Electronic multi-table baccarat is fast-becoming big business in Macau, and LT Game has the market cornered
If you were wondering about the huge crowds drawn to LT Game’s stand at G2E Asia, the answer is simple: Multi-terminal electronic baccarat is hot in Macau, and it’s getting hotter, particularly the version that features a real croupier dealing a live game. And right now there’s only one company running such a platform on the peninsula’s busy casino floors—LT.
The winner of a 2012 Supplier Award from Inside Asian Gaming for its Live Table Multi-Game System—the tribute of an A-list of operators to the sizable revenues the technology is generating for them—LT continues to refine the electronic table game experience to the point where it now boasts a best-in-class platform that was one of the stars of Asian gaming’s biggest annual exhibition.
“I think every year we will have at least one new version,” says Jay Chun, one of the sector’s leading innovators and chairman of LT’s Hong Kong-listed parent, Paradise Entertainment.
More than 1,200 Live Table terminals are running in City of Dreams, The Venetian Macao, Sands Macao, the new Himalaya casino at Sands Cotai Central and at Casino Kam Pek, Casino Grand View and Casino Greek Mythology, and placements in at least two more casinos are scheduled before the end of the year.
The next-generation Live Table unveiled at G2E Asia is a feature-rich platform, its terminals instantly identifiable by their sleek footprint and distinctive boxes of black or metallic gold. The design has been tweaked with an eye to improving its comfort, making it more conducive to extended play, and an enhanced software package provides greater functionality and a broader range of customizable options for operators.
“Software also can always be upgraded. It’s in-house software so we can upgrade it all the time,” says Mr Chun. “If an existing customer requires a software change we can provide this service as well. For different jurisdictions, and even in Macau, where different houses have different requirements, we change it for them. We are always customizing software for them.”
As the name of the system implies, the games are live, which is a key selling point for Chinese players. The games are dealt in real time, the tables and staff physically present, usually on a raised platform, the action transmitted by video camera to large overhead monitors and to the screens on the scores of terminals surrounding the platform. Where it’s installed, Live Table is a focal point of the floor, a natural attention-getter, the rows of terminals exciting to behold in large numbers, the way they fan out from the action amphitheater-style.
As you’d expect, baccarat is Live Table’s most popular offering, accounting for about 80% of handle. Which is not to say roulette, sic bo, san gong and keno don’t have their followings. Or players can elect to bet any combination of games concurrently. Baccarat includes an optional side-bet progressive jackpot. There are also five server-based slot games to choose from. A limited version of blackjack also is available.
In its ability to blend the personal interaction and privacy of the slot experience with that jolt to the pulse you get only in the pit, it is the perfect complement to table-centric Macau, and one that checks a lot of demographic boxes besides. Stakes can vary. Depending on the venue, they can range from a low of HK$20 to as high as $500,000. So the system appeals both to seasoned players who prefer smaller stakes and a more relaxed pace than they find at the traditional tables, and the occasional big bettor who desires an added measure of anonymity.
The system is opening up new markets, too, drawing slot players accustomed to the relaxed solitude of machine games, many of them females who would never venture near a table game, and novices eager to try their hand at baccarat or roulette but who may be unfamiliar with the rules and customs and are perhaps a bit intimidated by them, which is a factor worth considering among the Chinese, who take their gambling seriously and tend to pursue it in the belief that there is strength in numbers. As Mr Chun explains, “You sit down at the regular tables, maybe other people are sharing a table with you, and if you want to play ‘Banker’ and the rest of the table is betting on ‘Player,’ if you’re betting the opposing side, the people will yell at you.”
Each terminal is equipped with an easy-to-navigate help menu that includes game rules and instructions. If you have a question you can summon assistance with the push of a button.
“Definitely, it has kind of educated people about how to play the games,” notes Mr Chun. “They are using it as a training tool.” You can even order a beverage or something to eat directly at the game. In all, it’s a lot like having your own private betting parlor. GLI-certified, SAS 6.02-compatible, Live Table supports an array of player-tracking and VIP client alert functions, it’s configured for both ticket and cash play, and it shares with the latest slots and peripherals technologies the ability to transmit a variety of communications directly to players in the form of Flash enabled advertisements, special offers and notices of drawings, jackpots and tournaments.
In addition to the marketing prowess, casinos like Live Table’s flexibility, the fact that it’s LAN- and WAN-enabled and can support any configuration of terminals. Theoretically, the number of terminal interfaces is unlimited. They especially like the system’s efficiencies, the savings on labor costs, the security and reliability of a machine-based system and, above all, its ability to deal many more hands per hour than conventional tables.
“It’s much, much faster,” attests Mr Chun. “That’s very important. If you’re on a table and people are putting HK$100,000 down, VIP, you may have to wait four or five minutes for a hand. On this, 30 seconds there’s a new hand, new hand, new hand.”
Two new slant-top models had a lot of lookers at G2E Asia: one combining game monitor and betting on a single 26- inch touch screen, the other designed with two 19-inch monitors for a comprehensive view of the live action from the top screen, augmented by a spacious betting area below. Ideal for baccarat, both provide an extra arm rest and writing space to satisfy the Chinese obsession with tracking outcomes and analyzing them to try to suss out patterns in the cards. LT plans to build on this with technology they expect to release by the end of the year that will allow players to pre-set their favorite betting patterns.
“I think it’s more choice for the player,” says Mr Chun. “We let them play smart.”
Inside Asian Gaming Publisher James Rutherford presents Jay Chun, chairman of LT Games’s Hong Kong listed parent, Paradise Entertainment, the 2012 IAG Supplier Award for Best Multi-Terminal Product
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