A few corrections to Mr. Nover's article, or more accurately, to Steve Fezzick's information.
The 75% hold (25% payout) claimed on the NASCAR prop assumes that every driver in the group of four has an equal chance of finishing ahead of the other three. Naturally, that's rarely the case, and there are probably instances of groups in which one driver might have a 50% or higher chance of outfinishing the other three. If three instances of a 53% probability exist, the three-driver parlay of 6-1 (7 for 1) becomes profitable. That said, I'd estimate the hold on that prop to be around 30%, better than that of most futures (Super Bowl, World Series, etc.) wagers.
There's a reason that less than half of all casinos have poker rooms (it would be closer to 40% than the 50% claimed): poker is one of the lowest money-earners per-square-foot. Most poker rooms are in an out-of-the-way location that wouldn't make much money at anything else. The state yearly poker win of $65 million can be compared to the total win from all gaming of about $9.5 billion. in other words, poker represents about 0.7% (about 1/150th) of total gaming win.
That said, the lowering of the blackjack payoff to 6-5 is a move by the casinos to get the hold on blackjack up to a level comparable to other table games. It isn't a matter so much of the casinos being money grubbing (although they obviously want to maximize profits). It's a matter of blackjack not offering a high enough win per-square-foot compared to other games.
If Mr. Fezzick wants to complain about a ripoff, he can address the changing of the Deuces Wild video poker payout on four of a kind from 5-1 to 4-1. That had the effect (with the few cosmetic increases on payouts of some other hands) of turning a 100.6% machine into a 95.5% machine. Since there are dozens of deuces wild machines in any major casino (hundreds in some), that adds up to quite a bit of money over a year's time.
