Casino equipment supplier Angel Group’s smart table technology for non-baccarat games – namely blackjack, roulette and sic bo – could go live on gaming floors in the Asia Pacific region “by the end of this year”. That is according to Aaron Raj (pictured), chief technology officer (CTO) at Angel Australasia Pty Ltd, in an interview with GGRAsia at the recent Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2025.
Angel had given a preview of its smart table offer for those non-baccarat games at last year’s edition of G2E Asia. Macau has been a leading regional jurisdiction for the introduction of smart tables.
As with its baccarat product, Angel’s non-baccarat smart tables respectively combine radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for chip security, and cameras for artificial intelligence (AI) analysis of table play.
There are though, differences in game action with the various table games that need to be captured and analysed, noted Mr Raj.
He stated: “If you look at baccarat, it is pretty static in terms of what the bet positions are; whereas [with] blackjack, it is based on the player’s hands [cards],” in other words, “what is the player betting in that hand?
“So it is not just observing the bets; it’s more about observing the cards as well,” added Mr Raj, who also has a role as what the Angel brand calls its global smart table integration specialist.
He also remarked that smart-table analysis of roulette is “a lot more complex”. He stated that the bets being placed can – in physical terms on the table felt – be “very close to each other”.
“Only with the [smart table] technology, are we able to understand every bet that is placed across all the numbers… or the outside bets.”
Angel uses an AI-RFID hybrid approach for its non-baccarat smart tables, which it says can handle the different styles of game play and game rules.
Mr Raj said that as a consequence, Angel’s smart-table technology for such games, enables casino operators to “know the exact turnout of the player, and the real-time win or loss of the game”.
He added: “We are also able to help the dealer do accurate payout, and a faster payout. Those are the fine tunings.”
Once a smart table generates the data, the operator has to integrate that into its operations and maximise benefit from the data. “We are driven by” assisting the operators with that, he stated.
Betting styles, ‘pose recognition’
Angel says it is confident in the accuracy of the automated player ratings generated by its smart tables, compared to the ‘by eye’ method used by casino staff previously.
The Angel analysis includes the component parts of a player’s betting, for example main bets compared to side bets.
With “that level of detail,” the casino operator “can understand” the player’s “true theo” said Mr Raj, referring to theoretical win.
Angel Australasia’s CTO noted to GGRAsia that what the company terms its smart tables’ “chip association” capability is already in use on its smart baccarat tables in the Macau market and in Singapore.
It makes possible the linking of an individually-tagged gaming chip to a unique player, regardless of whether or not the player is signed up for membership – i.e., “carded”, to use the industry jargon.
This capability can help casino operators track movement of individual chips, and ensure the person issued with particular chips is the one actually playing them, thus helping the house in addressing any risk of money laundering by players, or chip theft.
As an extra safeguard, Angel has developed its smart-table product so that it can handle – via the camera feed – what it terms “pose recognition”, namely how an individual moves.
Known as Angel’s “bet attributor”, it offers says Mr Raj, another “visual aspect” – to go with the tracking of on-table play and the authentication and securing of the casino currency via the RFID antennas installed under the betting surface. Together, they bring the process of chip association to a “complete circle”, noted Mr Raj.
Regulatory approaches to clearance for the pose recognition capability could vary from market to market, he added.
