Poker is the least profitable endeavor for casino owners, which makes it the least enticing for technological investments. Skill-based games on slot floors and jackpot-driven table games can move the profit needle much more quickly than poker, so that’s where the focus has been in recent years.
But a Vancouver company has developed what could be a game-changer: poker tables with virtual cards. The tables can also be programmed to offer other electronic table games, horse or sports wagering, and/or other action to poker players who are not actively engaged in a poker hand.
“Picture players sitting at a table that’s basically one giant iPad,” says Jake Kalpakian, CEO of Jackpot Digital. “And it’s faster game play, which generates more money.” (Dealers don’t have to count out chips or shuffle cards, for example.)
The backstory: Kalpakian’s company bought the rights to an earlier attempt at electronic poker. The game platform, called PokerPro, drew players on cruise ships, but didn’t dent the casino market. Jackpot Digital, which specializes in multiplayer digital products, took over the idea in 2015 and ran with it. They have a contract with Carnival Cruise Line and are making inroads with the land-based poker market.
Good Texas Hold ‘em players fold as much as 90 percent of their starting hands, which makes for a lot of down time. Walk into any poker room and you’ll see players fiddling with their phones, snacking, or even reading a book. In any poker room at a site that offers horse racing, you’ll probably see some players studying the daily charts.
Kalpakian figures that for poker today, players can handle more action. The Jackpot Digital table game, called Jackpot Blitz, takes cash or tickets (like slot machines), and users can click away from the poker game when they’re not in a hand, to take on just about anything that is legal. That can include electronic blackjack, roulette, slots, pari-mutuel betting and, as the American Gaming Association is suggesting will be here soon, live sports betting. “The games are easy to play, both for the traditional poker player, and the younger, millennial player,” Kalpakian said.
The big challenge I see is that players are used to touching cards. And there’s a certain distrust among old-school players of anything electronic. But that’s countered by what I think is a big plus: with no live dealer, there’s no need to tip after each winning hand. That $1 or more on each win stays in my chip stack, instead of bleeding into the dealer’s box.
Jackpot Blitz handles the matter of no physical cards by displaying a player’s virtual cards, face down, in the space under a player’s cupped hands (when they rest on the table). Then a player’s thumb flick reveals the corners of the cards, as would happen in live poker, safely hidden from competitors.
PokerPro systems are already in place on Carnival Cruise Line ships as part of Jackpot Digital’s extensive product line for cruise ships, which includes mobile gaming for real money. Later this year, Jackpot Blitz games are slated to be installed at casinos in Canada and the United States.
Jackpot Digital gained attention from a July 31 article in the (Toronto) Globe and Mail, titled “Six Budding Stocks That Trade for $5 or Less Per Share.” In that article, Steven Palmer, president of AlphaNorth Asset Management Inc. in Toronto, said “Jackpot Blitz is the new table that leapfrogs everybody in terms of technology.” He also said Jackpot Digital expects monthly recurring revenue to average at least $5,000 (U.S.) per table.
Besides the benefits from actual play, ProkerPro systems offer casinos the ability to collect player data far easier than with current poker operations. And a player’s food and beverage service can be personalized, improving the customer experience.
Kalpakian stops short of predicting that most existing live poker games will be replaced by electronics. But fully automated poker tables could easily be part of a mix, he says. “It really fits anywhere in terms of game and operation,” he says of PokerPro. “You get all the benefits from both a player’s perspective and an operator’s perspective, so we think that’s a good marriage.”
