STREETWISE BLACKJACK

Streetwise Blackjack

Shapes of Things, Part II

By Peter Ruchman

Continuing where we left off last week, the World Gaming 2000 conference held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from October 18-20, presented a buffet of all the industry had to offer. You could find agents to buy/sell a casino, architects to blueprint a casino, staff management or any major department from surveillance to accounting to legal, design uniforms, lease slot machines, invent new table games, run promotions, provide entertainment, analyze a customer base, create a website, install the latest high-tech equipmentŠvirtually anything under the sun you might need if you worked in or ran a gambling operation.

The show reached its zenith this year as it encompassed most of the space in the huge convention hall. For some in the in the industry, there was so much to see, a two or three day visit was required. I try to get a hold of the floor plan to hit the booths I deem important. As I mentioned last week, each year I gain entrance several hours ahead of schedule to ferret out the inside skinny ahead of the pack. The show opens around noon each day, using the mornings for informative panel discussions on a wide variety of industry topics. And yes, many people from around the world attend the panels then flock to the exhibit halls afterwards.

If you are an industry veteran it is impossible to walk several yards without bumping into a familiar face. This makes the show a great opportunity to renew acquaintances with old friends and "network." For those hunting for a job in the industry, it the show provides a great chance to talk to prospective employers.

I had thought that this year's show was going to mark a new direction. I was correct in the sense that I began to get a clearer picture of the casino of the future. It is one where the Internet meets the video arcade. What will happen to those of us interested in traditional card games played as they were several decades ago? We appear to be headed for extinction, like the faro players of the last century.

For those who may not know, faro was the most popular card game at the time of the California Gold Rush. It was played on a special layout, on top of a box expressly designed for the purpose. Millions were won and lost at the game, but by the third decade of the 20th Century, the game had virtually disappeared from the American gambling scene, relegated to the scrap heap of soon-to-be-forgotten history. All things change, and it appears we are in a transitional time, in the fast lane. The 34 million visitors who descended on Las Vegas in 1999 are sure to be surpassed this year by another several million. This group is far different than your typical Las Vegas junketeers of the 1960s or 70s. These folks haven't come to gamble as much as be entertained. Gambling is part of the mix, but not the fulcrum or the crucial point of the visit. It is merely part of the entertainment experience. Most of the people coming to Las Vegas in the early part of the new century aren't here to roll the dice 'till dawn or play killer blackjack. If you inquire, most will respond that Dr. Thorp wrote some great books for kids. Toward this end, this year's World Gaming Exhibition featured games and devices to make casino games more entertaining, faster, and more lucrative for the casino. As noted last week, slot machines were once again the industry darlings. Not only are they amusing‹now they talk to you, make you laugh, tell rude jokes, charm the money from your pocketsŠYou are having such a good time, you forget all of this fun costs money.

The table games are designed in a similar fashion. Like the slots, they are no-brainers in that the are being designed for low-skill short-experienced dealers and players. I was shown one game by Bill O'Hara of PDS (please refer to my last two columns) called Baccarito. Similar to their Digital 21 blackjack game, it is the company's electronic version of baccarat. Traditionally thought of as an aristocratic, upper-class game for high rollers, with difficult to understand hitting and standing rules, Baccarito simplifies things by displaying the rules on each player's screen directly in front of each position. The screen also displays the last 25 hands played with the results. Similar to Digital 21, the player's screen displays that person's bet, the hand total and the outcome. The dealer's screen displays the previous 35 hands with results and tells the dealer exactly what the next move is. A 10-year old could successfully run the game.

The point is all of these games are automating the casino to the point where personnel like dealers and change girls on the floor will become unnecessary. As consumers adjust and become acclimated to these electronic marvels, and dinosaurs like myself die off, they will become more and more programmed. My personal vision of the casino of the near future involves a combination of automatic shufflers, shuffling shoes, and electronic games mixed in with a preponderance of slots and video games. Old fashioned card games like single and double-deck blackjack will become like faro, extinct. As it is right now, they are difficult to find.

The casino in five or ten years might have some of the older games in the form we know well in a higher limit area. If you want traditional blackjack, pai gow poker or baccarat, you will have to pay for the privilege. Meanwhile, most folks at the casino will be happy to play the electronic version, similar to the one at home on the Internet. The gaming arena will have completed the transition from gambling to entertainment. It is the shape of things to come.