Electronic table gaming has quickly proven its value with strong performance in its first years of existence, according to a G2E panel featuring two suppliers, an operator and a regulator.
Connelly said the most promising area for ETGs is in replacing low-limit tables that have live dealers.
“If you want to play in front of a person, it’s going to cost you a $25 minimum bet,” said John Connelly, Global CEO of Interblock Gaming, a supplier of ETGs.
“Five dollar and $10 tables don’t make money; they lose money,” because of labor and security costs. “You need to have (those games) but you’re not making any money.”
Connelly was part of Wednesday panel discussion titled “Riding the ETG Wave: A New Generation of Games for a Changing Floor.” Other panelists were Gabe Baron, general manager and senior director of ETG Product Development for Scientific Games; Susan Hensel, licensing director for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board; and Jay Jabczynski, vice president of Rush Street Gaming, operator of two Pennsylvania casinos. Mike Ornstein, vice president of business development for BMM Testlabs, moderated the discussion.
Baron explained the two types of ETGs: one uses a random number generator for games such as roulette; the other is a hybrid in which a dealer oversees a game hooked to multiple betting terminals.
The Las Vegas Sands and the Venetian were among the first commercial U.S. casinos to install electronic table games. Connelly said ETGs account for about 15 percent of casino floor space in Asia and Europe.
Baron said ETGs could deal $3 blackjack or $5 roulette without the need for a dealer or chip movement.
Jabczynski said Rush Street’s SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia is taking a “slow and measured” approach to ETGs, but initial results show promise. Just over half the customers using hybrid ETGs at SugarHouse are 40 years old or younger. In addition, 35 percent of the players at the hybrids did not previously have players club cards.
Connelly cited a survey of North American casinos showing that ETGs attract slot players to table games by reducing the “intimidation” factor many feel when trying out table games.
“Those same slot players are coming in more often, their handle is up and they’re staying longer. So it’s not cannibalizing their slot play,” he said.
Like many casinos across the country, SugarHouse has reduced its number of slot machines. Some of the freed-up space went to hybrid ETGs, which offer a tax advantage in Pennsylvania. The tax rate on gross slot revenue is 54 percent, compared with 16 percent on table games requiring a dealer. ETGs that don’t require a dealer are taxed as slot machines.
Baron said that with stadium gaming, ETGs can offer lots of games in a small area, and players can wager on two to four games at a time.
Looking ahead, Baron said Scientific Games focuses on content, with access to the entire catalogue of Shufflemaster games. One project is developing a stadium version of Three Card Poker.
He said players who use ETGs often are lower-limit players, “so if you move them out of the (traditional) pit, maybe you give a better experience to higher-limit players,” while broadening the casino’s customer base.
Hensel noted that the computerized nature of ETGs might lead some to conclude that cheating is impossible, “but that’s not necessarily true.” The state established a series of internal controls, requires supervision even with live dealers, and defined a set of game protection measures to be built into each machine.
Even with the regulatory issues associated with ETGs or any new technology, Connelly is bullish.
“ETG has a home on the casino floor. I think it’s here to stay,” he said. “We have a lot to learn. But if you’re not at least trying electronic table games, you’re falling behind.”
