Strip Poker: Excalibur to Convert Room to All Automatic Tables

why would i go to a casino to play poker on a computer when i can sit at home and play 12tables at once laying in bed

This was reported on Allvegaspoker five days ago, when the delaers were informed of their impending layoffs. Over 40 full time dealers are being laid off due to this conversion. It is the WORST DECISION IN THE HISTORY OF VEGAS POKER. I look forward to it failing miserably. The Excalibur poker room has been around since 1990, and this is a travesty. Fortunately, people can just walk to Luxor or Mandalay and play in real poker rooms (walkway through Excal) , not internet mockups. Rest In Peace, Excalibur. I will never set foot there again once those machines are there.

I just got done playing these tables at Trump in AC for 9 days straight and they are unbelievably good. The main upside is winning. The hands per hour is at least double of a live game even one that is using an automatic shuffler. The other thing is that new players feel comfortable at these machines. Lastly, there is an "all in" button and I'd say players go all in 2 to 3 times what I normally see at a skilled live game. CRAZY! My win rate was three times what I normally average at live games. I'll be at the Excalibur and if you are even slightly skilled, you should be too.
BTW- LV Michael get used to the idea. Realtors, stock brokers and yes dealers are being replaced by technology. Auto-workers were in part too. The good news is that if tech jobs are being created.
and
BTW dspsr3
If you can win playing 12 games and like your home, I'd stay there too. Sadly I am a little slower than you and can't play 12 games and have a higher win rate live. But, if you don't like the automated tables at 60 hands per hour or whatever, you must really hate the normally slow live games.
Tell all of the worst poker players to head to the Excalibur so I can make friends with them!!!!

Why would I want to play online poker at a casino? The whole poker feeling is having a dealer there with actual cards. This is terrible, and hopefully others casinos do not follow this path.

I Love this idea, I have never played the excalibur before but I will now! I like online poker for the speed and the money saved in not constantly tipping but I don't like Online Poker because one I don't trust people colluding, I have friends that still are able to collude online, and I can't read the player I'm playing against as easily. This is the best of both worlds! I can play fast, read players save money and do it all on the strip. I might even stay at the excalibur so I can stumble to my room easier, on my next trip in September!

Obviously Pokertek shills are filling the comment section here. Any educated live poker players realize that this is a terrible idea, and that "doubling the hands per hour" and "just like the internet" are common fallacies. Talk to anyone in poker, and they will be against it. I play every night in Vegas, and so far not a SINGLE player that I have talked to at the tables are in favor of it. AllVegasPoker and 2+2 threads are also vehemently against it, yet on cardplayer (a site that accepts advertiding from pokertek and thus weights its articles in favor of them much like the liberal media) amazingly the people posting are in favor of it. Obvious shills plugging the hands per hour etc. All a joke. Over ten years ago, we were told to get used to electronic blackjack and roulette. Yeah, those went over well too.

Let's call this change what it is--a pure cost-cutting move by Excalibur. They can cut a lot of salaries and benefits by axing dealers while still offering a bastardized version of poker. I suppose it beats slot machines.

Although the electronic tables will probably get some use by poker newbies or people stuck in the hotel for some reason, I doubt they will ever be popular or generate nearly the same rake (even at a higher hands/hour rate--which I doubt is that much higher than an automatic shuffler). People who play poker live play because they like the dynamics of the live game, and handling cards and chips is a big part of that experience. Also, many reads/tells are related to how people handle their cards and chips, which is lost on an electronic device. Basically, electronic tables are just "live online" poker, except you're forced to endure the bad hygiene of your opponents.

50% more hands in hold'em? I doubt it. I am sure the room as it is now as collective whole will deal more hands than pokertek because poker players will not be receptive to this. Sure, people will sit down and try them out but why play on a computer when I can go shuffle my chips at the MGM across the street? Real poker players will not like this. They can stay home and play on the internet if they want to play on a computer.

And LasVegasMichael is right. This arcticle reads like a paid advertisement by Pokertek and Excalibur. You really need some pros and cons in your "news".

“We are going to have several famous poker pros come to help launch the tables.” It'll be interesting to see who they can afford to pay to shill for them. It'll be even more interesting to see how long those "famous pros" stick around to play after their endorsement checks have been cashed ...

Come on etables make the stockgo threw the roof so i can make a huge profit and then sell before the crash of the machines .shhhhh here is a secret any malfunction and the machine returns the money to the right players so if your losing just unplug the machine .

Anyone who has played the new etables: is there an automatic clock? I like the idea of playing "live" games with less time spent shuffling dealing etc, but one downside of online for me is less time to think. How is the clock handled on these games? Also, I see there is a "heads up" version, which I like: I love playing heads-up online, and of course this is not profitable for a card room, but maybe now it can be. Do they have heads-up machines yet at Excalibur?

If there are floor people to prevent collusion, I would try this out. Frankly I am sick and tired of most dealers out there. In my experience, they are often pretty rude, often try to give pots to the wrong player from reading the board wrong, and expose cards WAY too much. Both the dealers and some other players give dirty looks when you don't tip them, even if they are poor at their job. Even the ones who aren't totally terrible dont deserve money every hand. They don't chip in when they deal you a big money loser, Im sick of handing out my money to dealers out of customary expectations! I play low stakes, so maybe giving a couple of dollars OCCATIONALLY in high stakes games would be different, but in small stakes they are as bad or worse than the damned rake!
If dealers feel they get stiffed so bad on their guaranteed hourly wages, they can find a real job where they won't sit down all day in an air-conditioned room. If they were not so slow,inaccurate, and LAZY, they wouldnt need automatic shufflers installed on tables. But they ARE often needed, and once you take shuffling out of dealing, almost all that is left is sitting back on your *** looking for handouts.
One other benefit is idiots who are drunk/or just dont know how to play wont be able to act out of turn. This is HUGE in small stakes games.
And if stacking chips and touching real cards are so important to you that you like putting up with all of this, too bad. As long as cheating is HEAVILY monitored, these tables WILL catch on. Grinders will save substancially by playing them,still be able to get live reads on players,all without most of the headaches associated with playing live poker.
I have no stocks in this company, or other similar ones, but this is a great idea for those of us tired of putting up with needless crap all in order to play live poker

You are right even with out your tip i will still crack 90 k this year so dont worry about me ill be fine why dont you just stay home and play online we dont need a player like you who is proberly a drunk at the table and rude to every one anyways .

Wow, you guys are so angry you must be dealers! I love technology and I can't see anything that makes these tables worse for the player. I have played on them before in Michigan and I loved them. They were incredibly faster than sitting at a dealer dealt table and I did make good money. I love going to Vegas and I'm going to love playing at the excalibur. I think you nay sayers should try them before you start ranting, here is a big hell yes to excalibur from a serious poker player!

well allintowin unless your coming out with in 6months the chances are you can play on them i believe that the e room will be closed with in 6 months

I have played on these tables and they were a total bust at the casino I play at. They were removed after a few months. Poker is a game played with chips and cards and without them you might as well play online. 9 out of 10 poker players will not play on them.

I have played on a pokertek table on a carnival cruise about a year ago. The cool thing about the whole process is they give you a card and its yours for life. You can use that card at any other automated table in the world. If you have money on that card it automatically will show up where you play at. The tables are very similar in size to a 10 seat poker table in size. The screens are very good size and so is the display unit in the middle of the table. I am a live game person I like the interaction between human beings, all this does is takes the chips and dealers out of the equation. As I said I do perfer having chips in my hand and tossing them in the pot as much as the next person, but sometimes that is not a good thing. You might have a lush at your table, or people that are new to the game slowing it down not knowing chip denominations or even a novice dealer on your hand. This system is very smooth, its never once froze up, it went from transistion to transition. It had a betting units on the side so you know what exactly to do. You use your hand to pull up your cards. Also they had it to where you can automatically change the game from cash 2 tournament if you wanted too(depends on the pit boss). The pokertek system in my opinon is very good. But it does take away from the cardroom experience of the old days.

I have been playing poker over 40 years in cardrooms and casinos,I do know this much there is alot of information given when chips are involved!I wont go any further than that because every body is writing A book about poker.
I have talked to A few players who have played on them on cruise ships,they said it's nothing but A snatch game.For those that dont know what A snatch game is it is A continues raking of the pot.
I knew since poker became so popular the last 10 years it would'nt be long befor some corporation would be screwing it up!
I think the serious players will go back to road games,or hay just sit at home and play globaly on the internet! Hay but what do I know'maybe if they offered me A big payday I would show up with my latest book and indorse poker rip or what ever the name of it is!

LVMichael you are such a hater! When are you going to realize that tech will always progress and year after year jobs are lost to it. You must be a dealer- lucky for you there probably are cage positions available. You can't knock it til you try it - I wasn't so sure about them in the beginning, but after playing on them multiple times I started to see all of the advantages to playing on the etables compared to manual dealt tables or online poker. You DO see twice as many hands, No dealer tips, more money on the table, I can get READS from people, No dealer mistakes, and my favorite is not having to wait for the dealer to stop talking to deal the next hand! Side pots are always CORRECT amounts and you don't have to wait for the dealer to figure it out. It's hands down a better way to play poker.

I really dont think they will last, and I am really disapointed in the Nevada Gaming board even certifing them! Dealers that make as many mistakes as claimed by some of these blogs get whats called A ROMF slip in there next check for those who dont no what that means it is Run OF Mother F#@&**er! As far as I'm concerned A dealer pushes me A substantil pot no matter what his or her salery is I tip! I tip my waiter I tip vallaie,I tip the paper boy! Maybe A no tip situation is what some people need! It makes me feal good to tip especialy if the poker gods are smiling on me! And there are alot of newbies who feal intimidated at the table.It makes it easy for them to know how much is in the pot and figure there pot odds! Now I think there is A place for them such as night clubs cruise ships situations where A few friends get together and want something to do! But I seriousley dought the WSOP will be useing Pokertek! I know myself and alot of the regular players here in Vegas wont be useing them,at least everybody I have talked to the last year or so!

I think it's tacky and just goes to show how Casinos love to skimp on paying the help, and so do some cheap players judging by some of these comments. Dealers need to quit being so stupid and UNIONIZE !!

FC I agree100% and at one time it could have been done but I think it's to late! 1999 thru 2004 would have been A perfect time! Plus you need to pick A union that has some teeth! If you could even get everbody to stick together!

I play at the Excalibur for 20 to 40 hours per trip - which is at least 8 times a year. I like playing at the Excalibur because of the generally young and friendly crowd of people. With the exception of the rude and bitchy young female dealer, the staff there is great too. But, I guess this announcement brings an end to my poker playing at Excalibur. I've tried these machines and while they're faster and more efficient, they take away A LOT of the live poker experience - especially in how people handle their chips and make their bets. The Normandie casino, in Los Angeles, tried a similar variety of machine for a while and got rid of it because the players hated it. Sigh... off to the Mandalay and MGM.

Poker is a game of patience and in a low limit poker game a good poker player will play 6 to 8 hours and wait for good starting hands. With these automated poker tables a good poker player will save $50 to $80 dollars during that session by not tipping a dealer. I predict good limit poker players will flock to these automated poker tables for that reason, especially in a tourist area like Las Vegas. Also more games per hour will help a good poker player get through dry spells of no starting hands. For good low limit poker players using poker as a part-time job, these automated poker tables are guaranteed to make them money 80% of the time.

Playing low limit on the strip you willjust get raked to death faster!

I agree with LasVegasMichael: it's obvious that PokerTek and/or Excalibur shills are filling this forum with their propaganda. The response of mjnaus to RBelding is clearly an insider trying to convince us that these tables are a good thing.