LAS VEGAS — Over the past two decades, casinos have steadily introduced electronic table games, blending them on the floor alongside live blackjack, roulette and craps. For most of that time, ETGs were a niche add-on, appealing to certain players but never fully replacing the energy and excitement of table games with live dealers.

The shift is no longer incremental.

A recent decision by Golden Gate casino to eliminate all live dealer table games and run a fully electronic casino floor may seem like a radical move for Las Vegas, but it reflects a broader shift taking shape across the gambling industry. Casino operators are adapting to new consumer behaviors, labor pressures and the economics of running a gaming floor in a digital age.

“The reality is customers are changing,” said Derek Stevens, CEO and co-owner of Golden Gate casino in downtown Las Vegas. Stevens, whose casino portfolio also includes Circa and The D, said people are “more accepting of technology,” on the gaming floor. “Younger customers want to play slots a lot more than they used to … and people love these electronic games, and it’s becoming more and more clear.”

Digital behaviors lead to changes on the casino floor

In 2025, players of all ages are increasingly comfortable gambling on screens, with two of the main factors behind the shift being the rapid expansion of mobile sports betting and the proliferation of regional casinos throughout the country.

Online sports gambling is legal in 33 states and Washington, D.C., putting digital gambling in the hands of more than one-third of Americans. Meanwhile, casinos can be found in 46 states where most, if not all, mid- to large-size properties have multiple ETGs, with some even featuring stadium-style areas where dozens of players sit at individual screens while collectively gambling on a shared table, which may or may not be staffed with a live dealer.

Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT) at Stockton University, said casinos ultimately follow customer demand when making floor decisions.

“Operators predict which games will be most popular among their customer base and design the floor with the goal of generating the maximum revenue per square foot,” Bokunewicz said. “If a particular gaming product, whether it is a slot machine, live table game or electronic table game, is underperforming, it will likely be replaced with something else.”

Pros and cons, according to players

On the final night of live dealer table games at Golden Gate, Lenny Balmer and his group of friends were playing blackjack. Balmer, a 49-year-old mechanic from Southern California who travels to Las Vegas “a lot,” said he is unlikely to make a return visit to Golden Gate in the future.

“This is why we come to the casino,” he said, motioning to his four friends seated around the table. “It’s not really just about the gambling, ya know?”

Joshua and Lizzy Farris, who were also at Golden Gate on the last night of in-person table games, felt a bit differently. The Georgia couple only started gambling recently and said they prefer ETGs.

“We learned to play craps on (a roll-to-win) table,” Joshua Farris said. “I can’t say we would have ever tried it on a real one.”

Lizzy Farris concurred.

“I was too scared to walk up to it,” she said.

Bokunewicz said the approachability factor of ETGs is a big part of their appeal, especially for novice gamblers.

“Learning to play live table games can be intimidating, especially on complicated games like craps, or on games like blackjack where each player’s decision can impact the outcome of other bets on the table,” she said. “Electronic table games provide a way to learn the rules at the player’s own pace, without the added pressure of other customers.”

Different approaches across the country

For now, the industry is not taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

Two New York City-area racinos (combined horse racing track and casino), Resorts World New York City in Queens and MGM Empire City in Yonkers, are two of the six highest-grossing commercial casinos in the U.S. outside of Nevada and Mississippi, according to the American Gaming Association. The two racinos only have ETGs and video lottery terminals; there are no live dealer table games or random-number-generator controlled slot machines at either property.

Despite their success, Resorts World NYC and Empire City are in the running for three available class III gaming licenses that would allow for live dealer tables and RNG slots. The winning applicants will be required to pay a $500 million licensing fee and guarantee a minimum capital investment of $500 million in order to operate a full resort-style casino in downstate New York.

The juxtaposition between Golden Gate and the two New York racinos underscores how operators are still trying to find the right balance.

“Part of what makes the casino experience unique is its constant innovation,” Bokunewicz said. “While it is unlikely live table games will ever vanish completely from casino floors, they may evolve into new forms — adapting to meet the interests of future generations of players while preserving the excitement and glamour that culturally we associate with being present in a casino.”

In explaining the transition to an all-digital casino floor, Stevens said part of the thinking was that live dealer tables may eventually become more of an exclusive offering.

“It’s not that I’m predicting the demise of table games in any way. I think table games are going to become more of a high-end luxury thing,” he said.

___

©2025 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.