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When I go into a restaurant, ho-tel or casino restroom and find faucets that turn themselves on

when I put my hands under them, paper towel dispensers that offer a single towel as I pass my hands near them, and toilets that flush themselves, I have to remind my-self that the owners of the establishments installing these technologies are not doing so for my convenience. While it is nice to be able to wash my hands as long as I wish under flowing water, it is the intent of management to make sure that the faucet is turned off when I leave. The automated towel dispensers keep customers from pull-ing three or four lengths of towel more than necessary, and especially keep the prankster from emptying the dispenser for fun. (I have noticed, however, that the length of the towel dispensed seems to be directly related to the price of an entrée in the restaurant.) I will leave the value of a self-flushing toilet to your own interpretation.

Similarly, when a casino company installs new technology, it is not simply to give the player a new experience. There are multiple justifications for replacing old machines, systems and games.

Years ago, casinos were basic, having just reel-based slot machines, table games

and a poker room. The biggest technologi-cal changes have taken place in the variety and capabilities of slots, but various factors are causing big changes to occur in both table games and poker.

Not too many years ago, you would be hard pressed to find more than roulette, blackjack and craps in a Las Vegas casino. Baccarat tables were rare and frequently only put on the floor when a group of high rollers were in town. Pai gow poker be-came a commonly available table game for those casinos that catered to Asians, and eventually became commonly available in most casinos. You might find a Big Wheel, but most often it was empty. While each of these games had its own following, they were also high-volume, low-return games for the casino. Baccarat is considered to have the lowest percentage hold for the casino, mitigated only by the high average bet. A good player can actually have an advantage over the house in blackjack, and the house advantage in craps for a basic pass-line bet is extremely low. These games are consid-ered a grind for the casino, where the small percentage win earned by the casino over a day can be wiped out quickly by a lucky player in a few minutes.

Eventually, new games emerged that

raised the casino’s percentage. Games such as Caribbean Stud, Three-Card poker and Let it Ride became popular, both because they raised the possibility of small jackpots for the player and they raised the house percentage. While blackjack might have a .5 percent profit for the casino, exotic table games might have a 5 percent to 7 percent edge for the house.

Each of the basic table games has a number of common factors that represent potential issues to the casino. All of the games take substantial real estate on the casino floor, require personnel to run, and require management to oversee those personnel.

It is not uncommon for a dealer to make an honest mistake in paying a win-ning bet at a table. Although a player who is short paid will likely squawk loudly, the player who is overpaid will be completely silent. Unscrupulous players spend hours perfecting methods of cheating, such as changing their bet after the outcome of the play. Adding a hundred dollar chip under a stack of $5 chips after the dealer busts is a common method of “winning” at blackjack. Even worse, there is always the possibility of collusion between a dealer and a player, with the dealer giving a player a betting edge or

G a m i n G T e c H n o l o G y

Dealerless PokerCasinos reduce risk with automated table games

By Bill Geoghegan

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gaming laws governing these new casinos frequently attempt to address some of the traditional issues that face the management and auditing of games, and traditional table games are normally the issue.

When many of the early Native American casinos opened, their charters prohibited cash from changing hands except at their cashier (or cage) location, and most did not allow the traditional table games that were run by a dealer. In fact, in many jurisdic-tions, only class I (social gaming for minimal prizes) and class II (games that were based on bingo) could be run. Class III games (the games we typically think of in a casino, including many slots and table games), were not permitted without state permission and approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

Gaming manufacturers were able to keep to the letter of the law (games based on bingo) while still producing what appeared to the player as a traditional game. Early video versions of table game emulation had a dealer CRT screen and a similar screen in front of each player. The random number generation is based on bingo’s 1-75, but con-verted to whatever is necessary for the game

being played, with player and dealer cards shown on the screen. Calculations were done by the gaming machine, both for bets

Benefits for the CasinoThere is less or no dependence on labor. Actual play can be tracked for players club value. Cheating is virtually impossible. Improper payouts are eliminated. Cash is taken in and accounted for via a bill validator, not a dealer. The system can be integrated into the slot accounting and player tracking system. There is no management team required to monitor the dealers. There are more decisions (hands, spins, etc.) per hour. There is no down time while shuffling occurs.

even allowing or facilitating cheating. Keep-ing track of the actual win and loss at a table has long been dependent on simply counting the value of the starting chip count, count-ing the money in the drop box, factoring additional chips delivered to the table, and the value of the ending chip count.

With the advent and popularity of player clubs in many casinos, tracking play and re-warding players at table games has become a challenge. Attempts to electronically track actual bets, wins or losses and dealer pay-outs have fallen short of the mark.

The electronic measurements inherent in the modern day slot machines makes the audit process quite straightforward. With casino-style gaming invading many new jurisdictions,

)G a m i n G T e c H n o l o G y

We may see dealer and management staff reduced, and some of the social aspects of gaming change because the dealer is eliminated, but the casino can eliminate much of its risk by utilizing the new generation of automated table games.

502 .297 .0221qsr@qsrautomat ions .com

®

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and payoffs, with the resulting payout made through a ticket that had to be exchanged at the cage. Effectively, they made table games another type of slot machine.

These machines allowed the casino to provide traditional table games without us-ing dealers. The actual win and loss at each machine is electronically calculated, and if a player chooses to self identify (using a player card), the actual play of that individual can be tracked accurately. Overpayments and un-derpayments are impossible, and mistakes in addition cannot happen.

Today, we are seeing many casinos re-place what were table game pits with auto-mated games, some of which require little or no dealer intervention. Shuffle Master offers Rapid Roulette®, in which the dealer spins the roulette wheel, but all bets are made and paid off electronically. They also produce Table Master™, utilizing state-of-the-art flat-screen technology to emulate the play normally experienced in front of a dealer. Virtually all card games, such as blackjack, poker and many of the exotic games can be played in this environment.

The justification for installing these

Benefits for the PlayerFaster playGuaranteed correct payoffPlayer club points integration with those earned on slots No grumpy dealers, Dealer tipping is unnecessary

types of machines is easy to make. There is less or no dependence on labor. Actual play can be tracked for players club value. Cheat-

ing is virtually impossible. Improper payouts are eliminated. Cash is taken in and accounted for via a bill validator, not a dealer. The system can be integrated into the slot accounting and player tracking system. There is no management team required to monitor the dealers. There are more decisions (hands, spins, etc.) per hour. There is no down time while shuffling occurs.

Benefits for the player include; faster play, guaranteed correct payoff, player club points can be integrated with those earned on slots, no grumpy dealer, and tipping of the dealer is unnecessary.

But just like the bathroom technology, the casino is the big winner here. We may see dealer and management staff reduced, and some of the social aspects of gaming change because the dealer is eliminated, but the casino can eliminate much of its risk by utilizing the new generation of automated table games.

Even though there are many perceived benefits to the players, it is the casino that is the big winner with this new technology.

Bill Geoghegan is a consultant in Las Vegas. He can be reached for comment at Bill@LGTConsulting.com.

G a m i n G T e c H n o l o G y