Vegas Gung-Ho on Gambling Tech (No Cash, Try smart cards)

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Another Day, Another Dollar
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LAS VEGAS -- The casino of the future is going to be cashless.

If one thing was made clear at the Global Gaming Expo here this week, it's that the gaming industry is desperate to adopt new technologies that take currency out of the equation.

In a speech laying out his vision of the "casino of the future," American Gaming Association president and CEO Frank Fahrenkopf argued that by 2020, gambling institutions won't be doing business in cash.

Instead, Fahrenkopf suggested that technologies such as smartcards will be at the heart of casino loyalty programs. Because cards can hold large amounts of player data, such as preferred games or spending habits, he said, casinos would be able to use the information to offer more personalized service to players.

Although many gaming experts here expect that smartcard adoption will be slow in the United States, Fahrenkopf believes it remains a compelling business proposition for casino operators.

Fahrenkopf also noted that casinos are excited about downloadable games, in which a slot machine becomes, essentially, a dumb terminal that can play any game from any manufacturer.

Others at the show shared Fahrenkopf's enthusiasm for downloadable games, but noted that regulators are moving slowly in approving such machines in states like Nevada.

Although the gaming industry is traditionally hesitant to spend heavily on new technologies, some in attendance here warned that casinos will have no choice but to make substantial investments in technology in the future if they want to avoid falling victim to increasingly sophisticated cheaters.

In a Tuesday session, Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower Vice President of Surveillance Derk Boss said casinos will eventually be forced to make new investments in technologies such as digital surveillance cameras, which would drastically reduce the amount of time required to track down a potential cheater, and advanced facial-recognition databases.

Already, Boss explained, many casinos operate multiple databases of known cheaters and utilize some facial-recognition technology. But he said things like player cards embedded with RFID could also help casinos keep better track of players in the future.

Casinos see many benefits in doling out RFID-embedded cards to frequent customers enrolled in rewards programs. The cards, equipped with radio transmitters, would give casinos information about players the second they walk in the doors.

However, Boss cautioned, RFID cards may be a long way off, as they are not yet cost-efficient.

When they weren't dwelling on the future of casino gambling, expo attendees contented themselves with the latest crop of traditional gaming machines. This year, the heavy emphasis was on Hollywood tie-ins.

If Luke Skywalker had been walking around the Global Gaming Expo, for example, he might well have found himself running for cover.

That's because, as a promotion for its new high-tech Star Wars slot machine, gaming giant International Game Technology had hired a gang of the movie's infamous stormtroopers, perfectly clad in white hard-shell uniforms, to patrol the floor. Lording over them was Luke's archnemesis, Darth Vader, though the Vegas version was admittedly far shorter than one might have expected.

That IGT should choose to festoon the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center with stormtroopers was emblematic of one of the major themes of the show: licensing deals.

On a wall overlooking the IGT booth -- a misnomer given its nearly football-field size -- huge banners proclaimed the release of the Star Wars machine, and just adjacent, the new Elizabeth Taylor, Dazzling Diamonds slot.

"It all started with Wheel of Fortune," said IGT spokesperson Connie Fox of the new trend in marketing tie-ins. "It became the most popular slot machine of all time. It all started with us."

And while Star Wars and Liz might have gotten the lion's share of the attention -- no Liz Taylor look-alikes were prowling the floor -- they were hardly the only examples of slot machine manufacturers' new love affair with licensing deals for just about any big name who would sign a contract.

Other famous names on hand -- or at least their flashing likenesses -- included Frank Sinatra, Mickey Mantle, Drew Carey, the Beverly Hillbillies and, naturally, Elvis. And those were just the machines from IGT.

Over in the Aristocrat pit, comedian Jeff Foxworthy was drawing a breathless crowd as he signed photos and gave out T-shirts promoting his new You Might Be a Redneck slot.

Of course, there's more to casino gambling than slots. At the expo, several companies were trying to find casino buyers for new table games, many of which were variations on traditional games like blackjack. For example, Old West Gambling was promoting its Dead Man's Hand game. Another company, Hard Ten, was trying to lure passersby to its game, called, appropriately, Hard Ten. Each had a trained dealer on hand offering to deal anyone in on a few free rounds.

Fahrenkopf said some in the industry are also turning to mechanized table games -- for example, full-scale roulette or craps games run by a machine -- as a way to utilize more technology and perhaps reverse years of decline for table gaming as slot machines have become the dominant moneymaker in casinos.

"Some believe that will bring back table games," said Fahrenkopf, but "some (other) people believe that since it's mechanized, it's just another form of a slot machine."

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60499,00.html
 

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