From a player's perspective, the odds are always against you. Anything that can slow the rate of play is good for a player. Lower minimums help slow the rate of play - if there is a $5 minimum, it might take an hour to blow through $100. If there is a $100 minimum, it takes only a second.

It should come as no surprise that the casino changes the odds to increase its take over the longer period of time. But the odds are always stacked anyways.

And therefore it should come as no surprise that the players at the $5 or $10 tables are casual gamblers who have set aside a little money for entertainment (money they know will likely be lost, but they hope otherwise). Anyone looking for the big kill won't be at that table.

I play roulette. If the table minimum is $5, I play for at least an hour. If the minimum is higher, the casino doesn't get any money from me that day, unless I decide to drop $5 into a slot machine. But that slot machine will never get my entire bankroll, small as it is.

The casinos need both kinds of players - fast losers and slow losers. Each one brings profit.