POKERPRO

PokerPro table review

Well, this is an old thread, but it's definitely a topic worth discussing. A lot has changed in the last year, but as far as automated poker tables go it appears that PokerPro is still the best table. They are made by PokerTech and now distributed by Aristocrat, as far as I know. I have played on a Lightning Poker table (distributed by Shufflemaster), and the software and operation is far inferior to that of the PokerPro table. I have also had reports of other tables that are inferior to the PokerPro model.

I've spent several nights playing on a PokerPro table at a casino in Europe, and there are a lot of situations where it is much better than having a live dealer OR playing online. I will list a few of the likes and dislikes I have for the table, but I was mainly interested in seeing what problems other players or operators are experiencing with these tables.

Pros:
Just like any B&M poker room, you get to play against players that wouldn't normally be playing online. Playing online now requires a cash holdings account, or credit cards, etc, and this allows players to jump right into poker without the hassle of online money transactions. This table offers less overhead than a normal poker table, so it can be added to any location. It can also be licensed as an automated machine (like a slot machine) in some jurisdictions, so that can make it easier to legally operate. There are no dealers to train and/or schedule, no set hours for a game, no mistakes, and most importantly:

The game is faster than at a normal table. You can expect 50-100% more hands per hour. This is good, so long as you are one of the better players at the table. And if it’s at a casino, then hopefully you can play better than some of the gamblers that wander over from roulette.

The software is good. It allows you to quickly make a bet of any size, call, or fold, and even has a few “extras” like the ability to show & fold, show one or both of your cards if you win with no showdown, and more.

Cons:
Casino owners think these tables can run themselves, but they can’t. A cashier is required to deposit money onto the cards, and they have to learn the software in order to do it. (This requires a cashier that speaks English, which is obviously isn’t common at small casinos or pubs outside the UK.) So basically, the cards are frequently set up with the wrong player names, etc. But at least they know how to make deposits and withdrawals. That’s what cashiers do best. J

The software is buggy, and handles waiting lists poorly, so a “game host” is really required to make sure the game runs smoothly and people aren’t fighting over who gets the next open seat. On that topic, a tech support person is also required, because the software isn’t 100% stable. For example, if you kick the table or give it a good pounding, it will pause the game (thinking that one of the panels has been opened.) This requires somebody to go press a “resume” button on the server computer. This is surprisingly difficult to do for somebody who doesn’t know computers. I have seen hands aborted in the middle of the hand by accident, and I have seen them resumed normally. An on-call tech support person is really a must for these tables, because they are so complex that it can take hours for a non-technical person to fix a problem over the phone with PokerPro tech support.

The price tag is huge. As there are no real competitors, PokerPro looks to be trying to recoup a lot of the development costs as fast as possible. The hardware is not terribly special, but they are still charging over 100,000 euros for a table. And even if purchased outright, there is a monthly fee. The other option is to pay rental on a per-month basis of several thousand euros per month (I heard around 6k eur/mo), and I don’t think a lot of operators can afford that kind of a rental fee while trying to build a regular game. This table will need to be competitive with B&M poker rooms that charge just a few euros rake per hand, and that could be tough to do if the game doesn’t run for at least 8 hours per night.

Lately, I have seen problems getting the table up and running. Blue screens of death (crashes) are happening more and more frequently, and this is dropping the table up-time below 80% for the last week. I think this is due to faulty software or hardware conflicts with Windows (yes, it runs on Windows), or something of that nature. At a recent gaming expo in the UK, they demonstrated a new version of the software – which I hope will be more reliable. I have yet to see a working multi-table tournament, but sit & go tournaments seem to work very well.

In summary, I think the table is a big plus to spreading poker around the world, especially to small locations. Casinos can essentially open a small poker room while avoiding a lot of the problems that are created by running a live game. If a couple of the frequent players are trained on the operation of the table, they could certainly “host” the game and play in it at the same time. (As prop players, or whatever.) The games are very configurable as far as rake goes, rules of the game, etc. Hopefully the price of the table will drop and more operators will see this as a good way to open a new poker room, especially in location where there are no poker rooms. The best thing that this tables can do is to start poker games in locations where there are no skilled dealers or poker room managers.

DWizard

I wanted to take a moment to answer a few legitimate question that have been asked.

Q: There will be fingerprints all over those screens…hey, could they use Nintendo controllers?

A: Yes, the screens get dirty. You should certainly clean it off before using it then licking your fingers. These are actually some of the worst touch-screens I have used. They are not very responsive to fingers touching them. It is almost required to use a fingernail, or a credit-card (PokerPro card), but I tend to use my PDA stylus. There are other touch-screen games I have played (blackjack, roulette) that respond very well to just a touch from a fingertip, but apparently PokerPro decided to go with a less sensitive screen. The upside to this is that it is very hard to make a mistake and lose money by brushing the screen with your arm, etc. Most players tap the screen with the edge of their PokerPro card, and every action requires a confirmation tap as well. (2 taps to fold or call, more taps to bet more than the minimum.)

Q: Will other players be able to glimpse your hole cards more easily?

A: You must press the screen in a certain spot to reveal your cards. It is very easy to do this while concealing your cards with one or two hands. If you get lazy and start doing it with a card or fingertip, then the players next to you could potentially see your cards. At this point, you should tell them to stop peeking and they might not do it again.

Q: What if someone accidentally kicks out the electric plug?

A: The results of each hand are logged. I haven’t seen the unit lose power, but I believe it will go back to the start of the hand. The hand-in-progress will be lost, as far as I know. The unit is so big that normally a power cord will be wired under the floor to it. There is normally no way to kill the power to the table, short of killing the power to the casino.

Q: Allins will be far less dramatic…chips falling off Ivey’s foot high stacks as he pushes allin.

A: Allins are still quite dramatic on this game. There is more sound when more chips are bet. And the brightly colored 500 and 1000 chips tend to draw some attention. Big piles of virtual chips attract attention on the game. The designers have done a good job of maintaining this aspect.

Q: My concern is that they might replace real dealers in existing cardrooms. I don`t feel that would be welcome at all.

A: As far as I know, there is still a world-wide shortage of skilled poker dealers. I have seen so many bad dealers in so many places, it is ridiculous. The dealers in Los Angeles make a lot of money on tips, yet they still put newly-trained dealers to work too soon. There is a lot of dealer abuse at some of the LA poker rooms. Maybe if none of the highly-skilled dealers want to work there, then they should just replace all of the games with automated tables. Because having poor dealers does nobody any good. It just upsets players and loses potential revenue for the poker room.

Q: Another problem is the game can be rigged easily now.

A: It is MUCH easier to cheat at a normal poker table than at a PokerPro table. As mentioned in a separate post, PokerTech really has no interest in creating a rigged game. No more interest than every online poker site. They want to make big money from the rake, from selling more tables, etc, not from cheating players for small change. The number of ways to cheat another player at a normal poker game is countless. If the dealer is in on the hustle (at a high-stakes game), the cheaters will always win. Playing at a PokerPro table is a great way to avoid most forms of other players cheating. One common way they do this is by signaling other players with the position of their chips, cards, hands, etc. Removing these variables, they are limited to signaling other players verbally, with their hands, other items, or maybe with the amount of time it takes them to make their action. “If I raise 3x with exactly 10 seconds left on my timer, then I have AA.” But it’s going to be tough to develop a system for the rest of the hands you want to signal. If you can devise a way to use the table to collude with another player or players, I’d be interested in hearing your ideas.

If anybody else has questions that I could answer about this table, please ask! (And send me a private message so I don’t miss your post.

DWizard