Poker machines offer live-action alternative

Internet players may feel unready for a live dealer

Electronic poker machines went into MotorCity and Greektown casinos early this year with great fanfare, giving players an alternate to traditional -- and sometimes intimidating -- live-dealer poker.

But once the luster of a new product wore off, it appears that live-poker players went back to their tables, leaving the electronic gaming to a steady niche audience.

"I tried the PokerPro at Greektown," said Guy Hickey, 44, of Warren. He's a manager of operations for an engineering firm, and plays a lot of hands at Greektown's traditional tables now. "I didn't care for them. You miss the interaction of the chips and passing cards back and forth. It's not the same. It's like playing at home on your computer."

Hickey should know -- he learned to play poker online at home, and spent months playing electronically before he took his first serious seat at a table. Ironically, he's exactly the audience that electronic poker is supposed to attract: people who are used to playing on their PC.

"It is very popular; however, it is a unique market," said MotorCity spokeswoman Jacci Woods. "It doesn't seem to pull from our traditional players at all."

MotorCity's electronic tables were taken offline for a couple of months during the casino's renovation of the third floor, she said, and just became available again outside the casino's newly replaced poker room. While you won't typically see the lines for the electronic tables that the casino is experiencing for its live-action tables, they're still busy enough to justify keeping them.

Four Winds Casino and Resort in New Buffalo, a mega-complex that just opened Aug. 2, is wagering that electronic poker tables will bring in enough to replace dealers altogether. While the casino still uses live employees for other table games, its poker room is entirely electronic.

"Lots of confidence in the product is what it comes down to. I think it's been very well received," Four Winds general manager Matt Harkness said. The room runs a little less than half full during the week and fills up on weekends. "Many people in the demographic that play poker are very computer-savvy. Many people learn to play poker on the computer. So it's an easy transition for people to make. I think it's the future."

For casinos, the tables offer a different stream of income.

Electronic poker tables keep less of the hand than traditional dealer tables (in Detroit, both allow 10% of the pot, but electronic tables are limited to $4 per pot versus $6 for dealers). But they also allow for much quicker hands, meaning that the electronic poker player will typically chip into many more pots --about 50% more -- in each hour.

They don't require paying a dealer, but the tables are typically leased.

For players, electronic tables can offer a quiet atmosphere, something similar to what they're used to playing at home, and strict instructions for those who aren't quite ready to start to dabble in the live game.

"It removes the intimidation factor," Harkness said. "You simply cannot do the wrong thing."

Woods said MotorCity's staff sees the market for electronic poker being a steady niche as opposed to a broad audience: people who are comfortable playing online, want to make the leap to playing in person but aren't quite ready yet to face a live dealer.

BY HEATHER NEWMAN

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

News Added: 23 August, 2007

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