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Old dogs, new tricks
The basic rules of play may be many decades old, but table games are continuing to evolve in order to attract customers and maximise profitability for casinos. And there are even a handful of entirely novel games, as Barnaby Page reports.
Table games are by far the most venerable form of gaming on offer in the casino – Roulette dates back two centuries – but they continue to develop, with many manufacturers now incorporating digital elements into traditional games, some adding new twists to old favourites, and others creating entirely fresh forms of table entertainment.
Few have gone as far as EPayment Solutions, an Australian firm whose principal product, Racing Card Derby, is an all-new game which make its US debut this month, first at MGM’s Circus Circus in Reno and then at Ameristar’s Cactus Petes in Jackpot, Nevada. Those two trial deployments are part of the final review process the game is undergoing with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, whose approval will open up the Las Vegas market, and Racing Card Derby is also gaining ground in Asia, where it is available to players on a casino cruise ship plying between Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
It will go live next month at Resorts World Manila, the firm’s sales and marketing manager Matthew Bielenberg told Casino International, and shortly afterwards at the Thunderbird resort, also in the Phillipines; that country’s Gaming and Amusing Corporation (PAGCOR) will receive its first Racing Card Derby tables in May, and approval is also expected this year by Macau, Singapore and Queensland, Australia.
The game itself is relatively simple. A standard deck of cards is used at a table seating up to ten players, and results are expressed in a horse-racing metaphor; 42 different bets are available, with odds ranging from 2-1 to 10-1, of which nine will win in each game, and the house edge is higher than usual. So what does this enthusiasm for a product that has none of the pedigree of mainstream table games like Blackjack and Poker indicate?
Perhaps it comes about because Racing Card Derby encapsulates many of the features that are also now enhancing more traditional games. For a start, it combines electronics such as automatic card recognition, LED lighting and an animated large-screen display – showing, of course, a horse race, whose “winners” indicate which bets have been successful – with live dealer control, and EPayment Solutions is not the only vendor taking this compromise route.
Many believe that, while a totally automated table game is perfectly possible from a technology point of view, the dealer adds a social element that players find appealing; another supplier of table games, DigiDeal, goes so far as to argue that automating some functions not only helps speed up play and minimise dealer errors, it also means that dealers’ technical skills become less important, so “casinos can hire for personality and sociability”, the dealer in effect becoming less the enabler of play and more the genial host.
Looking good
Visual appeal is another prominent consideration for casinos buying table games today – how well does the table stand out on a crowded floor and attract players? – and that, too, is probably a factor in the early orders for Racing Card Derby. That animated horse race includes background scenery and associated sounds, while winning combinations light up, making it easy for new players (that’s all of them, for now) to learn the game, while the table itself can be decorated to match the individual casino’s visual branding.
And many other vendors are also enlisting large screens and lighting effects to add an extra dimension to their table games – taking advantage not only of the innate human tendency to notice movement, but also of the extra visibility that screens provide. On any casino floor the tables themselves are largely hidden from distant viewers by other tables and bodies; screens, however, can be high above them.
TCSJohnHuxley, for instance, has been an enthusiastic proponent of visual embellishment. The 3D Animation Pack module for its AccuPlay system uses a 50-inch screen and animated game content, while its Double Action Roulette benefits from a thin layer of electroluminescent lighting installed just beneath the surface of the table as well as an illumination sequence that runs until betting closes on a game. It also offers single- and double-sided winning number displays, based on screens measuring 21 or 29 inches, in its e-FX Elite range. Elektroncek, meanwhile, uses no fewer than six LCD screens on some table game units in its Organic range.
Exploiting the visual potential of table games also means paying attention to smaller details. Gaming Partners International, for example, not only supplies a range of tables, accessories, layouts, Roulette wheels and so on, but also encourages casinos to use elements as apparently trivial as chips and dice for branding and promotions. They can be customised to commemorate milestones in the casino’s life, such as a major anniversary; to cross-market other products and services from the casino or partners; and to promote events and entertainment at the location.
Your way
Flexibility is also a vital factor for casinos choosing table games today, in both spatial and operational terms. Spatially, because tables occupy more square footage per player than do slots, and so it’s imperative that they are physically configured in a way that maximises use of floor space; operationally, because they are comparatively expensive to run, with traditional table games requiring a live, salaried dealer. Partial automation helps reduce dealer mistakes and increase speed of play, but doesn’t actually cut down on the head count; total automation eliminates the employment overhead, but as we’ve seen some believe that it also reduces the customer appeal of the tables. Where’s the happy medium?
In some cases, casinos are opting for fully digital tables. PokerTek is rolling out its PokerPro automated table to a number of locations in France, where it’s the only such device approved by authorities, starting with the Seven Casino d’Amnéville. It’s traditional Poker, with up to ten players: the only difference from a dealer-based game is that digitising play makes it faster and error-free.
Another approach, championed by the likes of DigiDeal, is to create tables that can be operated either automatically, during quiet times when the level of betting doesn’t justify a dealer’s presence, or by a human when the floor is busier. DigiDeal table games also offer casinos a choice between physical and virtual cards and chips, and one – the DTS-V – has intriguingly been designed so that it can be classified as either a table game or a slot machine, depending on jurisdictional requirements. That helps casinos in Macau, for example, where authorities recently imposed a limit on the number of table games in each location.
Elektroncek also offers casinos plenty of choice in its table game product line. Its G4 Organic Multicenter table, for example, can be configured for 12, 14 or 16 players, while its Organic Twins – also available in 12- and 14-seater forms – supports two different forms of Roulette, double-zero with 38 fields or single-zero with 37. Again, it’s about enabling the casino to precisely tailor their gaming offer to the requirements of the business and the customer.
TCSJohnHuxley, meanwhile, has taken a modular approach with its AccuPlay Table System, letting casinos pick and choose from a menu of functionality. Enhancements that it unveiled at the recent ICE Totally Gaming event in London include cashless payment using small devices that it calls e-purses; funds can be added or removed by customers at the casino cash desk. Also on offer is a virtual shoe which uses random number generation to simulate card dealing, and a CITO (cash in, ticket out) module based on JCM bill acceptors and Epic ticket printers, allowing the table to continue operation whether or not a dealer is present.
Safe and sound
Other operational improvements don’t affect the process of play, but address issues like security. For example, Abbiati’s recently-launched TV Poker Tournament Table, manufactured with video-surveillance specialist Dallmeier, features built-in cameras with preset photography modes that ensure high-contrast, true-colour pictures of cards in a range of typical casino conditions.
EPayment Solutions, the firm behind Racing Card Derby, is also active in table game security with its ICU2 card-recognition unit, which it says can be used with any table that needs automatic card recognition, and is ready for use with Baccarat or Racing Card Derby itself. At less than a quarter of the cost of some card readers, it’s said to instantly recognise any style of card from any kind of shoe. And Cammegh’s new Mercury 360 Roulette wheel likewise has security at its heart, with a system that continually monitors rotor status, wheel level and ball characteristics, digitally providing reports to the firm’s Wheel Manager Application.
Add-ons like these give the casino greater flexibility, improved management capability and potential cost savings, but may not in themselves be particularly important to players, for whom the game’s the thing. That’s where another development of table games comes into action – variations on play itself, or the addition of extra side games to the main one.
On the side
TCSJohnHuxley, for instance, last year launched its Double Action Roulette, now in casinos including Aspers Newcastle in England and Gold Reef City in South Africa, with additional bets not found in the standard game, and two winning numbers from each spin. Other vendors that have taken a similar tack include Shuffle Master – a versatile maker of both proprietary games such as Casino War and electronic table games such as Lightning Poker – whose Caribbean Stud Poker Bonus, for example, comes complete with progressive wagers and side bets.
Some additions can even work with any kind of game, such as TCSJohnHuxley’s SuperNova Table Bonus System, which adds multi-level progressive pools. Visually themed to match the design of the base game, using a wide-screen display, and operated by the dealer via a touchscreen handset, it’s another way to differentiate a table game, add excitement and increase player participation.
And whether it’s done electronically or conventionally, improving the experience for players while easing the workload and minimising risk for the casino is the goal of all developments in table games. They’ve come a long way since the French developed that first Roulette back in the eighteenth century, and despite the success of slots and the arrival of e-gaming, it seems table gaming can still add plenty of novelty to any casino floor.
AWAY FROM THE TABLE
One challenge facing the operators of table games is how to continue involving players when they’re absent from the casino floor.
E-gaming is one obvious solution, with most of the major Internet gaming sites, whether they’re run by land-based casinos or pure-play online operators, offering fairly convincing facsimiles of Roulette, Poker, Blackjack and other popular table games.
Mobile gaming is another, and the rapid spread of smartphones will doubtless increase the playing of table games on the handset. The firm behind Racing Card Derby (featured in our main story) is, for example, developing an app version of the game for Apple’s iPhone, although in the broader industry there is still debate as to whether apps (which run on the phone itself) or Web-based games (which run on a server and are accessed by mobile Internet) are the better option.
One of the most ambitious solutions to this challenge, however, comes from Amaya, the Canadian specialist in peer-to-peer gaming. Rather than produce disparate applications for different devices, it’s united them all in one platform, which it calls InSync. This gives players access to multiple simultaneous games such as Roulette, Poker, Blackjack and Baccarat from a variety of access points, including gaming tables, cabinets, and bar tops.
