Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | October 2012 42 DEQ DEQ’s singular “vision,” says Chief Executive Earle G. Hall, is “to take away the wall between physical and virtual gaming”. Progressive side bets and their related networking technologies are first steps toward that goal, as he sees it, and the Quebec-based table games innovator has found ample scope for both in the largest table games market in the world. The recent addition of 15 Sands China poker tables to DEQ’s G3 i3 progressive system brings to 53 the number of games at The Venetian Macao, Sands Macao, Sands CotaiCentralandPlazaMacaoparticipatingin the company’s cutting-edge Real Link wide- area jackpot network. It’s a level of critical mass that has been known to generate six- figure jackpots, and for Mr Hall it is just the beginning for DEQ in Macau. “Now migrate that over to baccarat,” he says,“and take that massive amount of tables linking to one progressive. You’re talking about life-changing jackpots happening so fast it’ll be like a multi-state lottery.” DEQ is ably positioned to make it happen thanks to EZ Baccarat, a variation on the traditional game whose innovation is the elimination of the commission on winning “Banker” bets. Freed of having to calculate those payments, staff can deal more hands per hour. It also makes for a better break for the player. The casino is compensated by means of higher-house-edge side bets. EZ Baccarat has proved so popular it is currently running on some 400 tables in more than 100 casinos worldwide. (In Macau it can be found at the MGM Macau, City of Dreams andWynn Macau.) Mr Hall attributes its appeal to its “mass- market point of view”. For a game mostly known as the sport of high rollers, he sees EZ Baccarat as “natural evolution.” “EZ Baccarat will win with players over time,” he says. “Once players get hold of the game, they’ve made it their game of choice, Linking Up DEQ is enriching traditional table play with big jackpots and new levels of experience G3 touchscreen technology delivers new opportunities to enhance the player experience