Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Tabletops could touch off new trend in sports betting

Wander around the Mirage race and sports book, and you’ll find what look like five table-sized smartphones tucked inconspicuously into the seating area.

They are, in fact, tables. But they’re also more.

In that sports book, and a few other select spots, MGM Resorts International is quietly using the tables to test out a different, more interactive way of gambling.

MGM installed 20 of the interactive tables, 10 each at the Mirage and MGM Grand, in July. They are designed for up to four people to play with their own window on the tabletop’s touch screen.

For now, players can only watch television, tweet, make dining and show reservations at MGM properties, review fantasy sports picks, play free games or use the social casino application myVegas.

Eventually, however, MGM plans to introduce real gambling options into the tables. The versions being tested are manufactured by Suzo-Happ.

Thomas Mikulich, MGM’s senior vice president for business development, said the company installed the tables to engage with millennials and Generation Xers.

MGM wanted to bring them a way of gaming that was more similar to the technology they grew up with, he said.

“As we thought about that and started trying to grab them by the hair and yank them into the casino, we thought we’d go where they’re at. And where they’re at is mobile phones and sports books, lounges, nightclubs,” Mikulich said. “We thought we’d put some of these devices in those areas to try and engage with them and see what they actually like to do.”

Accordingly, you won’t find these interactive tables on the casino floor. They’re in sports books, lounges and even a coffee shop, among other areas.

Real-money gambling on the tables is still a ways off; Mikulich said he hoped that would roll out around August 2015, pending regulatory approval. In the meantime, MGM is closely monitoring customers’ behavior on the tables to understand what they like to do and make tweaks where necessary.

Once real gambling debuts on the interactive tables, Mikulich said players would have to download a mobile application they could fund with cash. Then they would log in through the table and play.

Mikulich said a player could, for example, have one or more football games open on the tabletop screen while simultaneously using a sports-betting application. The tables also would open up the possibility of betting in real time during the games.

“What that does is it really keeps them a lot more engaged in the game as the game is going on,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll just place a bet and go away and come back to see if they’ve won or not. This keeps you really involved in the game.”

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