All About the Game
Hi-tech doesn’t mean low entertainment
Despite being a passionate advocate of technology, David Kinsman of Weike is realistic enough to understand that for most players technology is merely a means to an end rather than an end in itself.
“Players play the game, not the machine. We in this industry would do well to remember that,” he states bluntly.
For Mr Kinsman, technology applied to table games doesn’t mean technical wizardry at the expense of entertainment value. It’s instead about offering a complementary product that can not only capture new, technology-savvy, customers but also excite existing table players because of its different style. When technology interacts with traditional table games it actually has the capacity to create a distinctively different product, he argues.
Selling points
At G2E Asia 2009, Mr Kinsman explained to Inside Asian Gaming some of the specific features of Weike’s new dual-purpose electronic table.
“We’ve added a full baccarat results presentation, which is important to players. We’ve also packaged that in such a way that they can identify with it,” states Mr Kinsman.
“These games can run at two to three times the game cycle per hour of a live table. The shuffle is instantaneous, it’s doesn’t take minutes [as with a dealer-only table]. It doesn’t shut the game down for 10 or 15 minutes [per hour] while it’s being done,” explains Mr Kinsman.
Security
“It’s also a surveillance dream, because there are no [physical] cards, there are no chips—they’re digital, so they can’t be forged. There’s bill acceptor and ticket in ticket out technology, which means the player has total control over when he comes and goes and what he does. He doesn’t have to worry about buying chips and then going to a window to cash them. He doesn’t have to worry about cashing non-negotiable chips for negotiable chips—that sort of thing.”
At G2E Asia 2009, at least one slot director suggested the advent in recession-hit Macau of live tables offering minimum bets as low as HK$50 had drastically reduced the commercial argument for installing multiplayer electronic games in casinos. Mr Kinsman profoundly disagrees.
“I wouldn’t think he’s doing his job very well if he believes that,” he states.
“When I see casinos in Macau that have decided to scale down their slot operations, I worry for them. Electronic gaming is going to have a place in the industry worldwide. I once thought it could be as much as 10% of a mass gaming floor. I’m now realising that my estimates are too low. I feel sorry for a slot manager that doesn’t realise that.”
