Do Casinos Compete?
I have often wondered if online poker rooms and casino rooms compete for my business the same way that other businesses do. After all, in a capitalist society, everyone and everything is supposed to compete for the almighty dollar. I could think of all kinds of benefits that would trickle down if casinos competed for my business, like lower casino rakes and better laying odds. I think I will have to leave my dreams aside though, and realize that the poker business is not like other businesses. They don’t compete.
In fact, manypoker rooms and casinos are proudly boasting of the fact that they are working hand in hand with their competition. The easiest place to spot this kind of cooperation is in tournament dates. Think really hard about it- have you ever seen two major tournaments held on the same day? It just doesn’t happen because the casinos plan these things to complement, rather than compete with, the other casinos. The real big poker stars would be torn about which tournament to attend if there was a double booking issue, leaving one tournament out in the cold. These things cannot happen when everyone needs the constant stream of media attention to make their casino the most popular one on the strip. Casino competition is just bad for the poker business.
