Archive for May, 2010
Whichever time you look at, there has always been gambling. For example, there is evidence of keno, dice and mahjong being played in Ancient China from 2,000 B.C. onward. Different forms of gaming were also a popular pastime in the other major ancient civilizations of India, Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome. Despite attempts to ban or control gambling because of its addictive nature, it has persisted until today. Sometimes it went underground, while other governments allowed commercialisation. Throughout, gambling has been seen as a social activity. The rich would gather in each others palaces and mansions to play or attend exclusive clubs. The poor would flock to “dens of iniquity” which were often run by criminal gangs tied into the worlds of prostitution and street drugs. This history is one long transfer of wealth from one individual to another. Before regulation, it was usually the criminal gangs that became rich. After regulation, those in positions of power took their commissions while governments subsidized the taxpayers through levies and taxes. But there was one constant thread. Whether you were an aristocrat lounging in a casino in an exclusive spa town in Europe or panning for gold in the 1840’s and 50’s, the majority of games depended on live dealing or the supervision of the betting by an employee of the House. In the more modern clubs and casinos, the dealers and croupiers have often been beautiful women, dressed attractively. In their own right, they were part of the attraction of the “place”. The men would come, leaving their wives at home, to lose their money while ogling the girls.
Then along came the internet. There is nothing wrong with the quality of the graphics, animation and soundtrack. In most cases, they represent a brave attempt to create an experience similar to a real-world casino. But players can never suspend disbelief. They continue to sit at home or nursing their laptops in a hotspot with their attention fixed on a small screen. Nothing can replace the smell, noise and crush of people in a casino. Except, as the technology has matured and bandwidth improved, online casinos have begun to introduce live dealers for a range of your favorite casino games. This has two advantages. Many people prefer to avoid the random number generators that drive the software versions of the games. RGNs are too perfect. They feel it is better to gamble where human beings shuffle the packs or spin the wheels because human beings make mistakes and are inefficient. Secondly, animations only go so far. Even though it is a small screen, a live video feed of a sexy lady dealing blackjack or running a roulette table brings in the business.
Live dealing has been increasingly common on sites serving Europe but the first online casinos in the US are now recruiting live dealers and launching their own service. You can only go so far to compete on animation and welcome bonuses. Web cameras are cheap and not much of a studio is required to create interactive play between dealer and you sitting at home. With your favorite casino games now coming to you live, the pressure will be on the majority of the other casinos to innovate ad improve the interface and user experience. As bandwidth improves, your gaming experience will improve.
OK, so here’s a question for everyone who has ever been into a casino to play a slot machine or who has played online. Why did you do it? The answers will all have differences in the detail, but the simple truth is easy to write. You want to win some money. There’s this machine. It’s got a simple system for deciding when you win. In old technology, there were physical reels turning. Now we have video technology. You get to see the representation of the different characters turning. There’s an air of breathless excitement. You watch the key numbers or symbols pass ever more slowly in front of your eyes. Just one or two more turns and you’ll hit the jackpot. Ah, so close! You were within touching distance of millions of dollars. If only you’d been able to reach out with your mind to just push one wheel through one more turn to the pay line. But the fact you did come so close means you could win next time. If your luck is in. And the stake for each spin of the virtual wheels is so small. And the winnings are so much, they will clear all your losses to date and leave you with cash in hand. Some of those combinations make you rich. But then there are the few combinations that make you even richer. And then there’s the jackpot itself. Your heart races and you think what you could do with that big a pile of cash. Yes, your answers would be something like that – it’ exciting to anticipate a win.
So let’s all have a moment of sympathy for Louise Chavez. She’s a resident of Denver, but was visiting Central City, Colorado. Having taken in the local scenery, she had settled into The Fortune Valley Casino. The slot machines were all lined up and she was ready to hit the big time. Time passed and then came the experience everyone dreams about. The reels settled into place and the light on top of the machine lit up. As every player knows, this tells you and everyone watching you have just picked up the jackpot. In this case, she imagined she had won the Phantom Jackpot which was standing at a mere $43 million. The other players gathered round. Casino employees rushed over. And Louise Chavez was partying. It was her birthday and she had just been given the very bestest present in the world.
That’s why she was more than a little angry when the casino told her there was a computer glitch. She had not actually won anything. That’s a rapid makeover from multimillionaire to a big zero in one sentence. Now let’s be honest. It’s always possible for a computer to foul up. There are all these lines of code and, at any time, one of them can just decide to play a game with our heads. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in the real world or playing slots online, a machine error can catch you out. What makes this interesting is the idea of a “phantom” jackpot. The pay lines for conventional slots are always clear. Are the rules for winning phantom jackpots always so clear? Presumably the state gaming officials will publish a report and confirm this phantom jackpot system is fair, can be won and is not a scam. No matter where you play slots, you always need confidence the computers are programmed to give you a fair chance of winning. As it stands, this is a PR disaster for the casino.