But seven-spot tables are not the only options. The casino formerly referred to as Empress Joliet utilised to have tables with eight betting spots. And I’ve sometimes encountered five-spot tables.
Why would a casino differ from the common table size? The biggest factor obtaining fewer spots accomplishes is to speed up the game. It will take a lot more time to deal a hand if you are waiting for seven individuals to play their hands and have their bets settled than if you’re waiting for five men and women.
With any number of players, speed is variable, dependent on both the speed in the dealer along with the speed from the players. Back in the mid-1990s, I attended a seminar provided by casino consultant Jim Kilby, and his book, “Casino Operations Management,” estimates 52 hands per hour with seven players, 60 with six, 70 with five, 84 with 4, 105 with 3, 139 with two and 209 with one.
Let’s say you are operating a casino with sufficient demand to maintain 35 blackjack seats total. In the event you divide that among five traditional seven spot tables, every single client is playing 52 hands an hour, and the 35 players combine for 1,820 hands. With seven five-spot tables, each and every player averages 70 hands an hour, and also the 35-player total is 2,450 hands.
By switching from five seven-spots to seven five-spots, the casino gets an further 630 hands an hour.
There’s a danger point for an operator when the client base is also low. Most players like to play with other folks, and clustering three or 4 players at 5 five-spot tables with none in the other two is no more rapidly than having three or four players at every single of five seven-spots. But provided that the casino is reasonably busy, it gets extra hands per hour with fewer spots at each and every table.
Speed isn’t something most players consider, but most are much better off having a slower game. A speedier game favors whoever has the edge, and in most cases that’s the house. Additional hands per hour suggests extra exposure for the house edge. Advantage players for instance specialist card counters advantage from a more quickly game, and would get extra speed with fewer players per table at the five-spots.
In the late 1990s, Harrah’s Las Vegas received favorable comments from players who stated its five-spot tables were much more comfy. But at any size table, understand that fewer players mean a more quickly game.