Automated Tables: Huge Upside for Players

Hey to all. Fully automated poker tables are a new trend I'd like to talk about. A company called PokerTek constructs the tables, which I mentioned in one of my previous blogs.

I once played them in Macau. Now PokerTek applied for a license in Nevada and were granted permission to operate a field trial in a Las Vegas casino - a real coup, because although the company had already installed its tables elsewhere, Vegas is of course the most important place to be.

Excalibur's poker room - previously really one of the smallest, least important cardrooms in Vegas - will install 12 automated poker tables with the "PokerPro" brand.

The tables are the first online/brick-and-mortar combo in the poker world.

They combine the best of live and online poker. You get to see your opponents: do their hands shake? Are they nervous? Are they bluffing? And on the other hand you have lightning-fast deals, pots are awarded instantly, etc. etc.

PokerTek automated poker table.

In the past when there was a dispute a floor manager had to make a ruling. If you disagreed with that ruling, you had the option (only in bigger games) of contacting Gaming Control, who in turn made the decision.

In the process, the game would be dead for about half an hour or so while everyone waited for Gaming Control officials to arrive. But with these new technologies it is very easy to "rewind" the action on the table and review the situation.

These tables also offer the option of playing multiple variants. The standard games available are Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi, Omaha Hi-Lo and Seven-Card Stud. All are available in No-Limit, Pot-Limit, Spread-Limit and of course Fixed-Limit.

As you can imagine not all dealers are trained to deal all of these games, so the tables offer a lot more flexibility to a poker room. They will also likely attract new players who've never played poker before, because newbies will view them as being akin to slot machines.

As you can imagine, that might improve profitability for all of you card sharks ;-)

What will it mean for Kate the dealer?

Some other cool features are easy kill pots and rabbit hunting (when you fold on the turn you can now find out if you would have hit your flush if you called that big bet). Straddles are also possible, as well as blind chops.

But one of the most important draws for players is that the tables eliminate the need to tip. It may sound harsh for dealers, but if you keep track of how much you tip dealers on a given night, you can see that tips seriously cut into your win rate in the long run.

These tables promise up to 50% more hands in No-Limit and no less than 100% more hands in games like Pot-Limit Omaha, compared to traditional poker tables.

I have my doubts about these figures - I think rates like that could only be achieved if all the players were familiar with these new tables and their functions.

In any event, there's a huge upside for casinos, not just for players. You don't need a whole army of dealers, chip runners, etc. All you need is one or two managers who know how to handle a PC and you're pretty much done.

You might need an extra cashier, where you can buy credits for your player card. (You just pay the cashier the money and he or she credits it to your card.)

100% more PLO games? Could be good ...

Now for a bit of Q&A.

Steve, this sounds like one big ad - do you work for them?

No, I don't. But I do encourage this whole development. Of course there is also a downside.

It takes away a lot of the game - there are no more chip tricks (which wasn't my biggest asset anyway, so I don't care much about it :) ), and far less "Hollywood" at the tables due to the limited timebanks.

And it just isn't the same without green felt, 52 cards and a bunch of chips. So it will probably never replace poker as we know it, but it is a good addition if you ask me.

But what happens when this thing crashes?

If you have the same PC as I have, you might be wondering: What if the PC crashes? Well, the main server of these tables saves and makes backups all the time.

As a matter of fact, I witnessed one of these crashes while playing in Macau. All you need to do is sit down at the next PokerPro table and simply insert your player card. The old table can easily be transferred to another table by the click of a mouse.

The ones who will get hurt by these tables are of course the dealers and other poker room staff; they will be made redundant by these new machines.

Saving grace for Kate: Knowing those catty cocktail waitresses will have to eat it too.

And what to think of the cocktail waitresses? How on earth do you tip them with digital money? It is just a fact that you give bigger tips when you pay in chips as opposed to cash.

The poker room will become less important for them to service, so if you are one of those players who mainly visits the tables for a laugh and some free drinks, you might be looking for greener pastures.

I will have a look for myself to see if these tables are "hot or not" enough for Vegas soon. Of course I will let you know what my findings are.

The grand opening of the poker room is on Sept. 11. Right now they're conducting a trial run to see if there are any bugs/errors in the system.

I'll keep you posted ;)

Regards,

-- Steve Wong

More blogs from Steve Wong:

• The End of My World Series: Nothing but Early Exits
• My 2008 Series So Far
• Egg-Shaped Losers Driving Women from Poker
• WPT Championship Part 1: Something to Prove