GGRAsia – AI-RFID mix for smart tables gives ops flexibility: Angel exec

AI-RFID mix for smart tables gives ops flexibility: Angel exec

Apr 19, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Top of the deck, Trends & Tech

The deployment of a “smart table” product – combining the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and cameras gathering data for analysis via artificial intelligence (AI) – can provide more “flexibility” to casino operators and “enhance the efficiency” of the gaming operation, says Asuka Kurahashi (pictured), president of Angel Macau Ltd, in an interview with GGRAsia.

Angel Group is a familiar name for its playing cards and card shoes in the casino-equipment supply market. The company offers a modular approach to its smart table offer, depending on a casino firm’s operational need and budget, as well as the relevant gaming regulator’s protocols.

Ms Kurahashi said Angel’s smart table does not disrupt the normal operating process of a live table game nor slow its pace.

“By adopting the RFID-smart table, we can enhance the efficiency of the [gaming] operation, and we don’t want to change the dealers’ SOP [standard operation procedure] or even table layout. While the dealer is dealing the game the normal way, our system is collecting all the data,” the Angel Macau president remarked.

The use of AI helps operators to accommodate operational changes such as fresh side-bet options in an efficient manner, she added.

The AI-RFID hybrid approach means Angel can offer operators “flexibility” in terms of table layout design. “When they need to change it, they just need to adjust the software and the cameras [for AI capture function] to adapt to the new layout,” said Ms Kurahashi.

Having two sets of cameras means they can “compensate” and “eliminate blind spots” – when working in tandem – for any viewpoint angle on the table that cannot be easily monitored by a single camera, noted the executive.

The Macau authorities have been encouraging use of smart tables as a way for the city’s industry to manage more effectively, casino operations.

Angel’s smart table – which has been refined over a period of 10 years – has been installed at one particular property of a Macau casino concessionaire since 2019, Ms Kurahashi told GGRAsia. Angel declines to name the property, but says its smart table product is likely to see “complete rollout… over the next few quarters”, across multiple properties of the concessionaire in question.

The technology supplier’s smart table product has also been deployed in casino operations in Singapore and Australia, according Ms Kurahashi. The product is due to become operational soon in the Philippines, though – as feasible via Angel’s modular approach – the industry’s request in that market has so far been for AI data functions, rather than RFID ones.

The company’s comprehensive package is ‘Angel Eye Complete’ (pictured below in marketing materials). It comes with a chip tray called ‘Angel Smart Float’. The tray is equipped with a reader that can read and track RFID-tagged gaming chips stored in it.

The product also has cameras – set at opposite ends of the table – to monitor the betting action. Angel’s ‘AI Capture’ technology turns real-time actions recorded on camera, into digital data that can be utilised by the casino operator for tasks including player rewards and game protection.

Angel says that as an option, its smart table product can be fitted with RFID antenna embedded under the betting surface of the table, a feature it calls ‘Bet Guardian’ and is said by Ms Kurahashi to offer an “extra layer of data collection”.

The firm states that the hybrid use of AI and RFID enables capture and analysis of data points including gaming chip movements, chip values, betting amounts per patron, and game results. Any dealer error, such as an incorrect payout to a patron, can trigger an immediate alert. Angel says the product can also help operators prevent gaming chip theft, as well as detecting any use of fraudulent chips at the gaming table.

According to Ms Kurahashi, regulators are also interested in having operators adopt smart tables, in order to improve oversight of play.

In Australia, for example, use of such technology can align with state regulators’ needs regarding anti-money laundering and reduction of problem gambling, she explained.

Angel is currently developing its “chip attribution” function, said to be able to link an individually-tagged chip, to a unique player. It plans soon to test it with a view to installing it on an operational casino floor.

In terms of the well-established reputation Angel already has for the quality of its playing cards and peripherals, Ms Kurahashi states: “We are very confident that we can achieve the same for our smart table.”