If the compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe is approved the popular American gambling game blackjack will be rolled out through out the tribes casinos. It is the table game of baccarat that might prove to be the big winner.

Joe Weinert, gambling industry analyst with New Jersey-based Spectrum Gaming offered this, "Baccarat is the game of choice for the biggest gamblers in the world, especially among Asians and internationals. From a profit standpoint, a major casino would much rather have 10 baccarat tables than 100 roulette tables."

If the compact gets approved it is baccarat that analysts say will change the face of Florida casinos by drawing the experienced and high end gamblers.

"Serious gamblers like it because the odds are pretty good. This will let the Seminoles go after those players who stay in Atlantic City in January because baccarat wasn't available in South Florida," said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

The game is growing in both Las Vegas and Atlantic City were they are opening extravagant lounges and according to Weinart,

"Baccarat is not a mass market game. It is usually played in an intimate, quiet atmosphere, sometimes in an Asian games room with a noodle bar.”

The Seminole tribe plans on offering many version of the game and hopes that all the analysts are right. The compact is facing legal battles at the moment and it may take a long while yet for the 7 Seminole Casinos to even begin to plan for the new table games.


- 2008-01-09