Automated tables aren’t new. Electronic poker tables have been around for years, though they’ve enjoyed just modest success.

Many of the complaints about them stem from the missing human element, as well as the feeling you’re playing an arcade game and not a live casino game.

Enter Shuffle Master’s new i-Table, an electronic table for blackjack, baccarat and other pit games, which features a live dealer who deals real cards, though bets are handled electronically, which tends to speed up the game and eliminates mistakes.

"By automating the betting process, the i-Table dramatically increases live table game security, accuracy and speed, resulting in an estimated 30% increase in rounds per hour while eliminating errors," according to Shuffle Master. "Further, its integrated card and bet recognition functionality instantaneously records a variety of crucial table game data points including actual win/loss and handle per player while providing accurate player ratings and skill analysis."

Translated, that means the table can probably identify a card counter, based on his history of bets and hands played.

The i-Table features six touch-screen player stations embedded in a standard size blackjack table. There’s also an electronic betting interface for the dealer, who deals the selected game from a shoe for games like blackjack and baccarat, or the i-Deal specialty shuffler for specialty games like Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold ’em.

Some of the many benefits of the i-Table are linked to better security.

The electronic chip handling virtually eliminates dealer mistakes with paying and cashing out. There’s also less opportunity for chip theft, nor can players cap or pinch bets, like they can with actual chips.

Casinos will actually save labor and operating costs, and once the system is in place and operating effectively, there’s less pit supervision required, as well as fewer pit clerks required.

So far, the i-Table has been slow to reach casinos, but once players are given a chance to play at one, it’s likely their popularity will take off.