It seems that the Poker Boom is over. At the turn of the century, the land-based poker market saw an influx of players and experienced increased activity – but the prosperity was not long-lived.
As the popularity of land-based poker continues to decline, casino operators have decided to replace their poker tables with a guaranteed seller: slot machines.
The Decline of Poker
Ever since the global recession hit in 2008, poker revenue in Las Vegas has seen a steep decline. With less tourism, there were fewer and fewer players sitting down at poker tables in casinos across the country. By 2012, poker revenue had amounted to just $123 million, a significant decline from as Vegas’ all-time high of $168 million.
Even the World Series of Poker has declined in popularity. In 2006, the Main Event in Las Vegas attracted more than 8700 players. By 2007, the number of runners declined by over 20%. Since then, the possibility of attendance exceeding 7000 runners has become highly unlikely.
The Invasion of Casino Slots
Since Poker has started to decline in popularity, some land-based casino developers decided to go where the money was, choosing to replace poker tables with slot machines. According to a report by Hannah Dreier of the Associated Press, casino operators are shutting down their poker rooms in favour of installing new slots.
The trend has become popular among smaller casinos. Florida’s Seminole Casino shut down its poker room in order to install new slot machines, and several other Indian casinos across the country have followed suit. Poker rooms require volume in order to experience success, and smaller casinos simply cannot financially justify running poker tournaments and cash games.
So, this is where slot machines come in. It is no secret that slots are the most popular games in land-based and online casinos. They are a huge money-maker for casino operators, as they require little maintenance.
Whereas a poker room requires a dealer for each table, card room managers and tournament directors, slots are machines that run themselves.
The Evolution of Slots
Casino slots’ technology has the ability to develop and evolve, so players are always in for something new and exciting. Skill and table games like poker don’t change or evolve outside of the online casino world, in which new formats and features can be introduced.
Casino slots remain fresh, as developers can reinvent the technology every few years. The same cannot be said for the game of poker, especially among casinos’ target audience of amateur players.
Fortunately, poker technology continues to develop in the online casino world. Companies like PokerStars and PartyPoker are always working on new innovations to keep existing poker players interested while attracting new players to the game.
