Automated poker tables get mixed reception

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INDIO, Calif. -- Friendly barbs were traded, players went all in and cocktails were served inside Fantasy Springs Resort Casino's poker room during a recent afternoon Texas Hold'em tournament. A few things were noticeably absent though, namely a dealer, playing cards and chips typically stacked in uniform colors to be fiddled with on the green felt. Last month officials at Fantasy Springs replaced its eight traditional poker setups with five 10-seat tables featuring automated touch-screens where players can still bet against others and peek at their virtual cards. Time wasted on shuffling? Gone, said Philippe Assous, 47, an Indio, Calif. resident and poker coach when he's not playing in tournaments. Each player also only gets 40 seconds to decide what move to make. "You can't just start chit-chatting and acting like you're on ESPN," Assous said. Instead of looking for tells in your opponents' habits, players start looking at which touch-screen button is being eyed -- will they fold or raise? "There's no reaching in," he said as he motions with both arms like he's about to corral a pile of chips in the middle of the table. About 22 men peered down at tables while playing in an early Monday Texas Hold'em Tournament, which cost them a $30 buy-in. Most tapped their player's club card, something to keep their hands busy while they pondered their next move. "I just miss looking at the players," since most are focused on the monitors in front of them, Assous said Paul Ryan, general manager of Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, and Lou Crescenzo, vice president of casino operations, researched the system for about eight months before bringing the automated tables to their casino Dec. 14. The switch affected 17 workers. One left to work at another casino. The others were placed at other live table games or remained in the poker room to oversee the tournaments and act as cashiers. "We think this is the future," Ryan said, adding that he thinks it will bring in a new crowd familiar with online poker. "You can't make a mistake .... here you can't embarrass yourself." The tribe, Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, is leasing the tables from North Carolina-based PokerPro and the company has assisted with marketing and advertising so the tribe's investment has been minimal, Ryan said. Other casinos have paid attention to Fantasy Springs' new offering. Steve Miller, interim director of table games for Pechanga Resort & Casino, which has 54 poker tables, has visited the poker room twice and noticed it attracted crowds during the holidays. "We're waiting to see what happens when business goes down to normal levels," he said. The Temecula, Calif.-area casino tested two brands of automated tables from PokerTek and Shuffle Master at a tournament last year, but the majority of casino-goers who tried them preferred live tables, Miller said. "People like to touch the cards. They like to touch the chips," he said. Casinos typically make money off poker with a rake, a percentage taken from the pot of each winning hand that typically went toward paying the cost of the dealer. With lower costs, Fantasy Springs has lowered its rake from $5 to $3. The casino's regulars weren't initially pleased. "I was the one who was most against it," said Dick Archer, 66, of Palm Desert. But before a Monday afternoon Texas Hold-'em tournament at the casino, Archer was the system's most vocal supporter. Less time wasted, less dealer mistakes, less tips distributed, Archer said.E-mail Kimberly Pierceall at kpierceall(at)PE.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com