Electronic talking blackjack

Look for a boom in electronic table games soon–IGT is now in the field, and we’ve seen what they’ve done in the slot zone for the past 20 years. From the LVRJ:

Slot machine giant International Game Technology took the initial steps Monday to enter the electronic table game business with plans to develop blackjack and roulette tables that don’t require the presence of a dealer.

Reno-based IGT, the gaming industry’s largest slot maker, said it was acquiring the technology for those products from Novomatic AG, an Austrian-based gaming company. No purchase price was announced.

In a separate deal, Novomatic will supply IGT with equipment parts for the electronic roulette game.

Electronic table games allow multiple gamblers to play traditional games but in a dealerless format similar to a slot machine.

Gaming analysts said the announcement gives IGT an additional product to increase overall sales and a way to bring table games into gambling jurisdictions that only allow slot machines, such as Delaware and Pennsylvania.

American Indian casinos, as well as gambling halls in Europe and Macau, China, have also been viewed as locations for electronic table games.

reviewjournal.com — Business - IGT adding to slot games

I saw a lot of these in Macau, but haven’t seen them so much out here. My prediction is that as labor continues to be a huge cost for casinos, and players get more used to electronic interfaces, electronic games will become more common.