PITTSBURGH - Table games shift the whole dynamic of a casino floor. The cheering at the roulette wheel. The crowd around the blackjack table. The people getting in the way of the waitstaff.
And judging by the sights and sounds at the three Western Pennsylvania casinos that hosted the state's first table games last week, the energy, gender balance, and decibel levels morphed dramatically. It's no wonder casino operators often refer to the games as "transformational."
The changes are physical and psychological, as could be seen and heard when about 200 table games went online at the Rivers Casino downtown, the Meadows Racetrack & Casino in nearby Washington County, and at Presque Isle Downs & Casino near Erie.
At each locale, dozens of tables for blackjack, roulette, craps, and mini-baccarat occupy prime real estate - the middle of the casino floor. The configuration will be the same at the central Pennsylvania casinos and at Parx in Bensalem and Harrah's Chester Casino in Delaware County, which will add table games over the next week.
Last week, there were more men than ever in the Western Pennsylvania casinos - and most headed straight for the tables, never venturing "off center" to play the slots.
Like Bill Shuba, a 43-year-old engineer from Canonsburg, Pa., who said he would be staying in-state instead of going to West Virginia to indulge in his favorite game, blackjack.
Vegas? "Probably won't see me anymore," said Shuba, who sat down at a $25 minimum table at the Meadows on Thursday.
That is exactly the element table games bring to the Meadows, said Gary Shrader, 34, of Morgantown, W.Va., who is among the casino's 302 new dealers.
"It will give it a legit Vegas feel," he said.
Gaming experts such as David G. Schwartz say placing table games front and center is a strategic move.
"Primarily, they are the most exciting part of the gaming floor - the noise and action there dominates the rest of the casino," said Schwartz, director of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas' Center for Gaming Research.
"For security reasons, it makes sense to have the highest-value games the farthest inside. It's much harder to grab chips off of a table and run out the door if the door is farther away," he said.
"It's also a better use of space: You can line walls and walkways with slot machines, but it's not efficient to do so with table games," Schwartz said. "It makes sense to have two lines of tables, with the table-games managers in the middle."
Slots players are predominantly women, age 50 and up. And slots tend to be an individual sport.
Table games, on the other hand - craps, in particular - involve group play, a lot of camaraderie at a table, and are anything but quiet.
Shrader, the Meadows dealer, said his training and study of the industry taught him why tables take some effort to get to: "You hope [customers] get on a slot machine before they get on a table, or on their way out."
About 110 million people worldwide play poker, according to Schwartz, and it's one of this country's biggest recreational activities.
Also popular for the last five decades has been blackjack, he said. "It draws players who are lured by the possibility of using their skills to generate a positive expectation, and those who just think that they can beat the dealer."
If history is any indication, Pennsylvania can expect table games to bring an uptick in its gambling revenue, said analyst Andrew Zarnett, managing director of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.
"Historically, in competitive markets, tables have grown the gross revenues of those casinos, and have had a negative effect on nearby competitors," Zarnett said. "We have also found that slot revenues grow as table-game customers often have a slot player in tow."
When patrons pass through the main entrance of Rivers, the first thing they see is a large craps table.
That's so "when you walk in, you see all the people cheering, and it draws you in," said Rivers general manager Todd Moyer.
Rolling the dice on that eye-catching craps table at Thursday's launch was DeVaughn Matthews, 21, of Larimer, Pa. A party atmosphere surrounded him. Other players cheered him on.
"Before, I was playing virtual blackjack on the machines," Matthews said. "It's not the same thing, it's way different. With this, it's more social, and you're more into it."
Even the colors of the gaming tables, all earth tones, were intentional, Moyer said, chosen to make the experience "really comfortable and more soothing."
Deborah Hudak of Punxsutawney was one of the first to take a seat at Rivers' blackjack tables Thursday at 6 a.m.
"Oh, that's nice," the 58-year-old bar owner said, gliding a hand over the table as if it were a brand-new car.
Table players are known to gamble long hours straight, and those whose livelihoods depend on tips said they were already seeing a difference.
Katie McCauley, who has been a beverage server at the Rivers since January, said she averaged about five drinks an hour on her tray before table games.
Since Thursday morning, that has more than doubled - as have her tips - and most of the orders were coming from the middle part of the casino.
"People are on a schedule. They want a drink every 15 minutes," McCauley, 23, said Friday while working the casino floor.
"I'm trying to save for a house, so I couldn't be happier."