So-called ‘smart tables’ for casino live-dealer games – being deployed steadily in the Macau gaming market – are yet to be widely used in South Korea’s sizeable foreigner-only casino sector. That is according to GGRAsia’s enquiries among major operators in that country.
Only Mohegan Inspire Entertainment Resort, at Incheon, which opened its casino on February 3 this year, after a November 2023 launch of non-gaming – confirmed it was currently using such technology. In the case of that property – the first Asian venture of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, in the United States – the management has opted for smart tables from Walker Digital Table Systems LLC, and the latter’s Perfect Pay Baccarat.
The product features within gaming chips, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and table-embedded RFID receivers, along with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Taken as a whole, the equipment enables automation of functions such as the rating of players in terms of their value to the house, and the tracking of casino currency for security purposes. It is also designed to avoid human error on other critical processes such as player buy-ins and dealer payouts.
A spokeswoman for Mohegan Inspire told GGRAsia that smart tables were in mass-market and VIP gaming areas at the property, but didn’t specify the number or proportion of tables with the technology. She did however describe the advent of smart tables at the resort, as an “initial rollout”.
She noted that the smart table technology the venue had in place, enabled the property to offer each VIP client either rolling chip play, or high-stakes cash games, from the same gaming table, depending on the player’s preference.
“This ensures that the needs of a diversified customer [base] are satisfied while providing a premium gaming experience,” the spokeswoman stated.
Mohegan Inspire’s VIP gaming facilities include open-floor areas and private rooms, she added. The resort representative said that VIP bet pricing was not made public.
Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, which trades as Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, said in an October investor presentation, that mass-market and premium-mass gaming table drop at Mohegan Inspire had nearly tripled since the casino at the complex opened in February.
Such table drop increased by 181.2 percent, from US$30.3 million in February, to US$85.2 million by August.
The property is close to Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main air hub.
