Gaming Slots and electronic gaming

Curse of the Machines

Written by The Tiger

This article first appeared in the Sep/Oct 2014 issue of World Gaming magazine.

Most things on this planet of ours – even if they are widely embraced – aren’t without their flaws. In recent years, the world of gaming has experienced a gradual shift in focus – particularly in Macau where labor and table cap issues have led to the introduction of more and more hybrid baccarat tables. Over the past 12 months, WGM has acknowledged the influence of technology with our “Rise of the Machines” series, but not everyone has benefited from such technological advances and many HK$100 to HK$300 players feel these machines have ruined the party!

In recent issues we have run a number of stories looking at hybrids and the amazing impact they have had on the gaming landscape in Macau. It is hard to argue that their proliferation has been anything other than positive for players and providers alike. The casinos love them, low limit players aren’t priced out of the game and high stakes players, well, they aren’t impacted in the slightest. But not everyone is thrilled with the change and for lower limit gamblers – particularly long-time baccarat fans whose thrill comes as much from squeezing the cards as it does from winning – it’s not good news at all. These are the players who bet in the HK$100 to HK$300 range but still want to be the “driver”. And who could blame them? Squeezing cards is a lot of fun and in many cases an art form they’ve enjoyed mastering over the years.

It was only a few years ago you could play squeeze baccarat on tables with limits right down around the HK$100 mark. Some of the smaller casinos would even go lower, but at the very least a minimum bet of HK$100 was fairly standard on most of Macau’s gaming floors. How times have changed!

Walk the main floors of Macau’s major casinos today and the lowest limit you’re likely to find is HK$300. Head there on a weekend and even these tables can be difficult to track down. The likes of City of Dreams, the Venetian and MGM do their best to lure players mid-week with these HK$300 limits but come the influx of visitors each weekend and the best you’re likely to find is something around the HK$500 mark. If that seems like a scary proposition, it’s best not to look at the HK$3,000 tables that were once restricted to VIP areas but are now considered “low” enough to be moved to some main gaming floors. Yep, for good or bad that’s the direction we are inevitably heading.

There are a number of reasons for this. Obviously an increase in demand will always prompt table limits to grow and Macau’s tourism numbers are certainly booming. According to the Macau Statistics and Census Bureau over 29 million people visited Macau in 2013, compared with just 12 million 10 years earlier.

The Macau table cap has also had a significant impact. This comes as no surprise. After all, from a purely mathematical perspective, the first tables to go under such limitations will always be the ones bringing in the least amount of money.

Then, of course, there is the tendency of Macau’s gamblers to bet between two and three times the table minimum. Casino operators have recognized this and determined that there is no point having a minimum of HK$300 if all players at the table are betting closer to HK$1,000 per hand.

So where does this “rise of the machines” come into play? While Macau’s casinos welcome the bigger stakes gamblers with open arms, they certainly don’t want to squeeze out, so to speak, lower stakes players either. This is where the hybrid machines come into play.

Hybrid machines kill two birds with one stone – they allow dozens, sometimes hundreds, of players to sit at a single “table” where they can all bet smaller amounts without significantly impacting the table cap.

For most players, this is a good thing because it allows players to bet much smaller amounts such as HK$20 or HK$50 per hand. In fact, for many visitors this game isn’t really any different to the baccarat they used to play, as their bet size didn’t allow them to squeeze the cards anyway.

But it’s a different story for those used to the feel of the cards in their hands. For those around the HK$100 to HK$300 mark, their days are truly numbered. What about the HK$500 player? Right now they are still clinging to safety like Kate Winslet at the sinking of the Titanic, but sadly it seems they are living on borrowed time too.

We’re already seeing this effect on weekends and our tip is that it is only a matter of time before even HK$1,000 tables become an increasingly rare commodity on the main gaming floors of Macau’s biggest casinos.

This is simply the nature of the casino industry and in reality a sign of Macau’s remarkable success over the past 10 years, but in many ways it is also sad to see a large group of players now priced out of playing the game they love, the way they want to play it.

Looking for a low limit table?

  • The smaller and more obscure the casino, the better chance you have of finding a lower limit table.
  • Avoid peak times. Midweek during the day is the best option.
  • Avoid weekends altogether.
  • Ask where the smaller limit tables are. After all, there is no harm in asking.