Shortly after receiving approval from state gaming regulators for a field trial in Nevada, PokerTek announced a deal with the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas to install 12 of the company’s automated poker machines.

The PokerPro tables have been popular in California card rooms and on cruise ships, where they provide a cost-effective way to facilitate poker games. In Las Vegas, the traditional thought has been that poker involves cards, chips and a dealer.

But with casinos looking to keep their costs down and their revenue up, the PokerPro machines offer a solution. The machines don’t cost as much to operate as it would cost to pay the salary and health care for the number of dealers needed to run 12 tables. The machines can deal more hands per hour than a human dealer—increasing the rake—and they never make mistakes or misdeal.

And while this makes a great way for a casino that hasn’t offered poker before to make the game available, there are some issues with introducing it to a place like Excalibur. Most notably, the 40 dealers who worked in the poker room had to be relocated to other positions. While Excalibur officials said most of the affected dealers had been placed, not all of them had.

Ultimately, it was a choice the property was forced to make, according to Todd DeRemer, vice president of casino operations, who said that interest in poker has declined at Excalibur over the past three years. The new machines will rekindle interest and hopefully create a new excitement about the game, he said.

By Casino Connection Staff

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