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Indiana Casinos Use Technology to Boost Profits

INDIANA – As reported by the Northwest Indiana Times: "Step onto a riverboat casino in Indiana, and you'll never know that you left solid ground.

"That's because -- since the law changed in 2002 -- the boats are anchored and cemented into place so tightly that they don't rock.

"Even so, Indiana law requires that the Coast Guard-certified boats are fully able to function, which means manned by a captain, first mate, deck hands and engineering team. The captains are qualified to command a moving ship, even if it doesn't really move.

"…In such a highly-regulated industry, casinos don't have the freedom to cut costs and enhance efficiency like other businesses.

"…But in Northwest Indiana, the lakefront casinos are using technology to boost the bottom line, in part by turning customers into VIPs.

"…One of the biggest industry-wide changes is the adoption of ticket-in, ticket-out technology, or TITO. It replaces coins and cash with slips of paper.

"To reduce lines, Horseshoe put in computerized kiosks that allow customers to make payments and conduct other transactions they used to do at a counter.

"…Also to save time, devices called 'chipper champs' at Horseshoe's roulette tables sort chips by color, so the dealer doesn't have to. Mechanized 'shuffle masters' at Horseshoe reduce dead time by shuffling cards, although the dealers follow up with one manual shuffle. And 'deck checker' machines count the cards to help dealers prevent a cheater from slipping an extra ace into the deck…"

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