Las Vegas Sands CEO embraces smart gaming tables as the ‘future of gambling’

Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein has described smart gaming tables as the “future of gambling,” stating that his company is “fully invested” in utilizing the technology across its integrated resorts in Macau and Singapore.

Goldstein’s comments came during the Bernstein 40th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference where he was asked about the role of technology on today’s gaming floors.

“The hot ticket today, the hot discussion revolves around the smart tables,” Goldstein replied. “They are terrifically advanced products that enable us to do a better job of policing the game for both the customers’ and our own benefit.”

Goldstein explained that smart tables “help us market better” and “make us more aware,” turning a table game into something more akin to a slot machine by removing the human element and making the process “very mechanical, very efficient.”

“The future of gambling, I think, is tied to smart tables,” he said. “And there’s a lot of confusion that smart tables will do things that they don’t do. They simply enable the operator to do better things with their marketing, with game protection, with how they view the customer. It enables the customer to have a better experience.”

Goldstein emphasized that Sands is “fully invested in smart tables in both Macau and Singapore and that’s our future. We believe it’s very positive.”

While operators have flexibility around the extent of technology they use, Goldstein said Sands was using “all of those elements to make it the most effective.”

“We’re very happy with the product and where it’s going,” he added.

The use of smart gaming tables fitted with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has the potential to significantly boost casino revenue in Macau, according to a recent report from Citigroup. Staff Reporter