Poker room manager embraces PokerPro

Illinois -- When Glenn Arana came on board last year as poker room manager at Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Mich., he was placed in charge of a venue far different than what he was accustomed.

Instead of a room with live dealers, real decks of cards and traditional poker chips, Arana was asked to run a fully automated operation using PokerTek's innovative PokerPro tables.

The installation at Four Winds includes 19 tables, 15 of which are full-size and engineered to accommodate up to 10 players. The other four are two-seaters designed for one-on-one "heads up" play.

"The trend toward PokerPro is continually increasing," Arana told me. "We're making a lot of loyal customers who have turned from traditional gaming to totally just loving the automated style."

PokerPro is engineered to accommodate a large video display built into the table's center for the community cards and smaller video terminals at each player position. The individual screens display each player's hole cards and chip total. The screen can be seen only by the player sitting in front of it.

"PokerPro is so much less intimidating (than a traditional poker room)," Arana said. "Everybody plays poker at home, but walk into the casino and you're a little apprehensive. You know how to play, but you're not really sure when to bet. With the PokerPro system, you can only bet at a certain time, so you can't make mistakes."

Imaginative features associated with the game simulate traditional play. For example, when you are ready to look at your cards, simply cup your hands around the cards, and the corners "flip up." Take your hands away, and the corners flip back down.

Just as a table with a live dealer, the PokerPro automated system "burns" a card prior to each round of betting. It also shuffles, deals, splits pots and generates side pots instantly. The electronic shuffler is certified by Gaming Laboratories International as a mathematically random process.

The appeal appears to be universal. Seasoned players like it because the speed of play increases the hands dealt per hour by 50 percent to 60 percent over a traditional table. Beginners are attracted to the technology because playing is so easy. Your screen prompts you when it's your turn to act, even telling you what your options are.

Many poker rooms offer perks to players based on the number of hours they play. At Four Winds, players reap benefits for the number of hands they play.

"If you play 12,000 hands in our room, you are invited to our Four Winds Invitational," Arana explained. "One of every 10 players invited wins a $10,000 World Poker Tour seat of their choice. It's a tremendous reward program for a poker player. You don't see that in most poker rooms."

News Added: 22 February, 2008

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