By Xavier Kong
In the last issue, KiniBiz went over the various competitors in the region. In this issue, KiniBiz will take a look at the technology behind the gaming sector, with a tip of the hat at the predecessors.
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Ever since the beginning, there have been gambling implements, from dice whittled out of bone, to the modern cards and electronic gaming machines.
The first mechanical slot machine was invented by Charles Fey in 1895, and was named the Liberty Bell. It had three spinning reels, with the symbols of the suits painted around each reel, with the identifying iconography of a cracked Liberty Bell as its jackpot. The highest payout, of course, was when a player succeeds in achieving a spin of three Liberty Bells in a row, and paid the player back fifty cents.
The machines had a huge demand at the time, with gambling supply manufacturers attempting to obtain the manufacturing and distribution rights, but to no avail. As a result, Herbert Mills, a Chicago manufacturer of arcade machines, began production of a slot machine that was a knock-off of Fey’s Liberty Bell. This knock-off was coined the Operator Bell, and was the first machine to use the fruit symbols of cherries and lemons that we all identify with slot machines today.
The first video slot machine was built by Walt Fraley of the Fortune Coin Company in 1975, aptly named the Fortune Coin. The build included microchips and random number generators, and seemed much better than electronic slots.
However, players were still sceptical and wary of the device. This was due mainly to the fact that for electronic and mechanical slots, players could see and hear the reels spinning, and while the video screen had a display with virtual reels, the process wasn’t clear enough to satisfy players, so most players stuck to electronic slots rather than the Fortune Coin.
After the Fortune Coin Company was purchased in 1978 by William Redd, owner and manager of International Game Technology, the company improved the original Fortune Coin machine with the multiple paylines in 1980. Thus began the rise of the popularity of the video slots machine.
The birth of Poker
Poker was initially, as recorded in the 1829 memoirs of touring English actor Joe/Joseph Cowell, a game played in New Orleans, Louisiana, with a 20-card deck, and bets were made amongst four players as to who had the larger hand. The deck consisted of four suits of the Ace, Ten, Jack, Queen, and King.
However, poker as a game sees its roots much further back in history, and not within American shores. Research from various sources pointed to poker likely having originated from a 16th century Persian card game known as As-Nas, which was probably taught to French settlers in New Orleans by Persian sailors. The name “poker” itself is of European origin, and used to be known as poque, or pochen. Poque was a French term, which in turn evolved from the German term pochen, which means “to knock”. Poker also draws its roots from primero (Spain), primiera (Italy), and la prime (France), as well as brag in England, all games which involved the betting and bluffing aspects poker is known for.
Poker spread from the French Quarter to the rest of the country by means of the famed Mississippi riverboats, not to mention the gold rush not long after, which carried the game further west. It rose to such popularity during that time that if you walked into a saloon, chances were that there would be a poker table there.
Soon after the spread of the game, the English 52-card deck was used, and the flush was introduced as a winning hand. Further additions came during the American Civil War, including a variation called stud poker, as well as the recognition that the straight was a winning hand. The popularity of the game was assured, as both sides of the Civil War enjoyed the game as a pastime.
This pastime continued to flourish throughout the years in America, and was spread to Asia by the US military, during layovers and when the troops were stationed in Asia. This was made more so by the ease of carrying a pack of cards, rather than a roulette wheel, and this ease of transport made card games the preferable gaming method.
Modern tournament play, however, only became popular in 1970, with the advent of the World Series of Poker. By this vein, Texas Hold ‘Em was popularized, and remains the most popular form of poker at the table today.
The move to the virtual world
Poker’s move to the virtual world started back in 1934, when the first electric gambling device was created. It was the animated horse-race machine called PACES RACES, but it was in 1964, that the first all-electronic gambling machine was built by Nevada Electronic, and it was coined the “21” machine, which was followed by later versions that included poker, roulette, dice, and horse-racing, with Dale Electronics’ Poker-Matic being a popular example.
Poker had also transitioned towards the Internet as a means of play, and this has attracted a higher number of players, as it allows gamers to play in the comfort of their homes, not to mention while on the go. Online poker had started in the mid-1990s, in the form of chatroom poker on IRC. An online poker room also incorporates the anonymity of the internet, allowing novices to play, whereas actual poker rooms can be rather intimidating to novices.
The first online poker room, however, was Planet Poker, which was launched in 1998. Now, there are a multitude of companies offering the game, either as a pastime, like Zynga, or as a form of real competition, such as Planet Poker and PokerStars.
The real thing vs. machines?
However, will these machines eventually take the place of actual croupiers at casinos? Will the rise of the machines eliminate job opportunities, reminiscent of the industrial revolution? Analysts say nay.
“The machines are, honestly, just a way for the casino to squeeze a little more pocket change out of people.” said an analyst from a local research house, noting that most machines were rather low-stake, compared to the table games.
Another analyst noted that high-rollers preferred table games to the electronic gaming machines.
“The high-rollers like the ‘feel’ of the cards and chips on the table, the tactile stimulation is part of the experience.” noted the analyst, who concurred that stakes are generally higher at table games.
Analysts told KiniBiz that each game machine typically lasts about six months, before it is improved with either software updates or new games. The electronic game machines are also catered towards the mass market, with high-rollers also contributing more to casino revenue than machine gamers. The system also tended towards a “don’t mess with what works” attitude, according to analysts.
An analyst provided a scope of the difference between the stakes at the table and the slots: a non-premium slot machine costs maybe RM1 per game, while at the table, it can go up to more than RM100 000 per bet. Then again, they aren’t called high rollers for nothing.
Another local analyst provided that Australian electronic gaming machine manufacturer and distributor Aristocrat, is one of the big names to look out for, having done better than International Game Technology recently.
“One thing Aristocrat does is that they distribute their own machines. Most other companies distribute their machines through third-party distributors instead.” noted said analyst.
Aristocrat had just rolled out a slot game based on popular television series The Walking Dead.
Aristocrat also declined to respond when contacted.
While technology brought gambling to the masses, it seems that much of the profits still come from the high rollers – those who make huge bets and are well taken care of by the casinos who offer them free flights, food and rooms. Or do they always if you look at the overall scheme of things? Is it an accident that Genting’s Malaysian casino has a high proportion of game machines?
Yesterday: The regional casinos
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