It is an innovation that has been trying to work its way into the poker rooms of the world for more than a decade. Electronic poker tables have been used on cruise ships, where they have been lauded for their efficiency and the ability to operate without human personnel (dealers, chip runners, etc.). Now, the Pacific Northwest will experience the invasion of the electronic tables – will they be met with open arms or open scorn?
Three Rivers Casino Resort Purchases Jackpot Blitz Tables
Last week Jackpot Digital, which is the owner of the popular electronic poker tables Jackpot Blitz, announced that they had signed a deal with Three Rivers Casino Resort in Florence, OR. The deal, for which no financial information was released, will see five of the Jackpot Blitz tables installed in the casino, pending gaming regulatory approval. Both sides were happy with the new arrangement.
“We are very excited to be working with Three Rivers Casino Resort in Florence, a very well-regarded casino on a beautiful property with a well-respected management team, Jackpot Digital President and CEO Jake Kalpakian said during the announcement of the new deal. “Along with the many other attractions offered at Three Rivers, both local and visiting patrons will now be able to enjoy a fun and entertaining Jackpot Blitz ETG poker experience.”
Rick Ray, the Director of Gaming at Three Rivers Casino, echoed many of the sentiments of Kalpakian. “Offering a large variety of gaming products, including Poker in a dedicated poker room, is what make Three Rivers Casino Resort a resort, not just a casino,” Ray stated. “The addition of Jackpot Blitz, with its creative design and user-friendly interface, will allow us to take our poker product to the next level. I’ve introduced many of our current poker players to Jackpot Blitz and they are very excited that we’re bringing it to our floor.”
Electronic Tables Have Convoluted History
The history of the electronic tables is a convoluted one. In the mid-Aughts, there were several moves to bring the electronic poker tables to the rooms of Las Vegas. Excalibur was one of the first rooms to embrace the electronic tables, moving to an all-electronic table lineup in 2008. Less than a year later, however, Excalibur officials removed those tables, citing that, while they were able to manage the needs of the casino and the poker room, players wanted the “live experience” of having a dealer and handling the chips.
The setback in Vegas was negated by the expansion of putting these same electronic tables on cruise ships. The floating casinos for many a cruise line became populated with the electronic tables because of their ability to operate with little to no oversight from human employees. Jackpot Digital, in fact, has several cruise lines that are employing their gaming products currently and with great success, including Princess Cruises, Virgin Voyages, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Costa Cruises.
Further expansion into other casinos is in the future for Jackpot Digital, according to Kalpakian. “While this is the largest one-time order from a land-based casino we have received to date, we believe this type of order is indicative of even bigger things to come based on our sales pipeline and negotiations with other casinos and card rooms throughout the U. S. and elsewhere,” Kalpakian noted. “Oregon represents yet another new territory as we continue our expansion into land-based casinos.”