Would You Play Cards With This Creepy Human-Like Robot Dealer?

Brunette. An unflappable manner and hourglass figure. This is what perfectly describes “Min”, the robot who could pioneer a new trend and pave the way to a staggering revolution in the card-dealing industry. She does not talk, but her creators – Paradise Entertainment Ltd. say the svelte brunette is just a prototype of robot croupier.

It seems that the Hong Kong-based gambling machine manufacturer and supplier aims to help the industry lower labor costs, opening a completely new market for casino operators. At the moment, Min’s function is limited to just dealing cards, but planned improvements could make her recognize players’ faces and even speak to them in several languages.

Min was introduced in Macau last month, and clones of her will debut first in the US, where labor costs are high in pretty much every industry compared to Asia and some countries that also prohibit humans – yet not machines – from working as croupiers and dealers.

Potential Buyers in the US

Paradise Entertainment has a few potential buyers, but the company has not offered public information of production costs for Min technology. The Chairman of the company said: “We’re the first gambling machine manufacturer in the world that builds human-like robot croupiers.”

Experts consider that having electronic games – and robotic dealers soon – is a perfect move for the US gaming industry overall.

Chrisopher Jones, a reputable analyst, recently said robots are quite a novel in the US, but the topic will soon be viewed from a different angle. In addition to this, robotic tables will be preffered by novices who do not want others to know if they make any mistakes.

Other experts noted that human-like robotic croupiers can be the answer to gambling jurisdictions in the US that ban real dealers.

Rival Robot

Hanson Robotics is another company who sells a rival robot. Essentially, it’s a different product that can have facial expressions and is interactive. There is only one casino operator in Macau who uses it at the moment. Information on this topic came from the CEO of Paradise Entertainment.

Asia vs United States

Asia is a different place. Asian customers love to gamble in a very noisy environment where they can talk and banter with croupiers and other players rather than sit in front of a silent machine that offers no engagement at all.

“Most gamblers love to slam the table or to shout loudly in order to pump up the mood a bit”. I am quite sure we will have to wait a bit until we teach robots how to handle gamblers’ psychology correctly.

Not the First Robot

Police raided an illegal casino in Tokyo, Japan last year, where they surprinsingly found a robot dealer. That was the first ever published case of a robotic croupierd used in gambling. While that Taiwan-made robotic dealer was actually an arm – not a humanlike robot like Min – it dealt cards pretty well to players who wagered through monitors.

That casino was used as a selling point for street touts who did business there in Tokyo.