If a casino space could have an identity crisis, the East Tower Casino at Trump Plaza certainly fit that bill in its first decade. Opened a few months after the East Tower hotel addition in 1995, the space, an escalator trip down from the main casino, went through several transformations over the years. Originally it was sandwiched between a foyer leading to the main casino and the Warner Brothers Boardwalk store. The backside of a huge Daffy Duck statue on the outer façade greeted players through its smoked-glass walls.

First, it was a casino extension—tables and slots, along with a long video poker bar (one of the few in Atlantic City). Next, the tables were removed and the entire area was spruced up with a space-age design and a clubby atmosphere, to go along with the newfangled multi-line video slots that appeared in the late 1990s. Finally, a lounge area was added on the ocean side.

Over the years, the room received mixed reviews at best from players, and after the Rain Forest Café replaced the Warner Brothers store several years ago, the casino was downsized from its one-time contingent of around 600 machines. The original version of the room closed for good in February 2007.

This summer, the East Tower Casino gets a new lease on life—and a new identity. This one should stick, since it will be one of the most unique gaming spaces in the city.

At its center: the city’s first automated poker room—12 “PokerPro” tables, which are fully automated, multi-player Texas hold’em and Omaha poker games. There also will be two “Heads Up” versions of the hold’em game, which are two-player automated poker face-offs.

The games, produced by North Carolina-based PokerTek, Inc., are electronic poker tables with a game identical to the live version. The multi-player PokerPro is a standard-sized poker table with 10 embedded player stations and a central video display to represent the deal and the flop. The mechanics of the game are the same as the live version. Players wager against each other just as in the live game. A video monitor in front of each player displays the hand, and includes a touch-screen that allows players to “peek” at their hold cards. Bets proceed just as in live poker.

This electronic version deals 50 percent to 60 percent more hands per hour than a manual table. Casinos love it because it increases the rake by the same amount, without labor costs. The two-player Heads Up version, of course, provides a faster poker experience than you’ll find anywhere outside of video poker—only in this case, it’s a competition between players instead of player vs. house.

Players love the game for the same reason—speed, according to Chris Halligan, CEO of the game’s manufacturer, PokerTek. “The biggest benefit players get from this is more hands per hour, and it costs them less to play at our table,” Halligan says. “It is still a live environment so they can pick up tells, see their opponents and so forth. But because the deal is automated, they don’t have to tip the dealer, and that can save a lot of money.”

“The speed of the game should definitely be an attraction for the true poker player,” says Anthony Spagno, Trump Plaza casino manager. “And, the technology will attract that new, younger segment of customer that doesn’t currently come into the Plaza.”

Halligan says players also like the running statistics provided by the electronic game. Players can view their own statistics and table statistics—how many hands have gone to the river, average pot size and other informational tidbits.

The PokerPro table has been proliferating around the world since its introduction in 2005. According to Halligan, there are currently 210 tables installed around the world, including 10 fully automated poker rooms. (That doesn’t count cruise ships; more than 40 use PokerPro exclusively.) This will be the first appearance of the tables in Atlantic City—pending final regulatory approval, which was expected before the start of this month.

“We saw a great opportunity to introduce automation that’s been available to customers in other places to this marketplace,” says Dave Polizzi, vice president of casino operations at Trump Plaza. “We thought it would be a great idea for Trump Plaza to be the first casino in a major market to introduce an automated poker casino.”

Polizzi is quick to note that the Plaza has never had a live poker room. “Although Poker Pro is completely automated and requires no actual dealers, we will, however, need to increase our supervisory staffing levels in order to operate the room,” he says.

Spagno says the automated poker operation actually stands to increase play at live tables. “You take a group of people coming into town on the Atlantic City Expressway—a slot player, a poker player and a blackjack player,” he says. “They all want to go to the same place. Currently, that car won’t pull into the Trump Plaza parking garage, because we don’t have poker. The new room will bring more players not only for poker, but the other games—which will generate more tokes for those dealers.”

Part of the reason for Spagno’s confidence is what’s going into the East Tower Casino along with the poker.

New Room

Automated poker will be the centerpiece of the new East Tower Casino, which will be a space transformed. The automated poker tables will be accompanied by live table games—11 blackjack tables and a Big Six wheel, with lower limits than in the main casino. The video poker bar also is reopening, this time with a Jokers Wild progressive link.

There’s more. A full kitchen will serve the area. Machines will cover half the poker bar; the rest of it will be a café-style counter. On the ocean side of the room will be two lounge areas, with sofas, chairs and tables, and multiple giant plasma TV screens for sporting events. To cap it all off, the gaming offerings will include stand-alone video poker machines, including Five Play and Ten Play Poker, Wheel Poker and Multi-Strike Poker.

In the end, the East Tower Casino will be a combination poker room, video poker center, sports bar, lounge and café.

“We took a lot of different things into account when we considered the room,” says Polizzi. “Because of the size—14,000 square feet—we had the opportunity to have multiple offerings in that room, to add amenities we don’t offer at the Plaza otherwise.”

The main draw, though, is the automated poker. “We’re definitely going after a customer segment Trump Plaza doesn’t currently serve, and that’s the poker player,” says Spagno, “but at the same time, the tables are so user-friendly that once people see and learn it, we will attract all types of players.”

Halligan from PokerTek notes that in addition to experienced poker players who simply love the speed of the automated version, the PokerPro table has brought many new players to the game of poker. “A poker room can be kind of intimidating,” he notes. “With the PokerPro table, you can never bet out of turn, you can never make a mistake.”

One additional attraction for players to PokerPro is the fact that the automation allows for games like Omaha, which have all but disappeared from live poker rooms.

“Omaha is a great game—complex, interesting—but no house in the world will deal it because it’s slow, 15 hands per hour,” Halligan says. “We get nearly 40 hands per hour from Omaha, which is unheard-of. Omaha players who had given up on the idea of being able to play the games in a casino love PokerPro, because it brings those games back.”

According to Polizzi, the Plaza will soon seek regulatory approval to hold various tournaments in the new room, to add another element of excitement. Halligan says he’s excited about the atmosphere the Plaza is creating around the PokerPro offering.

“The number-one thing we look for in a (casino) customer is a real vision on how to implement automated poker,” he says. “The folks at Trump Plaza just brought an infinite amount of energy and vision to that room. They’re a great customer for us to launch this product with in New Jersey.”

Will automated poker catch on in Atlantic City? “I don't believe that the other casinos will offer this type of product to this extent,” says Spagno. “We’ve made a total commitment to open up an entire automated poker room. The rest of the casinos have live poker; I don’t know if they’re going to replace any tables.

“I’ve been in the business for 30 years, and this table is one of the best offerings I’ve ever seen.” “It’s very exciting to be able to offer something new,” Polizzi adds. “I think this will be an overall amenity that will add excitement to the city.”

By Frank Legato

Frank Legato is editor of Casino Connection and also editor of Global Gaming Business magazine. He has been writing on gaming topics since 1984, when he launched and served as editor of Casino Gaming magazine. Legato, a nationally recognized expert on slot machines, has served as editor and reporter for a variety of gaming publications, including Public Gaming, IGWB, Casino Journal, Casino Player, Strictly Slots and Atlantic City Insider. He has an B.A. in journalism and an M.A. in communications from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He is the author of the recently published book on gaming, How To Win Millions Playing Slot Machines... Or Lose Trying.

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