New Green Felt Journal in Vegas Seven:
Baccarat first came to Las Vegas in the 1950s, but didn’t make much headway until the growth of high-end, international play in the 1970s. Caesars Palace and the Hilton led the way, and soon most casinos with any pretension to catering to high-rollers added the game.
The game has had an up-and-down ride over the past two decades. In the 1980s, when mass marketing to small-budget players replaced a reliance on a select group of high-rollers, many casinos junked their baccarat tables. In 1992, there were only 59 baccarat tables in the state, and the game accounted for about $291 million in winnings, less than 5 percent of total gaming revenues.
Yes, I came up with that title. It’s because you’ve got to make sure the flux capacitor is in good shape before you start a serious game of bacc.