Go to any casino in gaming meccas such as Las Vegas or Atlantic City, and you’ll encounter an impressive level of technology automation. Gone are the mechanical slot machines; coins have been replaced with paper currency or tickets purchased from a casino “ATM” that accepts paper currency. Sophisticated electronic surveillance systems have replaced human-based surveillance of the casino floor. Dealers use electromechanical card shufflers instead of their hands. Casinos issue smart card-based “Rewards Programs” for high-volume patrons via self-serve kiosks. Casinos have become a true electronic world today.
Computers are used in many ways throughout casinos. Computer kiosks on the casino floor dispense gaming tickets or provide interactive information about the facility or a directory of services. Coinless electronic slot machines are specialized PCs themselves, and many have touch screen capability for interactive gaming.
Race or sports book areas provide PCs for players to review race information and view races or sports events in real time.
All-in-one PCs such as keyboard PCs or LCD PCs that save space are often used at the casino cage or customer service counter. Security surveillance of the casino floor is accomplished with a sophisticated set of video monitors and displayed on monitors and recorded on computers in the casino’s security and control room.
One of the key benefits of using computers (especially in surveillance) in so many places throughout the casino is that not only can security be maintained, but data mining can also be done on players. This enables casino management to track how much players spend in which areas of the casino, yielding marketing information for “comp” (complimentary) programs and promotions.