Ask even essentially the most casual gaming observer where on the planet table game play is strongest, and chances are high that they'll respond Asia, and doubtless more specifically Macau.
And they'd be 100% right. It doesn't take a grizzled casino veteran to comprehend Macau unprecedented rise to the world’s largest single gambling market is basically according to the Asian gambler’s seemingly insatiable appetite for table game wagering. Not just is table game play king in Macau, it's growing in popularity inside the region, as nations equivalent to Vietnam, the Philippines and South Korea jump at the integrated casino resort development bandwagon in hope of capturing a slice of lucrative China gambler trade.
All this activity has made Asia a prime proving ground for brand new table game products and systems, electronic table game formats included. This was evident on the Global Gaming Expo Asia (G2E Asia) conference and trade show, held last May on the Venetian Macau, which featured the newest innovations from the electronic table games realm. Here's a recap of latest device introductions from leading ETG vendors as reported in Inside Asian Gaming magazine:
LT GAME
Macau’s LT Game is undoubtedly the envy of many an electronic gaming machine supplier.
Given the government’s cap on live gaming tables, Chinese players’ insatiable appetite for baccarat, the lower costs inquisitive about running electronic terminals versus live tables—as well as those terminals’ ability to drive marginal business from players unable to afford Macau’s now lofty live table minimums—there’s no shortage of demand for LT’s core product: electronic betting terminals used to make bets on baccarat games dealt by live dealers.
And, of course, there’s also the not inconsequential matter of LT having managed up to now to cling onto the exclusive right in Macau to sell those products.
LT Game Chairman Jay Chun isn't content with merely having a stranglehold at the most lucrative gaming machine manufacturing business on the town. A tireless inventor, he appears intent on providing an entire solution for his vision of the casino of the future, and was eagerly showing off several new products at G2E Asia.
One such product was the E-Baccarat table, which made its live debut in April on the Casino Macau Jockey Club. The Casino MJC functions as a “chipless” casino, in keeping with Chun’s conviction that casinos in future won't use chips. Players ticket-in and ticket-out on the E-Baccarat tables, and while they may be able to still squeeze the cards to keep up the texture of the normal game, all bets are made electronically on touchscreens, enhancing speed and efficiency.
Among other items on display on the LT Game stand were unique games, including a standalone terminal with an individual dice shaker that may be configured to run either sic bo or craps, and a terminal called Double 32 that permits baccarat players to simultaneously bet on as much as 10 fast-moving games.
LT is also looking to make its mark on community games with an electronic version of Texas Hold ’Em and e-table versions of mahjong and a well-liked Chinese card game called Dou Di Zhu (“Beat the Landlord”), a team game for 3 players with rules roughly very similar to bridge.
BALLY TECHNOLOGIES
G2E Asia 2014 was the region’s first have a look at the largest Bally Technologies it’s ever seen, pumped with SHFL entertainment’s added muscle and desperate to show quite a number games and systems and supporting products and technologies that for sheer scale has no equal within the industry—everything from linked progressives and standalones to electronic multi-station and proprietary table games to table game utilities and displays to a state-of-the-art casino management system.
The new slots alone will number greater than 100, and they're going to include more games developed specifically for Asia, and for Macau in particular, than Bally’s ever shown; which only is sensible while you take a look at the quarter that ended March 31st, the latest for the NYSE-listed slot giant and the primary full quarter including SHFL’s results—34 percent of latest unit sales were to customers outside the us. Last year presently it was 17 percent. And the influence of SHFL, as you’d expect, is becoming more pronounced. Sales of table products (utilities and proprietary games) generated 13 percent of the company’s record revenue of $338.4 million for the quarter, up from 7 percent over the past three quarters combined.
The e-tables business is vital for the combined company as a wedge into Macau also ensures that Bally will keep the investment in R&D flowing, especially now that the patent issues that hung over SHFL Fusion Hybrid, the live dealer multi-game, seem to have been cleared away within the Macau courts. The five-station virtual dealer TableMaster Fusion is set for deployment in a brand new multi-game format that’s been graphically enhanced and features a Chinese version of SHFL’s Ultimate Texas Hold’em dealt by a Mandarin-speaking dealer. (Ultimate Texas Hold’em was also shown on SHFL’s i-Table along side the preferred Three Card Poker.)
NOVOMATIC
New this year for Novomatic at G2E Asia were Panther Roulette and Panther Roulette II. These are designed to construct at the success of Novomatic’s popular Pinball Roulette, which features both a start button and an interactive pinball-style mechanism for launching the ball. Both are single-player formats that include 23 optional high-definition video slot games and will be blended with traditional roulette.
Panther Roulette II also includes a second 32-inch HD top screen aligned vertically to further enhance the experience.
Electronic multiplayer table games remain a strength for Novomatic in Asia, and the corporate showed its Novo Unity II platform at the Novostar SL1 slant-top with its fully automated Novo Multi-Roulette wheel. The platform provides a broad collection of games for players to make a choice from—Novo Flying Black Jack, Novo Flying Baccarat, Novo Flying Sic Bo, Novo Flying Poker 3 and Novo Flying Double-Action Roulette—and they may be able to even switch from side to side between games.
INTERBLOCK
Slovenia’s Interblock made the inaugural presentation to the Asian market of its Hologram Gaming Lounge at G2E Asia 2014.
Continuing the company’s tradition of marrying the newest tech innovations with slick, eye-catching design and presentation, Interblock claimed the Hologram Gaming Lounge platform is ready to be the way forward for gaming entertainment, and is in-built partnership with Musion Systems Ltd from the united kingdom. Musion owns and has the exclusive master global license for the Eyeliner projection system and is a world leader within the development, marketing, production and broadcasting of high-def 3D holographic video projections. Interblock enjoys the exclusive license to use the technology to gaming floors.
Also on display on the Interblock stand was the fifth generation of its popular and tasty multiplayer product range in various configurations. The G5 MiniStar Roulette with eight G5 play stations is billed because the smallest and best performing eight-seat product from Interblock’s newly launched G5 family of gaming products. It's available with a single- or double-zero wheel, and spans an insignificant two meters in diameter, making it a really perfect fit for smaller casinos. G5 MiniStar Roulette also offers the Golden Chip mystery progressive jackpot system, fast result detection, additional side bets and ideal roulette wheel visibility.
The G5 Bubble Generator is a newly developed electromechanical results generator with a purpose to be displayed in a 12-seat configuration with keno and Pop’n Poker. Then there’s the G5 IB-HG 55-inch LCD presented with five G5 play stations and in accordance with a brand new form of 3D technology, creating the appearance of life-size, full-color 3D moving images.
ALFASTREET
Slovenia is a global hotbed for manufacturing cutting-edge multi-terminal gaming machines, and on the forefront of the industry is Alfastreet, which this year is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Initially interested in the eu market, for a lot of the past decade the corporate have been fascinated with intense research and development to gear its products to the Asian advertise. has excelled in that effort.
On display at G2E Asia was an enhanced version of the classic eight-station R8 roulette, which is available in a particular square shape and performs particularly well in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.
In other markets, including Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, players prefer single terminals, and the versatile SL has fit the bill perfectly during the last few years. Whereas Alfastreet’s previous roulette products had all been fully automated, the SL is its first semi-automated offering, with a live dealer spinning the ball but all bets and payouts made through electronic terminals.
Alfastreet has also been busy developing a slick new terminal with futuristic looks and superior ergonomics. Dubbed the Wiky, it includes a 32-inch display—a lot bigger than the SL’s 23-inch screen though both terminals occupy the similar footprint at the floor in line with company press materials. Furthermore, while the SL debuted the original feature of allowing players to bet on two games simultaneously at the same screen; at the Wiky they may be able to bet on as much as four games. The games displayed at the Wiky included sic bo, roulette, double spin roulette and semi-live baccarat.
WEIKE GAMING TECHNOLOGY
Weike Gaming Technology has Macau’s booming mass market firmly in its sights with a brand new Chinese-themed linked progressive and a simulated live dealer e-table that may be growing in popularity around the region.
Weike sees its Infinity e-table series as another potent weapon on this year’s multi-pronged assault on Macau and the Philippines. Known for its innovative “squeeze-the-cards” technology, it's been a powerful performer for Weike in Vietnam and Laos, where it's easily identifiable by virtue of a perfect high-definition LCD billboard for streaming the simulated live dealer and its extra-wide 22-inch player interface. GLI-certified and SAS 6.02-compatible, it’s a highly flexible and customizable platform that supports TITO play, is configurable for as much as 128 terminals and springs available in an optional multigame format and in a number of languages.
TCSJOHN HUXLEY
At its exhibit at G2E Asia 2014, TCSJohnHuxley spotlighted a far-reaching range of gaming industry products, including traditional gaming tables, roulette wheels, the Chipper Champ 2 chip sorter, its unique e-FX 2 displays for roulette and sic bo and its robust new A-Plus shuffler.
Another highlight on the stand was Sic Bo Blaze, an innovative gaming surface technology that gives stunning game animations projected through a conventional gaming layout. All winning bets and game sequences are highlighted, while the highly flexible surface allows casinos to customise graphics and branding throughout the layout.
Blaze may be rolled out within the coming year to hide a whole range of table games.
Excerpted and reprinted with permission from Inside Asian Gaming magazine.
Read More... [Source: Table Games]
No comments:
Post a Comment