New technology in Poker tables: -EV or +EV?

[spex x]

I like to keep abreast of the goings on in the casino industry. Well the Gaming Technology Summit ended a while back and I just read about it in Casino Journal. The platinum prize winner for most innovative technology is a new breed of poker table called the PokerTek PokerPro. This is a dealerless poker table. No dealers, no cards, no chips - the game takes place on small touch screens that each player sits in front of. So its like playing online, except that your oppenent is accross the table from you. Check it out at www.pokertek.com. Besides saving the casino on dealers, the table can deal out 40-60% more hands per hour than a normal game.

So the question is, is this a good or bad technology for poker players. Personally, I think that this new technology takes most of the fun out of the game. It represents the virtualizing of our poker reality. Frankly, I only go to casinos to play cards in order to get out from in front of the computer and interact with friends. I could see the PokerTek table killing the comeraderie that exists around the table (especially the low-limit tables).

On the other hand, the increased number of hands dealt may translate to bigger profits for good players. We give up some +EV by losing a lot of physical tells - chips shuffling, putting chips into the pot, etc. However, the increased hands per hour would probably make up for the money lost on physical tells, plus some.

In my opinion, poker is supposed to be fun. The fun of the game is lost with this new technology. And although I might make more money with the PokerTek table, it is important to remember that the fun is worth something too. I would rather give up a little +EV for having a little more fun. But I'd love to hear anyone elses' thoughts on this technology and how you guys think it will effect EV.

[aal113086]

if and when is new technology comes out it will be another option, not the sole option. Lack of dealer tipping seems like the only positive to me. If there are more hands an hour there will be less fish that get unpatient and make mistakes out of boredom/lack of action (generally speaking of course).
Just because a couple of these tables will be open will not stop the other normal tables from going on as normal.

[spex x]

Yes, of course you are right. Regular games will continue to be dealt. But why would more hands per hour translate into less fish? This is clearly not the case in online play. There are very many fish online, and the games are dealt at the lighting pace of 50-80 hands per hour. The fish play badly because they are bad players, not just because they bet bored. Getting bored is just one of the reasons that they are bad players. There are a lot of rocks with the patience of a Zen master who play badly. Give a fish AA and will play it wrong much of the time. Give him 82 suited and he'll play that hand badly.

[spex x]

These tables are being used at the Hard Rock in Tampa and the Winstar in Oklahoma. If anyone has used, I'd love to hear about the experience.

[WhiteWolf]

I have it from a reliable source that PokerTek is rigged for action flops [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[HoldemPokerPlyr]

Haha. I don't like that technology at all. I like playing live because I like to play cards as I talk with everybody and toss my chips around the table.

-HoldemPokerplyr

[Machinehead]

They're being used at the hard rock in Hollywood, FL too. I tried it once, you have to get a card and deposit money on it to play. I didn't think it was anything great. The table talk was still there, so that wasn't so bad. Overall it felt pretty stupid to be playing on a computer screen in live play.

[agent_fish]

How do you keep people from walking by and looking at your cards? Screen blinders?

I guess it might be cool for a little while just for the novelty of it. I would definitely give it a try.

[Kaeser]

[ QUOTE ]
Haha. I don't like that technology at all. I like playing live because I like to play cards as I talk with everybody and toss my chips around the table.

-HoldemPokerplyr

[/ QUOTE ]

I hate to just quote somebody but that's exactly how I feel. When I play live a big part of my enjoyment comes from the ambience. Paper cards and real chips add to the experience. There might be some room for this technology at high stakes games, but I can't see it ever taking off at low limits.

[VladKGB]

i played this at my local Hard Rock casino here in Florida. and i do not like it at all, if i wanted to play poker on a computer i would stay home. The feel of chips, chip tricks and having real cards makes the game much better. I hope this wont become popular and spread. It it +EV for the poker room, all they need is 1 technical person to watch over several tables and they save a bunch of money not having dealers.