Drop

Drop is a counting concept, named for the drop box beneath a table into which cash and markers physically fall. At a table it is the cash and credit instruments exchanged for chips; at a machine it is the amount deposited into the bill validator and cash box. The property’s win is the drop less the value paid back out, and hold percentage is win divided by drop, which is why table hold in a casino is a very different number from sportsbook hold.

The confusion worth clearing up is between drop, handle and revenue. Handle is total amount wagered, and because chips are recycled through many hands, handle at a busy table is a large multiple of drop. Drop measures money brought to the table; handle measures how hard it was worked. Regulators and listed operators report table drop and win because both are auditable from the count, while handle at a table generally is not. In the online world the equivalent measures are deposits and turnover, and confusing the two produces exactly the same category of error as confusing drop with handle.