Robot Card Dealer Pitched To Casinos: ReportHuman-Like Machine Has Facial Expressions |
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Bots are close to being able to beat the very best poker players in the world in heads-up no-limit hold’em, and eventually robots could be the ones dealing cards in some casinos.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Hong Kong-based Paradise Entertainment Ltd. unveiled a human-like card dealer in Macau this month, one that the company says could eventually recognize gamblers’ faces and speak to them in multiple languages.
Paradise Entertainment reportedly believes the robot dealer could revolutionize the casino industry in Asia and in the United States. The company is currently in talks with buyers, the report said. Paradise Entertainment said it’s the first gambling equipment manufacturer in the world that produces a human-like robotic dealer. A similar robot was developed by Hanson Robotics.
Paradise Entertainment’s human-like robot could deal 30 percent faster than a human.
The robot appears to be a big advance from just two years ago when a robot using suction cups dealt blackjack at a trade show in Chicago.
Not everyone is thrilled with the idea of robots replacing dealer jobs. The innovation is designed to help casinos save on labor costs.
“Terrible idea,” poker pro Cliff Josephy said. “There is way more to a dealer’s job than pitching cards. Maybe well into the future, but not now.”
According to the American Gaming Association, the U.S. casino industry provides 1.7 million jobs in 40 states. According to the the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are roughly 100,000 gaming dealers in the country, with a mean annual income of $21,040. The wave of casino legalization in the Northeast over recent years has been fueled by the promise of job creation, in addition to much-needed tax revenue.
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