If you play, you must make a bet equal to your ante.

Those who elect to play must then split their four cards into two two-card hands. Community cards are turned face up, and each two-card player hand is combined with the three community cards to make a five-card poker hand.

Payoffs are strictly according to a pay table. There is no dealer hand to beat.

Your best hand loses if it doesn’t have at least a pair of 7s. It’s a push and you get your money back on pairs of 7s through 10s. You’re paid even money on a pair of Jacks or better, 2-1 on two pairs, 3-1 on three of a kind, 4-1 on a straight, 6-1 on flush, 10-1 on a full house, 40-1 on four of a kind, 100-1 on a straight flush and 500-1 on a royal flush.

With one exception, that’s identical to the pay table on Mississippi Stud. The only difference is that pushes start on pairs of 6s on Mississippi Stud while Split’em Stud pushes start at pairs of 7s.

Split’em Stud also has bonus payoffs if you have winning combinations in your first four cards without the community cards. The bonus payoffs are the same as the basic pay table except there are no push hands and no full-house payoffs since it’s impossible to build a full house in four cards.

In addition, there’s an optional side bet on the seven-card hand formed by your four cards and the three community cards. Several pay tables are available. It’s up to the host casino to choose which to offer. The table displayed at the House Way Gaming website pays 2-1 on three of a kind, 4-1 on straights, 6-1 on flushes, 10-1 on full houses, 25-1 on four of a kind, 50-1 on a straight flush, 250-1 on a royal flush, 1,000-1 on a six-card straight flush and 5,000-1 on a seven-card straight flush.

The manufacturer says the house edge is 4.49% on the main game and ranges from 2.77% to 10.05% on the seven-card wager depending on which pay table is used.

The house edge is higher than some other poker-based table games such as Mississippi Stud and Three Card Poker. Split’em Stud does have some intrigue in the dual decision of whether to play or fold followed by splitting your four cards into two hands.

Las Vegas’s storied Tropicana became the latest Sin City casino to face implosion in October 2024. The site was cleared to make way for the construction of a new baseball stadium for the Oakland Athletics.

Like past casino implosions, the event drew plenty of media attention and spectators. Bally’s, the casino’s owner, made the property’s destruction quite a spectacle with a seven-minute celebration involving a drone show and fireworks display. Bally’s now plans to build another casino next to the stadium. The historic casino that dated back to 1957, but is now just another chapter in gambling history.

Las Vegas is a city that’s constantly changing and that goes for colossal casinos that dot the famous Las Vegas Strip and at other locations around the city. Casino demolitions receive so much hype that nearby casinos often increase prices as visitors head to town to check out the window-rattling destruction of another property.

“What Las Vegas has done, in classic Las Vegas style, they’ve turned many of these implosions into spectacles,” Geoff Schumacher, historian and vice president of exhibits and programs at the Mob Museum, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the Trop. Keep reading to learn more about the history of Las Vegas casino implosions.

Classics Come Down

The 1990s saw several casinos come down. The Dunes got the action going in 1993. The desert-themed casino had been operating since 1955, but the face of Las Vegas began changing in the late 1980s and early ‘90s as megaresorts began becoming more en vogue.

The Bellagio later took the Dunes’ place and became the most expensive hotel and casino ever built at the time at a price tag of $1.6 million. Along with plenty of blackjack, craps, poker, and slots, the property also featured fine art, high-end amenities, 3,000 rooms, and a 22-million-gallon lake.

The Landmark’s implosion in 1995 was coupled with some pop culture appeal. The property was used as the Galaxy Hotel in Tim Burton’s film Mars Attacks!, with the demolition actually incorporated into the movie with Martians blowing up the hotel. They must not have taken over as the casino, which once hosted Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, is now used as a parking lot.

A year later, another casino was cut down. The Sands opened in 1952 and had once been the hangout of the Brat Pack. The property bit the dust and the Venetian soon took its place. The Hacienda was then demolished on New Year’s Day in 1997 to ring in another megaresort, Mandalay Bay.

The Aladdin was demolished in 1998 for a completely new version of the same casino. That property opened in 1966 and the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts was spared and later became part of the new Aladdin that opened in 2000. However, Caesars Entertainment acquired the property in 2003 and renovated the casino to become Planet Hollywood.

Busy, Booming 2000s

The 2000s were a busy time for Vegas implosions as the city continued welcoming megaresort casinos to take the place of older properties. The El Rancho came tumbling down in 2000 to clear space for a development known as Turnberry Towers.

That property never came to fruition and instead became the home of the new $3.9 billion Fontainebleau, which opened in December 2023. The property was originally scheduled to open in 2008, but delays set construction back for years as the property faced lawsuits, numerous financial issues, bankruptcy, and ownership changes.

The Desert Inn was then the next to hit the dustbin in 2001 with the Wynn taking its place. The property had been open since 1950 and was the fifth casino to open on the Strip. The property is notable in that Frank Sinatra made his Vegas debut in the property’s Crystal Room in 1951.

Also in 2001, the Boardwalk and Bourbon Street casinos were brought down for bigger projects. The site of the Boardwalk, which had a Coney Island theme and operated since 1966, is now home to the Waldorf Astoria, part of the CityCenter/Aria casino complex. Bourbon Street was a small Strip casino that was simply made into a parking lot for the Westin Hotel.

Next to go was Castaways in 2006, which dated its Sin City history back to the 1930s. The property went through several name changes through the years, including being known as Mountain View, Showboat, and San Souci. Castaways had once been home to the largest bowling alley in the world with 106 lanes. Casino impresario acquired the property to build The Mirage, which opened in 1989.

In 2007, the New Frontier got the axe. Opened 1956, the property was the last casino owned by Howard Hughes and the first Vegas home for Siegfried and Roy. Also that year, the Stardust met the same fate. The property once hosted major acts like Frank Sinatra and inspired the Martin Scorsese film Casino because of the property’s links to organized crime. The film became one of the best casino-related films in history.

Tony “the Ant” Spilotro was in charge of the Stardust and other casinos for the Chicago outfit. He was believed to be responsible for numerous burglaries, thefts, and murders during his time in Las Vegas. As seen in the film Casino, Spilotro was later murdered himself and his body buried in a cornfield in Indiana. The Stardust wasn’t the only Vegas casino known to have connections to the mafia.

Recent Casino Demolitions

Along with the Tropicana, Las Vegas and Nevada have seen a few other demolitions in recent years. In January 2024, Terrible’s Casino became the latest to get the wrecking ball. The property is located just 25 miles south of Las Vegas in the city of Jean.

The property was notable as a landmark for California gamblers heading to town on Interstate 15. The demolition won’t pave the way for a shiny new casino in this case and instead a new industrial park.

Before that, the Riviera was the most recent Strip to be exploded into dust and debris. The property dated back to 1955 and was known to host major name acts like Liberace, Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Bob Hope, George Burns, Frank Sinatra, and numerous others. The Crazy Girls showgirl show was a popular attraction and the property also became the first Strip casino to add a fast food eatery when a Burger King opened in 1984.

The Riv officially closed in May 2015 to give way for an expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The property’s removal involved two implosions of the casino’s hotel towers. The first came in June 2016 and the second came in August 2016. The total cost of demolition reached $40 million because of significant asbestos removal.

*****

Las Vegas isn’t like many other big cities. Huge buildings and major developments seem to come and go as new projects take their place.

It doesn’t look like that will change and the New York Times once noted that in Vegas, “old structures are dismissed as soon as they outlive their usefulness.” No doubt more impositions are set for Las Vegas in the future and the only question is – when?

Back in the day, being a casino dealer meant learning to shuffle cards in specific ways – with all kinds of artful riffles and passes – that were unique to different casinos. There were special cuts and reshuffles and a variety of techniques employed to make the cards as random as possible when they were dealt.

While casino dealers on some games still do hand shuffles, they usually get a finishing touch via mysterious boxes that execute a final mix before the cards are dealt. The process speeds up games and helps insure that advantage players will find it difficult to beat the games by predicting where slugs of cards will land for the next round of a particular game.

For that protective measure, casino bosses can thank a former truck driver by the name of John Breeding.

Finding Inspiration

Breeding was working as a long-distance trucker in the 1980s when he read a Wall Street Journal article about casinos having trouble reigning in advantage players. He figured that he had an easy solution: relieve the dealers of hand-shuffling cards and institute the use of automatic shufflers that could mix a single deck.

He somehow managed to borrow $30,000 and commissioned a group of engineers to help him come up with the device. It was some years in the making, but they did it. It worked, too. However, there was just one problem: the casino managers didn’t dig it. They had already begun spreading multi-deck blackjack games and nobody was all that interested in upending game presentations to satisfy Breeding.

Over the course of inventing his machine – amazingly, the earliest iterations were made mostly of wood – Breeding is said to have gone broke more than once.

Then, as he told the Las Vegas-based journalist Howard Stutz, his wife laid down a challenge. “If you’re so smart,” she is said to have told Breeding, “why don’t you invent a game that uses only one deck?”

Turning Game Inventor

He did. He came up with Let It Ride, a poker-based game that is now an institution and beloved by gamblers who enjoy the option of reducing their bets by a third. If they don’t withdraw, they, as the name suggests – let it ride.

Casinos love the game because the house edge is 3.51%, which is quite a bit more than that of blackjack and craps. It’s also difficult for ordinarily sharp players to beat. It’s not the sort of thing that can be overcome through card counting.

Breeding loved the game because the setup included the use of a shuffling machine. It not only earned him money as a game creator, but it also gave casinos the opportunity to experience his automatic shuffler, which was called the ShuffleMaster.

More Games, More Money

Business was good enough for ShuffleMaster that the company went public, developed more games and started buying up other manufacturers of casino-related devices and game creators. Over the years, it’s released games such as Three Card Poker, Casino War and Blackjack Switch.

There’s been a passel of slot machines that exist in casinos and online. Offerings include 888 Fortunes, Monopoly Big Spin and Very Fruity.

By 1999, the company was doing well enough to have made Forbes magazine’s list of the 200 best small companies. From that elite roster, it was even designated as one of the 10 hottest small American companies.

In 2013, ShuffleMaster was sold to Bally Technologies, which was later acquired by Scientific Games. The latter is now known as Light & Wonder. The trucker turned casino gaming tycoon enjoyed enough of a windfall that he chose to retire.

Back to Basics

While making waves and money with his casino games, prior to taking leave, Breeding and his ShuffleMaster company (now known as SHFL Entertainment) did not lose sight of their original mission.

The company became a leading designer of shuffling machines. And it was far from limited to the single deck offering that served as a foundation for Breeding’s operation. Over the years, ShuffleMaster has become a master in the wide realm of shuffling machines.

Having gone way beyond the single deck offering, the company pushes out machines that are used to organize poker chips along with continuous shuffle machines that totally thwart card counters by living up to the name: they’re always shuffling, which completely turns card counting into a moot endeavor.

The company’s products are so good that its Deckmate 2 was used by dealers at the World Series of Poker.

Okay, But How Does It Work?

The continuous shuffling machines (known as CSMs) have slots for each card. The cards circulate on a wheel; an automatic number generator dictates which cards will be dealt out when. That would be for a continuous shuffle machine that you see on gambling tables in casinos.

Interestingly, while the so-called CSM is hated by card counters – as mentioned above, you can’t count a blackjack game when the cards are being continuously shuffled – Mike “Wizard of Odds” Shackelford maintains that the CSM games are slightly better for straight-on basic strategy players. He says that this is because a higher number of 10 value cards than expected will be dealt, and that is always good for the player.

When you are playing a shoe game, the dealer takes cards from the discard tray and feeds them into an automatic shuffle machine, which uses hoppers and rollers to mix up the cards. There will be two sets of cards. As one is being dealt out to players, the other is being randomized in the machine.

Do the machines cheat players? The answer is that they do not. But according to a recent article in Wired, a “hacking device could alter the shuffler’s code to fully hijack the machine and invisibly tamper with its shuffling.”

Of course, this is not to say that anyone has ever done something so nefarious. And no doubt, the high-tech hustle is not something that Breeding had considered when he fashioned his earliest iteration of the fabulous shuffler that now keeps things moving in the casino, set off a load of popular table games and made the former truck driver a casino hero with a place in the Gambling Hall of Fame.

Nobody likes losing money to casinos. But most of us put up with the financial beatings, accepting that they inevitably happen when you risk cash in games where the other side has the best of it. Some of us find legal ways to turn the tables. Maybe we card count or hole card or seek out lingering bonuses on slot machines.

But even playing with an edge, no matter how much the casinos despise it, will get us only so far. Hell, I once sat next to hole-carding maestro James Grosjean at a blackjack table. He literally told me the dealer’s hole cards and I still managed to lose money. Decent sized edges do not lead to guaranteed profits.

Then there are the players so desperate to win that they will risk prison terms in order to do so. They are casino cheaters, people who devise and deploy ingeniously devious techniques to get over on the house. Never mind that such moves often entail enough work and training that the time, better spent, could have led to legal, long-running, profitable occupations.

Cheating Casinos by Being a Magician

A guy who goes by the pseudonym of Dustin Marks told me about becoming a crack sleight of artist to get over on the house. He would land dealing gigs in casinos and use his magic skills to rig decks and deal winning hands to collaborators at the tables.

Marks’ partners played as if they were ordinary gamblers. But they generated wins that were extraordinary.

He told me about one scam, involving a couple-dozen partners, in which he and his crew played with a 50% advantage. As Marks explained it, he dealt and his collaborator sat at first base. Before the opening hand was divvied out, Marks flashed what the first hit card would be. That prevented the guy from ever going over. Then, as he corralled cards at the hand’s conclusion, Marks flashed his compadre’s first card, and that dictated a bet size for the coming hand.

Asked why he did it, he told me, “I was never fond of gambling. I always wanted a sure thing.”

Getting Over on Slot Machines

Luckily for Marks, he exited the shady game before getting caught. Tommy Glenn Carmichael was less fortunate. A TV repairman turned slot-machine cheat, Carmichael was a wizard when it came to creating devices that triggered unwarranted payouts from slot machines.

As explained in the Paris Review, Carmichael used a guitar string and a piece of metal shaped like a nine to essentially hotwire machines into making consistent payouts that added up.

Working with various teams, Carmichael, now deceased, is said to have been a two-armed bandit who illegally extracted millions of dollars from the one-armed bandits.

It was going great until a fateful day in a Las Vegas branch of Denny’s. Carmichael was plying his trade on a vulnerable machine, when police swarmed the casual dining spot and arrested him. As a result, Carmichael did time in a federal penitentiary.

Sprung five years later, he returned to his craft with a vengeance. Using enhanced equipment – primarily, light wands that tricked the machines – Carmichael earned $1,000 per day.

He described his increasingly high-tech gambits as “credit cards that never ran out.” In the end, though, he was arrested again, went broke, and traded in his black hat for a white one. Carmichael turned to creating anti-cheating devices that were sold to gambling entities.

Marked Cards & Bogus Chips

Others lacked the ingenuity of Carmichael and enjoyed no second acts after the whip came down from law enforcement.

There were the card-markers who glued grains of sand to their fingertips and altered the backs of cards used in the game of Casino War. Others, including a Chinese gang nicknamed the Jade Blades, employed tiny razor blades under their fingernails.

And it’s not only games in the pit that get flimflammed. A poker player by the name of Christian Lusardi played a poker tournament at Borgata in Atlantic City and brought his own chips – never mind that the whole point of a poker tournament is that players start with set amounts of chips that are for the tournament only. When Lusardi sensed the heat on him intensifying, he flushed bogus chips down the toilet, clogged the pipes, and wound up getting busted. The next place he played poker was in prison, stuck with a five-year-long sentence.

The Card Eater!

Then there’s at least one baccarat scammer who foiled the cheater catchers.The guy was part of a team that made a habit of slipping an 8-denomination card in and out of the game, Considering that it is a key card in baccarat, the team played with a significant advantage.

Eventually, though, casino security realized what was going on, surrounded the card man and tackled him to the ground. Before he could be fully apprehended, the cheat folded his card, swallowed it and foiled casino officials.

“He ate the evidence!” a source told me. “It was brought before the Gaming Commission. They said, ‘You have no proof. Pay the man. Have a nice day.’”

‘World’s Greatest Casino Cheat’

Fake slot machine tokens, bribed dealers, and fast fingers for introducing 10s and aces into blackjack games (credit that gambit to a woman nicknamed the Vegas Vixen) all worked until they didn’t.

Same for the moves engineered by notorious Richard Marcus. Anointing himself the “world’s greatest casino cheat,” Marcus ran a team that made its bones with a ploy known as past-posting. They would surreptitiously swap chips in and out of betting circles, depending on the outcome of the hand. If he won, he’d slip in $10,000 via a pair of $5,000 chips. If he lost, it would just cost him $110, via a black $100 chip and two five below.

Like Dustin Marks, he retired from the cheating life when peril seemed to loom – but before it struck. Also, like Marks, Richard Marcus managed to avoid jailtime. Unlike the rogue magician, though, he found a second career after giving up on scamming the house. He wrote books such as American Rouletteand consulted with casinos to catch others of his ilk.

Hence, as Marcus and Carmichael prove, there is little honor among casino cheats

The island of Macau has become the largest casino market in the world and often referred to as the “Las Vegas of Asia.” The island, located right off the Chinese mainland, is the only legalized casino market in China and attracts wealthy gamblers from the mainland as well as other parts of Asia.

However, Macau’s focus on gambling may be changing in the coming years. A major slowdown in gambling revenue has led to China’s leaders to rethink the island’s focus on casino gaming and some are looking to diversify the economy.

“At present the overall situation in Macau is stable, but the internal and external environment is undergoing profound changes,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a celebration in December celebrating 25 years of Chinese rule. “Efforts should be made to promote moderate economic diversification … focus on cultivating new industries with international competitiveness.”

History of Macau

Macau had been part of China through the 16th Century, but Portugal began leasing the island as a trading post in 1557 as a key point for merchants shipping from west to east. The country eventually began treating the island as a de facto colony before finally reaching a deal with China in 1887 officially making it part of Portuguese territory.

AfterHong Kong became a British territory in 1842, that island became a more important trading region. Macau responded by legalizing gambling in 1847 and the industry flourished on the island, becoming a key source of revenue.

“By the 1850s, Macao had over 200 ‘fan tan’ [a Chinese gambling game] stalls in operation,” the Association of Certified Gaming Compliance Specialists notes. “The gaming industry began to thrive in the late 19th Century, and gaming taxes became the government’s primary source of revenue. Since then, Macao has become well-known for its casino industry, earning the nickname ‘Monte Carlo of the Orient.’”

Several companies were granted monopoly considerations to operate full-scale casinos for much of the 20th Century with the legislative assembly noting in a 1986 law that “the number of concessions granted shall be limited to a maximum of three.Despite that, underground gambling remained and in the 1990s, the island saw rival gangs battle over the island’s underground gambling market with more than 100 people killed in the violence.

That monopolistic approach to gaming changed after the island was officially handed back to China in 1999. The area was treated as a special administrative region (SAR) in a similar way as Hong Kong – a “one country, two systems” approach.

In 2001, the island enacted new laws to expand the industry on the island, allowing for multiple casino operators and large gaming resorts.

Macau and Casino Gambling

After approving a law for casino bids, Macau received proposals from major gaming operators from around the world including American-based gaming giants like MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, and Wynn Resorts as well as Asian-based firms like SJM Holdings and Galaxy Entertainment Group.

Numerous casino resorts then began being built around the island throughout the 2000s, with the island reaching 42 casinos by 2021. Players could easily hit the roulette wheel or practice their blackjack strategy, Gambling has not only been a boon to the island, but also to the overall Chinese economy.

Once a quiet island, Macau has seen some huge changes over the last 25 years and has become a major tourist destination. The casino industry has led to an economy valued at about $6.5 billion in 1999 to $46 billion in 2023, according to the Associated Press. Many locals have found jobs in the industry and others appreciate the $1,240 annual payments made to residents from gaming taxes.

However, things certainly took a downturn during the COVID pandemic, when China limited travel to the island. Revenue dried up almost overnight on the island. Chinese authorities also began cracking down on junket operators that provide services for the country’s wealthy high rollers to gamble.

Gamblers on junkets regularly use borrowed funds to gamble and then repay these loans on mainland China. The industry has faced more scrutiny in recent years. Chinese officials alleged that some operators became involved in operating or owning part of overseas casinos outside of the country.

Revenue Revival After COVID

Travel and junket restrictions led to major revenue declines and the industry struggled. Things began to finally change in 2023. By December of that year, the island saw casino gross income numbers totaling $2.3 billion, an increase of 433% from December 2022, according to the island’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

This marked the industry’s second-largest total since before the COVID pandemic and began what would slowly become a return to normal.

In December 2024, the Macau casino industry accounted for $28.4 billion in gaming revenue, up almost 24% from 2023 levels. This was another good sign as that topped government estimates of almost $27 billion.

That still was short of the pre-pandemic level of $36.5 billion from 2019. The pandemic showed just how reliant the island of just over 700,000 people had become and the Chinese government has set out to make changes.

Transitioning Economy

The first part of that was seeing new leadership on the island. Former judge Sam Hou Fai was elected in an uncontested vote as Macau’s chief executive-designate in 2024 and became the island’s first leader born on mainland China. Fai is determined to diversify the island’s economy.

The new leader hopes to do this by improving the island’s overall business conditions and supporting small business, including using public funds to stimulate business sectors outside of gaming.

“Sam has promised to accelerate the current government’s plan to boost tourism and other sectors such as traditional Chinese medicine, finance, exhibitions and commerce,” the Associated Press reports. “However, the city will still need to rely on the gambling industry for government revenues to support the city’s welfare and accomplish other goals laid out by Beijing.”

Xi has said that Macau must move away from being so heavily reliant on the casino industry, which accounts for about 80% of regional tax revenue.

“At present the overall situation in Macau is stable, but the internal and external environment is undergoing profound changes,” Xi said. “Efforts should be made to promote moderate economic diversification… focus on cultivating new industries with international competitiveness.”

However, the gaming industry will remain a major part of the island’s future. More and more Chinese gamblers continue flocking to the island, but recent reports note that the island has seen some changes in who heads to the casinos. Post-COVID, the properties are relying more on middle-income gamblers than well-heeled high rollers. But some headwinds still remain for the island’s gaming industry.

“In a note, analysts Praveen Choudhary, Gareth Leung and Stephen Grambling (with Morgan Staey) said they maintain their mass GGR (gross gaming revenue) forecast assumption at 118% of 2019 levels, representing a 5% increase over 2024,” Inside Asian Gambling reports, “but expect lower EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) than originally expected due to increased reinvestment costs, including in non-gaming capex requirements under operators’ current 10-year concession deals.”

Things are definitely looking up for Macau since the pandemic. The analysts project “slight but steady growth” for the rest of the year.