TECHNOLOGY CROSSOVER A POSSIBILITY IN NEW LAND ePOKER ROOM

(342) (25-August-2006)

Dealers and physical chips unnecessary in new Californian venture

Poker players at the Hollywood Park land casino in California will soon be able to try out a cutting edge way to play their fave game at the new ePoker Room now under construction.

The up-to-the-minute facility uses small touch screen computer monitors on a poker table rather than using dealers and real chips. ePoker players load a personal card with credits, bought with cash they can deposit at the table. The poker software then deals cards on the players' screens, which can be shielded as desired.

"This is the fastest form of poker, because the computer does all the mathematics. It does the split pots. The dealer doesn't have to stack the chips, split the chips up, or pass them to the players," Phyllis Caro , Hollywood Park director of poker operations, told local media reporters. "Here you're in a licensed environment. Your money is secure. You can deposit money in the cage in the casino; you can withdraw it at any time."

Caro believes that whilst ePoker may not make dealers unnecessary, it could comprise as much as 40 to 50 percent of all land casino poker games over the next five years.