Feature: Computerised gaming in casinos - July 2006  

Computers with graphics and automated playing stations without human dealers are starting to take over casinos in the US. S&T looks at this new gaming phenomenon.

The latest high tech innovation sweeping through the US is a computerised live poker room that has a self-service computerised check-in board where players sign up for a table and assigned to a table. Then, at the table they purchase electronic chips from a computer screen, and play the game on the computer screen - while sitting at the table with the other table players.
The graphics on the screen are described as life-like with cards dealt by the computer face-down, and when the player wants to view the cards he will ‘cup’ his hand over the screen for the cards to show. The computerised poker room system is already in use in several casinos outside of Nevada and New Jersey.

Video gaming in casinos

If you go onto casino floors now you will see computerised blackjack and roulette and craps - all games that are played with a player sitting at a slot machine station and playing what amounts to be a video game. There are even multi-player tables for blackjack with a computer screen and a graphic of a dealer dealing cards - and players placing their bets via an individualised screen in front of them.
Konami estimates that there are approximately 900,000 casino gaming machines on casino floors globally, out of which 70% are in North America, 20% are in Australia and 10% in other regions.
Companies providing these computerised systems say they can deliver faster, error-free games to casinos and that will mean more profits for the casinos (more hands per hour means more revenue per hour), and for the players it means that they no longer have the expense of ‘tipping’ casino dealers.
In the world of live poker, that tipping can get expensive. In many card rooms it is considered appropriate to tip a dealer on each and every hand that is won. Sometimes the tip is no more than one dollar - but on a small pot of 10 dollars those one-dollar tips can take their toll on a gambler's budget and bottom line.

Rapid Roulette

There are craps players who fear that computerised craps games, with the dice rolled by a random number generator and displayed as a graphic on a big TV screen, are coming. Harrah's casinos, for example, already have what they call ‘rapid roulette’ which is a computerised roulette system - and that could be adopted to the play of craps as well.
In the ‘rapid roulette’ game, a live dealer will spin a real roulette wheel, but instead of players betting chips on an actual layout on a table they use a touch-screen to place their bets on a virtual layout on a computer. Yes, to ‘buy chips’ they simply insert cash into a bill acceptor like those in slot machines. The results of the live wheel are automatically sensed by the computer system to reward correct bets and to remove losing bets made on the touch screens.
A virtual craps game would have players sitting at computer stations, inserting cash into bill acceptors, and indicating their bets on a virtual layout on the computer screen in front of them. There will be no ‘delays’ with players throwing the dice off of the table or fumbling with them. Casinos would not have to fear ‘dice mechanics’ or cheats who could manipulate the dice unfairly. And best of all, one computerised number generator could serve an unlimited number of computerised desk tops for players - eliminating the need for a craps dealers crew and real tables. In the virtual world, casinos would not have to limit the number of players to each craps table to 10 or 12.
And, oh -- did we mention that computerised games don't need health benefits, sick leave, time off, holidays or lessons in customer service?
Customer service? I'm not sure if computer screens will chat with you about your dinner or the show in the casino lounge?

Casino revenues, 2005

The American Gaming Association’s (AGA) 2006 State of the States: The AGA Survey of Casino Entertainment includes detailed data on the economic impact of the US commercial casino industry at the national and state level. The data shows that the industry continued to exhibit strong growth in 2005, despite the tremendous challenges brought by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
In 2005, more than 55m Americans visited a casino, or approximately one in every four adults. Together, they spent around $30bn at the nation's casinos, more than the total amount taken in at the box office.
In 2005, the 455 commercial casinos in 11 states generated $30.29bn in gross gaming revenue, representing an increase of nearly 5% over 2004 revenue totals. Individual gaming markets also witnessed landmark success, with Las Vegas revenues surpassing $6bn and Atlantic City revenues climbing above $5bn for the first time.

This feature first appeared on www.Moredeals.com; Extra data supplied by the American Gaming Association.

New Report from ArkSports - The Global Business of Poker, £495/$910/E715, 300+ pages

Written by leading industry writer Rachael Church of ArkSports, The Global
Business of Poker provides an invaluable market overview of the fast-moving
multibillion dollar poker industry. Companies profiled include 888.com, Bet24,
Betandwin, Harrah's Entertainment, Ladbrokes, MansionPoker, Matchroom,
PartyGaming, PokerStars, SkyBet, Unibet and Victor Chandler. It will be
published at the end of July 2006, price £495. See
http://www.sportandtechnology.com/page/0359.html for further details including a table of contents.

This article was seen first by people who receive the monthly newsletter, join them.