What the Craps Is This?

Yesterday, I stopped cold in my Deer Stags during a walk through the casino pit. I saw an ELECTRONIC CRAPS TABLE for the first time.

What’s this? What is the world coming to? What happened to Las Vegas? Is everything now a video game?

Listen, I get it *why* a casino wants to speed up the game. They’ll get more rolls, more wagers, and thus — make more money. That is, assuming craps players agree to do a modern Dylan and “go electric.” But, I wonder — is this *really* the experience the casual gambler is looking for when playing inside a casino? Standing in front of a VIDEO TERMINAL ???

What’s going on here — am I shooting craps or renting a car?

I just don’t fucking get it. This travesty is the antithesis of excitement. Removing the interactive nature of craps, the tossing of chips, the spread of wealth across the layout, the tumbling dice, and the screams of a hot shooter and packed table strikes me as DESTROYING the very nature of the game.

Yeah, some will retort about me being a out-of-touch traditionalist and a curmudgeon. Yes! Guilty! If this is the “new” Las Vegas, I want no part of it. I can play “video craps” at home or online if I want to….and I don’t want to do that. Not now. Not EVER. Cutting out PEOPLE and removing the HUMAN element from the game will be craps’ ruin and death knell.

I wonder — what will these corporate bean counters do next to suck all the fun out of casinos?