Live dealers & American tribal casinos: Limelight Q&A

Back in July this year it was announced that EntwineTech’s live dealer platform would be used by Atlantis Internet Group as part of an intranet gaming solution to be made available in US tribal casinos.  You can read the complete release here.

The news was drowned out a little by all everything else that was going on with US net gambling at the time (Black Friday fallout particularly) but it’s pretty significant. With approval from the National Indian Gaming Commission to stream EntwineTech’s games into tribal casinos this becomes the US-territory licensed live dealer product.  It’s intranet not internet, but there’s potential for the games to be streamed into 450 casinos nationwide so we’re not talking about an insignificant network.

I put a few questions to Shay Shevach from Limelight (the company responsible for sales/licensing of the EntwineTech product) about the deal.

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Q.First a little bit about yourself. Can you describe your role as it relates to EntwineTech?
A. Limelight is a reseller for EntwineTech live dealer software. I am responsible for the Western regions.

Q. EntwineTech has had a strong presence in Asia for some time now but seems to be making a real effort to move into other markets. Would this be fair to say?
A. Yes this would be fair to say. These days everybody is looking to go East. EntwineTech already dominates the far east and it is now looking for partners to continue to expand west. 

Q. How big is EntwineTech’s dealer studio…
A. In our current Manila studio, there are 15 tables in the Asian suite and 4 tables in the Western suite. Around a 150 dealers, our 3rd studio will soon launch in Q1 2012, there will be another 20 tables mainly Roulette and Blackjack tables.

Q. EntwineTech issued a press release recently announcing it would be supplying its live dealer software to Atlantis Internet Group, who in turn have been approved by the NGIC to run a WAP-intranet online gaming network connecting Tribal Indian Casinos. With so much in the news recently about the US Department of Justice and FBI hard line stance against online gambling (Black Friday online poker indictments etc), this step towards legal live dealer (online) games within the US must be seen as a massive win for EntwineTech?
A. This is one of the first steps in legal US federal gambling. It is a long journey, and we are all looking forward to seeing to what this will develop into.

Q. Do you know yet which EntwineTech live games Atlantis intends using?
A. The whole platform.

Q. NGIC (National Indian Gaming Commission) oversees Indian gaming on tribal lands in 28 states across the US. Do you know the extent to which EntwineTech’s live dealer games will be made available…ie how many tribal casino in how many states?
A. It is too early to say, but with their recent huge success in the Las Vegas show last week, we are confident it will be a significant number.

Q. How will the games be presented within casinos…on kiosk style gaming stations or internet café style PCs?
A. Both styles seem available in many tribal clubs around the US.

Q. Will the Atlantis/EntwineTech games be playable within tribal casinos only, or is there a chance they could also be made available to private residents living within Indian lands.
A. This is up to the gaming commission of each tribe to decide.

Q. Asian players have always enjoyed your games, European players more recently are becoming familiar with them. How do you think Americans will respond to them?
A. This industry started by trying to emulate land casino play on the PC. These days the similarities are only getting closer.

Q. Anything else you’d like to add about the US deal, or EntwineTech generally?
A. The US market is a very complex place with lots of lobbyists each pulling in their directions: land casinos, Indian casinos, online operators and states. It will still take time to get it back on the regulative track. EntwineTech is quickly expanding westward and anybody who wants to be part of the world’s largest live dealer platform is welcomed to submit a request. EntwineTech retains the right to choose its partners wisely.