Baccarat May Not Save Las Vegas After All

It seems that Las Vegas and other Nevada casinos are bouncing back from the recession. In 2011, the casino revenues in the state exceeded $10 billion, a rise of 2.8 percent in comparison to the previous year. It also happens to be the biggest increase since 2006.

The Las Vegas strip casinos alone accounted for $6 billion in revenues, not so surprising given the great popularity of this truly amazing place. The biggest portion of the revenues came from slot machines, while baccarat, especially VIP High Roller version, accounted for a very significant portion of the revenues as well.

Seems baccarat is a diamond for land-based casinos. But this is quickly changing as there are online (and live versions via the Internet) offered by casinos. Given that American gambling laws soon may change, allowing for online casinos in the United States to open up, the land-based casinos may be further hit.

Playing baccarat online will continue to grow in ways similar to online poker sites. Meanwhile, online slots offer multi-million progressive jackpots that equal those at Las Vegas casinos. The technology has crossed the borders and it is yet for the gambling laws to adopt to the modern age.

Even with online gambling prohibition in America, players flee to offshore online casinos where they spend as much as $10 billion a year, an amount equivalent to that of Nevada’s gambling industry revenues. The mobile casino gambling is growing quickly as well with better access to cheaper connections, better games, and widely available smartphone such as iPhones or Android-powered counterparts.

Meanwhile, online gaming software powerhouses, such as Microgaming and Playtech, offer hundreds of games. The rules of the casino game have changed.