The Future of Table Games? Part 2

... Click here for Part 1

These days, traditional brick and mortar casinos are facing competition from the Internet.  Like the electronic table game, Internet casinos can also offer lower betting limits, but with the added bonus that they are much more convenient than physical casinos.  However, Internet casinos are only gaming competition.  As long as casinos focus on providing entertainment (in various forms), these physical establishments should not find themselves losing their most loyal and profitable customers.  Now I ask you, how much more entertainment can a player look forward to when playing with virtual dealers, as opposed to playing on the internet?  Will it justify the trip to the casino?

Well, there's certainly a social aspect involved with other players, even though you're at an electronic table. And that brings me to my next type of electronic game: Craps.   In the summer of 2011, I conducted some research at a nearby casino.  Throughout the summer, they had been advertising that they now had Craps – a big step for a non-tribal casino in this particular state.  This particular casino had been known for several years to have slot machines, and more recently, they had added Roulette and Craps.  But in line with local gaming regulations, these games could only be electronic tables.  Half of the Roulette tables had virtual wheels, while the other half had real wheels.  Both electronic Craps tables were fully virtual – nothing but computer touch-screens.

What I thought was interesting was the fact that the Craps game allowed the shooter to set the dice before throwing them.  Obviously, the creators of the game realized that they could please many people by allowing them to set the dice as they would with physical dice, but overlooked the fact that many people set the dice as part of their attempt to make a controlled throw.  And in case you hadn't figured it out yet, there is no such thing as a controlled throw on these machines.  The setting of digital dice caters to the ultra-superstitious, and only gives the illusion of control - much like the buttons on a slot machine.  Or maybe this is an example of how some businesses really don't understand their customers (or perhaps they figured that it's an easy feature to include, and only slows the game down a little... who knows).

The Craps players I saw however, did not seem to mind the virtual dice tossing (although this is sure to deter people who believe in the art of dice influencing), but there was something obviously missing from this version of the game.  The social aspect of Craps had disappeared along with the dealers.  Players would sit in front of their screens and place bets with very little cheering or conversation. There were no praises to the shooter if he had rolled well – perhaps something to do with the fact that it was often hard to tell who was actually doing the shooting.  This electronic version of the game did not deliver all of the excitement of a real Craps table with real people working it.

Additionally, there was no "contagious betting" (as I like to call it).  Nobody would see what each other was betting, and nobody had to call out his or her bets like in real Craps games.  There’s no chance for players to ask each other, “hey, what was that you just bet?” As a result, overall betting may have been reduced. 

Another interesting thing I saw was that the history of the games were being analyzed.  On Craps, you could see many of the current shooter's previous throws, as well as shooting streaks.  On Roulette, there were history boards (common on real Roulette games also) and also an analysis of "hot" numbers (if you believe that sort of thing) and "cold" numbers (if you believe the opposite sort of thing).  But again, these are only of value to the the ultra-superstitious or gambling-fallacy-challenged (or is that "unchallenged"?).

One person I spoke to on the subject of electronic Roulette said that he trusted the real wheel over the virtual one, and would trust a game with a dealer even more.  There was something about the computerization that he didn’t fully trust, and claimed that a dealer’s spins might be more fair.  

Some people who work in the casino industry believe that as the video game generation gets older, they will prefer slots.  Still, there are some who believe that they actually prefer table games.  So could this generation actually prefer the combination of the two that manifests itself into electronic table games?  My opinion is... I don't think so.

If it's really the video game generation that's going to occupy the casinos of the future, think about what happened to the video arcades from many years ago.  Once home gaming consoles became popular, these video arcades started to vanish.  Why go to the arcade when you can play the same game at home?  What would happen to casinos if the games became more like what could be found more conveniently on the Internet?

My assessment of these electronic games is that it is not so much different than playing at an online casino over the Internet. For some casinos, where the law prohibits them from having real tables, there is no alternative.  In places where table games are allowed, I believe the step towards more advanced technology is actually a step backwards.  Electronic table games blur the line between Internet and brick and mortar casinos, when the latter should be focusing on differentiating themselves by providing greater value and memorable experiences.

Do you have a topic or question related to casino gaming that you'd like to see discussed on this blog?  Send me an email at FogOfGambling@gmail.com and let me know!