[Mr Rick]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Believe it or not, poker made money for the house back in those "ancient days" before the Chris Moneymaker era, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

In 2002, how many LV strip casinos had poker rooms?
MGM? No.
Venetian? No.
Caesars? No.
Guess why.

It's not about making money. It's about making the most money.

[/ QUOTE ]

The OP and issue under debate are about making money or not, not about making the most money or not.



[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. However, the question that follows is why if poker makes money, isn't more care and attention given to improving or expanding poker operations?

Many of the answers have been given in this thread and are extremely important in understanding why it seems nobody cares. I would summarize (and add a few of my own) as follows:
1) Profit from poker is generated differently than other table games and even slots. Player losses don't go directly to the casino.
2) Compared to slots, poker is very labor intensive (and doesn't generate as much income per square foot)
3) IMO, Casinos are afraid their bigger losers will stray to poker tables and dump huge amounts there where the casino gets virtually none of it. Hence having the poker room located in out of the way places serves the casinos.
4) Long waiting lists for poker probably generate more income for the casinos than smaller waiting lists because discouraged players may very well gamble at other kinds of games.
5) Once the decision has been made as to the size of the poker room, it may be hard to expand, even in the desert. Few casinos I have visited seem to have given much thought to how to expand when their rooms are filled to capacity (or when major tournaments are run).