Posted under poker
Can you imagine walking into a well known Sin City casino hotel and seeing no dealers, chips, or cards? Well if this seems hard to believe, you may be in for a big shock. The Las Vegas based casino Excalibur is now trying out with this new radical idea of automating everything from the dealers, to the actual poker tables. Executives from the casino are going to equip the poker rooms with 12 computer machines for a six-month trial period.
The North-Carolina based industry PokerTek is in charge of the computer machines, which are revolutionizing the way poker will be played in Sin City. The business already has 230 computers around the world, with the biggest located in Casino du Montreal (a total of 25 computers were installed in this Canadian casino hotel).
So what are the downsides of this makeover? For starters, about 40 Excalibur poker dealers will be searching for new careers. Some of these dealers have been functioning at the hotel since its opening in 1990. Todd DeRemer, Excalibur’s Vice President of Casino Operations, says that the poker dealers will be offered other dealer careers in the same casino.
According to DeRemer, the transformation is being made to give rookie poker enthusiasts a chance to play this popular game without feeling intimidated. He had already played these new machines before deciding upon the makeover. “It’s not intimidating”, he says, “We think that aspect will bring back the customers”.
The new machines will allow the business to play Texas hold’em, seven card stud and Omaha. 40-inch flat screen tv’s, which are located in the middle of the table, will show each table’s community cards, gambler’s stakes and the pot.