“ We launched a new cabinet , the Mesa 4K , because of the ergonomics of the cabinet —— positioned so players can see the wheel and follow the game . We focused on renewing the user interface . Now it ’ s superresponsive . It ’ s fast . The pace of the game is crafted in a way that is very easy .”
— Luigi Cacciapuoti , Vice President , Specialty Products and ETG , IGT
IGT ’ s Mesa 4K Roulette
ket potential ? From then until now , what we ’ ve learned is that there is a reason we see vast numbers of slot machines on any given casino floor ; there are dozens of different player demographics . You need variety . Table game players are no different ; they also need various forms of distribution and variety .”
Competition over the past decade has yielded multiple innovations , not the least of which were the stadium setups . Interblock led the way in the creation of live-dealer games equipped with cameras beaming the action to multiple player stations .
Stadium setups served a variety of needs . In markets like Macau , where physical tables were limited , stadiums served demand that couldn ’ t be met through live tables . But Connelly notes that the stadiums , and in particular setups like the Pulse Arena , also served the desires of many players for a community gaming environment .
“ As a frequent visitor to casinos , I often noticed that my wife and I , or my friends , would go out together , and the minute we walked on the casino floor , we were separated ,” Connelly says . “ Even if I was with my friends wanting to play blackjack , there were never enough blackjack seats either at a table or together . Casinos floors were , for the most part , designed to be more solitary in nature .
“ With this in mind , we thought , wouldn ’ t it be interesting to create a more social area of the floor people would accept ? The answer was unmistakable — many people would like to socialize and remain together within casinos . This is where the stadium really resonated and attracted a very different player than you found at a live table game or on a mechanical roulette wheel .”
Since the mid-2010s , Interblock has continued to refine its stadium setups in response to player feedback . “ Now , we have love seats in virtually all of our stadiums ,” he says , “ which allows friends and couples to experience that social aspect , allowing them to sit together .
“ We learned that there were different demographics and various ways to distribute a roulette or blackjack game . We just needed to come up with new ways to distribute the same games for different types of players , while trying new methods of distribution .”
Meanwhile , IGT and Light & Wonder have each built up their own ETG product lines , with IGT launching the Dynasty series in 2016 and the former Scientific Games — fresh off its acquisitions of Shuffle Master and WMS Gaming and still five years from its rebirth as Light & Wonder — continued its proprietary brand with TableMaster Fusion , Fusion Hybrid and Fusion Auto Roulette .
The Cutting Edge
All three suppliers are still reinventing their ETG lines . As the competition has increased in the space , the top suppliers continue to innovate .
For Interblock , two more recent innovations are the Smart Pit and the Universal Cabinet .
The Smart Pit is a hybrid system designed to integrate into the live pit . A single dealer can operate two synchronized , color-coded wheels in the Dual Roulette game for the Smart Pit , with automated wagering . Removing physical chips from the equation increases the spins from the traditional 35 to upwards of 120 spins per hour .
The Smart Pit system also includes single-dealer Dual Baccarat , Blackjack Xtreme , and three specialty craps games , all designed to replicate traditional live tables , but without physical chips , and with automated wagering speeding up the game .
Connelly says the Smart Pit was conceived as a way to reconfigure the pit for comfortable live table-game play post-Covid . Removing the cash and chips from the games made them attractive to players who were still skittish to crowd into live tables post-Covid , but Connelly says the increased game speed and player convenience makes the system a long-term solution .
“ We really want to be synonymous with table game technology ,” Connelly says . “ No matter what method of distribution you ’ re talking about , we need to do something to complement the traditional table game pit .”
Connelly says outside of shufflers , there has been limited innovation within the live pit . “ So we came up with the concept of the Smart Pit . We began by innovating a new form of a traditional live table , but utilizing chip-less technology . The minute you remove chips from a table and go to a more automated format , the number of advantages to a casino and a player is substantial . For the first time in history , you can rate players in real time , due to the ability of tracking
16 Global Gaming Business JUNE 2024