The Future of live poker games in casinos across the world looks potentially uncertain due to recent investigations into developments of electronic dealers replacing human dealers. Poker in casinos has always been a favourite for gamblers, but inside the last decade the games popularity has increased beyond imagination. Casino executives have realised gradually over the years how unprofitable hosting live poker games with human dealers is in their casinos in comparison to such other games as roulette, and have began to investigate potential solutions to this lack of profit gaining.
The main solution that casino executives have looked into is to actually eradicate the use of human dealers for poker games and instead use some form of electronic dealing/shuffling as can be seen within the online gaming industry. This new method of live dealing has been suggested by a recently formed company from the Nevada region and has been named ‘PokerPros’. The equipment is fairy unheard of as it only debuted back in 2005 and hasn’t yet been introduced into Nevada where a large proportion of the US’s major casinos exist.
Whether or not the ‘PokerPro’ tables will become a mainstream occurrence at many casinos appears to be quite uncertain, mainly due to the potential large implications that their application could have on the casino industry. The main aim of the electronic tables is that the overall speed of the poker games is increased, meaning that more hands are played per hour and thus a higher rake or tournament fee rate is achieved, increasing profits. In addition the wages of the dealers will obviously not have to be paid, saving the casino additional expenses in that area.
Another factor that PokerTek Inc. will most likely introduce argue in favour of their idea is that human error is completely removed from the game as all hands are produce via electronic random generators rather than shuffling the deck by hand, on the other hand people may possibly claim that the system is ‘rigged’ if they experience many bad beats. On the other hand, many casino executives will surely realised that the whole classic casino atmosphere may be ruined by the removal of smartly dressed dealers, in turn reducing the quality of the gamers’ experience. This may persuade gamers to completely move away from visiting casinos and that would have a negative impact on the game by taking away the traditional qualities of the game.
This is what PokerTek’s chief executive had to say on the matter; “That people like to touch cards and interact with a dealer seems like a common sense assertion, but it’s false.”
Whether or not this technology will become a common thing in casinos is extremely uncertain, but the outcome won’t be seen for at least a few years, after the development and testing stage of the equipment has be completed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
