Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR will require Manila’s four Entertainment City integrated resorts to begin the process of implementing smart table technology across their gaming floors by no later than 1 January 2027.
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco confirmed the news while speaking with Inside Asian Gaming at G2E in Las Vegas on Tuesday, revealing that the 1 January deadline would specifically apply to integrated resorts, and for now at least be limited to the Entertainment City properties: City of Dreams Manila, Okada Manila, Newport World Resorts and Solaire Resort Entertainment City.
PAGCOR is also preparing to launch an area dedicated to smart tables and new electronic gaming machines at its Casino Filipino branch in Angeles City, which the Chairman revealed has been newly renovated. The Angeles City property is among the largest and most profitable of PAGCOR’s self-owned casinos.
“Effective 1 January 2027, all integrated resorts must start, at the very least, the conversion of their tables to smart tables,” Tengco clarified Monday. “Every integrated resort licensee in the Philippines should start the process of conversion.”
Tengco added that “a majority” had already begun this process, “so they’re already compliant. They’re now compliant in advance, and I believe by early 2027, they will be using smart tables.
“By 2027, under the new guidelines of PAGCOR, that is the time for them to start the process of conversion.”
As first reported by IAG, the smart table mandate is seen as a means of further enhancing the local casino industry’s regulatory framework by providing greater visibility of transactions as they happen across the gaming floor. It is expected that other IRs, such as those located in Clark and Cebu, will be mandated at a later date, along with other casinos across the country.
At present, only a handful of casino operators in the Philippines have deployed smart table technology, among them the two Solaire properties in Entertainment City and Quezon City – which utilize Angel’s hybrid system – and Newport World Resorts which recently installed the Walker Digital Table Systems smart table solution.
IAG understands that the mandate will initially cover baccarat only, with other casino games to be added in the future.
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