Inside Asian Gaming

January 2013 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 27 Fast Action Baccarat Table Features • 28 betting positions, accommodating up to 60 standing players • A dedicated central card-dealing stationwith a live video feed displayed on several monitors • Two additional dealer stations in the formof moveable floats (chip trays) for dealers to pay out chips from, situated on glide rails that allow the floats to move with the dealers • A series of trap doors at each betting positionimmediatelydroplosingchips onto an under-the-layout conveyer belt to a central chip sorter—the chip dealers then only have to pay winners, making for quicker payouts • The ability to play both squeeze and non-squeeze variations of baccarat • Transparent screens pop out at each betting position when “No more bets” is called, eliminating or reducing opportunities for past-posting of bets • Betting positions for “Player, Banker, Tie” and “Player Pair” and “Banker Pair” • Large overhead display for winning results and trend indicators • Additional monitors to ensure 360-degree viewing • Winning positions are lit from beneath • A large table size with larger cards for ease of viewing Promoting speed—celebrity models Li Ying Zhi and Han Zi Xuan in front of a McLaren supercar display held to mark the Fast Action Baccarat launch The vast majority of baccarat tables in Macau allow players to “squeeze” the cards, a process that can hold up play for minutes each hand as players attempt to influence the outcome of the game by channeling their energy into the cards. experience for our customers,’ while leaving out the company’s equally continuous search for innovative ways to circumvent the table cap.” The cap—which had stipulated a maximum 5,500 tables citywide until the start of this year, after which a 3% annual increase is permitted over the next 10 years—clearly factors in the strategic thinking of casino operators. And let’s face it, FAB’s supersized dimensions do make Sands China appear guilty of setting the stage to flout the spirit of the cap—each FAB table is 21 feet long and 8.5 feet wide and with 28 betting positions can accommodate up to 60 standing players. But it would be simplistic to point to FAB’s size and automatically conclude that Sands China’s primary purpose in developing the game was to explore ways to get around the table cap. Another view is that it was inevitable someone familiar with player behavior in Macau would be inspired to create a gaming table capable of accommodating dozens of players as a means to channel and heighten energy and excitement on the floor. As world-renowned casino architect Paul Steelman observed when coming up with the idea for the stadium-style casino at Sands China’s first local property, Sands Macao, “Gambling in Macau is a spectator sport.” Oftentimes at Macau casinos you’ll see all the players in a given section of the public gaming areas crammed around a single table, while the surrounding tables lay idle. More than anywhere else, in China, crowds draw more crowds. True to its name, another distinguishing trait of FAB is that the games are much faster than at other baccarat tables, even though so many more players have to be dealt with, and by only three dealers at each FAB table. Play is sped up by a host of simple yet highly effective time-saving devices. First, there are trap doors built into the table through which chips placed on losing betting positions automatically fall onto an enclosed conveyor belt that takes them to a chip sorter—normally used on roulette tables—to be stacked in neat piles according to denomination. Thus, all the time dealers spend collecting and stacking losing chips is saved. As for winning bets, the FAB tables are equipped with mobile chip trays on glide rails, so the trays move with the dealers as they go quickly from player to player handing out chips. FAB’s speed has also been enhanced because it runs the face-up, no-commission version of baccarat—a departure from the way the game is traditionally played in Macau. The vast majority of baccarat tables in Macau allow players to “squeeze” the cards, a process that can hold up play for minutes each hand as players attempt to influence the outcome of the game by channeling their energy into the cards. Card-squeezing