Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

Table deals out human factor

Technology could boost profits, but labor situation makes big casinos wary

By Liz Benston
Las Vegas Sun

BY THE NUMBERS

25 hands: Can be dealt per hour by most human dealers.

40 hands: Dealt per hour by the PokerPro table.

60 percent: Potential increase in revenue if casinos switch to the automated tables.

Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.

Televised tournaments and pop culture references have made poker a player favorite, but the games, in which players bet against one another, don't make much money for the house.

A startup company from North Carolina is trying to change that with electronic poker tables called PokerPros that don't require live dealers. These tables, which debuted in 2005 but aren't yet offered in Nevada, have big implications for the casino industry.

Because electronic tables play faster than traditional games, they can increase what the casino takes from the pot over time, yielding a profit that more resembles that of other, more lucrative table games. They save labor costs by replacing dealers with a computer that deals electronic cards to players on a flat screen much like Internet poker games. And these games don't require shuffling machines and aren't subject to human error.

Surprisingly, the tables - developed with input from poker pro and casino executive Lyle Berman - have been a hard sell for Nevada's profit-driven casinos.

That's because the table's advantages come at an uncomfortable time for Strip casinos. Empowered by a controversial tip-sharing policy at Wynn Las Vegas, dealers at other properties are organizing under the Transport Workers Union, or at least exploring that prospect.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...566660812.html

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

Not surprising to see a bad article.

[ QUOTE ]
"That people like to touch cards and interact with a dealer seems like a common sense assertion," said [PokerTek CEO] Halligan, who speaks rapidly, with the assertiveness of a young entrepreneur. "But it's false."

[/ QUOTE ]

Really? The manufacturer claims people have no problem. I guess they don't. He must be right. No self interest there.

The statement is just left out there, as if it were undeniable.

No attempt to even contact someone from Cardplayer, Bluff, 2+2, etc.

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

This ain't gonna happen in AC. At least not until they make it legal to pump your own gas.

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

I for one would never regularly play these electronic casino poker games unless they were the only game offered within a 50 mile radius of my house.
I like live poker with cards and chips and that is what I want when I play live poker.

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

PokerTek is clearly an unbiased source of information regarding electronic poker tables and I'm glad their CEO at least knows what they do as a business.

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

[ QUOTE ]
I for one would never regularly play these electronic casino poker games unless they were the only game offered within a 50 mile radius of my house.
I like live poker with cards and chips and that is what I want when I play live poker.

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too. Not only that, casinos are regulated in NJ so that there is an increase in employment. My opinion is that state government of NJ will never allow the dealers to be replaced by machines.

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

They should market these tables solely for headsup and shorthanded play, which can't be done cost effectively with dealers. That's a hole in live casino play they could fill.

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

All casino games aspire to the condition of slot machines.

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

Wow. That reporter certainly makes herself look stupid and/or like a shill for the electronic poker table manufacturer...

Re: Poker is a necessary annoyance for casino executives.
 

I just want to know how much pokerpro paid liz to place this advertisement in the sun. It's not even an article, it's just a bunch of selling points for pokerpro.

Way to push casinos to jack up the rake even more. Somebody knows that if the rake were high enough, say like 20% to $500, no one would ever be able to beat poker and the casino would get all the money. That's the underlying problem with these disneyland corporations, they want ALL their customers money. They're not satisfied with a tidy profit, they want ridiculously enourmous profits.

It's not enough they have always made a killing at blackjack. Now they only pay 6/5 on half the games in town. Dealers hit soft 17. Any and all minute edges towards what was still "advantage: house" are being taken away. Soon blackjack will just be a booth where you write a check to parball corporation, LLC. They probably won't even provide a dank alley for you to die in without charging you.


The highest people in these corporations, the ones making six, seven, or perhaps eight figures, will do absolutely anything to keep their jobs. Their only concern is profits and dividends, and of course themselves. The employees keep getting the shaft worse and worse all the time. Poker dealers make barely above minimum wage, yet the casino execs want to cut labor costs even more. When the workforce unionizes, these companies will get what they deserve. Unions don't form when everyone is getting a fair shake and being treated well. They form when everyone's being treated like **** and treated badly.

Casinos are no longer a place where customers can enjoy themselves for a fair price. Not a place where workers can hold a good, secure job. Not a place for anyone anymore except casino execs and stockholders. And they say vegas was run by crooks when the mob was in town.

I know a fair number of people want poker to go away. These people are experts at one thing: fooling themselves. It aint going away. Casinos will try to bring in electronic tables, but the day when all poker is ala internet are not close.

The choice will remain to accept and embrace poker, or to keep fooling yourselves. Choose to do it right, or keep on doing it the harrahs way. Either way, poker is here to stay.

Al