Inside Asian Gaming

November 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 31 Hot Games M ost consumers are comfortable with the idea that their family car might be built by robots. A less familiar notion is that a visit to a gaming table could be directed by them. It’s already happening. Robot dealer multiplayer baccarat was the red-hot game at this year’s Hot Games Show in the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. In every corner of the exhibition hall, robot dealers could be seen whirring up and down and from side to side like so many motorised water birds feeding at a river’s edge. Being robots, they don’t grumble or need to be retrained if a venue operator wants to configure them for a local variation in baccarat rules, though of course they do need the relevant software input. It doesn’t just end with baccarat. Some manufacturers’ robot dealer systems provide players with a glass panel touch screen as an interface. This allows the machine to be configured for any dealer- based card game, such as blackjack or poker, provided that there’s an appropriate software program to drive the technology. Market players Jumbo Technology and BingoTIMES Technology are two of the better-known Taiwanese manufacturers in this market, but there are others, including Jinda Electronic Technics Corp., and Golden Royal Technology Developer Ltd who also exhibited at the Hot Games Show. “Robot technology adds a lot to the cost of the equipment but it does seem to drive sales,” says Simon Lai, Vice President of Jumbo Technology. “Our Robot Baccarat isn’t cheap but it’s popular with operators and with players because everyone can see that the dealing is done fairly.” Licensing fees A significant portion of the equipment cost is to cover the licensing fees that all the Taiwanese manufacturers must pay the Japanese makers of the robots. Dawson Shen, Senior Sales Manager for BingoTIMES, says it’s a price worth paying. “There are a number of reasons why this type of product has been accepted by gaming operators and players,” explains Mr Shen. “One important reason is that there’s transparency and fairness with robot dealers. Even in Las Vegas, people still think there’s some way thedealers can cheat¬–for example that theremay be something wrong or ‘fixed’ regarding the card shoe. It’s the way gamblers are. They never quite trust the casino. They only trust the system when they are making money. I think that applies to all gamblers, not just to Asian gamblers.” Rise of the Machines Robot dealers are coming to a casino near you–maybe