The Challenges Facing Traditional Casinos

There’s no question about it, casinos and gambling are two sources of significant revenue around the world. In the US, commercial casinos and gambling generated annual revenue of $73 billion in 2016. The traditional casinos and online gambling are major channels for gambling, and there are more than 1,000 casinos spread across 40 states in the United States that offer gambling.

Challenges of technology and innovation

But recent figures from Las Vegas show a declining trend in gambling revenue, dropping from 58% to 34% in 2016. One possible reason for the decline in brick and mortar casinos revenue is the advent and convenience of online gaming. The challenges in technology and new product development are also impacting revenue margins of casinos.

But these figures are slated to pick up once the industry recognizes and adapts to the new tech. According to Statista reports, gambling revenue is expected to reach $130 billion by 2019. Online gaming has generated more than $200 million already and has been growing at a rate of 32% over the past three years.

Online gambling is hugely popular in the U.K. too as figures show it generated £4.5 billion between 2015 and 2016. Online gambling forms 33% of all gambling channels in the U.K. The major contributors to the revenue were casino games.

In the UK, live casino games where players can get as real an experience as possible of a real casino is also gaining popularity. Trusted websites like www.casinoreviews.co.uk offer reviews and details of how these live dealer games work are available to browse through for those looking for live casino games.

Employee frauds

Another major challenge for brick and mortar casinos is employee fraud. There have been plenty of instances where employees in casinos have stolen significant sums of money.

In 2016, a casino employee at the Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore stole casino chips worth $118,000 and was sentenced to eight months in prison. The employee mentioned feeling unloved and not being appreciated at work as the reasons why he committed the fraud. The employee would steal and pocket the casino chips when no one was around the gaming tables in the casino.

The recent fraud committed by a former employee of a New York based casino where close to $2 million was stolen is another case in point. The latest instance of fraud led to the arrest and further sentencing of the employee who is said to have carried out 71 such frauds previously during her tenure as a finance manager at the casino.

There are many ways by which employees in a casino can steal money at gambling tables. Replacing smaller denomination chips with bigger ones after a bet is won, marking cards or decks, using a top hat and false shuffle card trick. Past posting is an infamous way of cheating at roulette games in casinos.