Macau casino mogul Stanley Ho has revealed plans of breaking into the online gaming business via a software deal with Canadian Internet company Eyeball.com. The partnership will develop an online casino that will allow players to communicate with real dealers via Eyeball.com's online face-to-face platform. The site, expected to launch this summer under an Antigua gaming license, will target punters in Asia and North America.
By showing both a virtual and real dealer, the new website, "DrHo.com," promises to be unique among Internet gaming sites, says Eyeball.com CEO Chris Piche. "The virtual casino goes beyond anything existing on the Internet today," Piche said. "It may seem 'futuristic' because the technology we have developed is so cutting-edge. The real-time interaction combined with video and animation will blow you away!"
Eyeball Games' SDK software synchronizes the real dealer's actions to 3-D animation, while allowing punters to view the actual dealer. A sample of the software is available on the Eyeball.com site, which shows a live dealer in the casino in one corner of the display. The outcome of each round is displayed in 3-D animation in real-time on the display's forefront, along with the animated DrHo.com dealer. The player moves animated chips to place bets, and this information is fed back to the computer at the dealer's table
to determine the next move.
The site will feature baccarat, big & small, blackjack, Caribbean poker and roulette and will be available in English, Chinese and eventually Japanese. Additionally, it might eventually be developed into a portal site with email, news and other features will be included over time.
"DrHo.com is an online entertainment website with download virtual reality casino," a spokesman for Dr. Ho's Sociedad de Tourisimo Diuersoes d'Macau told The Straits Times. "However, it will only be available in places where gambling is allowed." (A free play version will be available along with play for money options, according to Angie Hirata, an Eyeball.com spokeswoman.)
Speaking of places ware gambling is or isn't allowed, authorities in Hong Kong, where Ho is reportedly promoting the site, are keeping an eye on gaming sites for illegal wagers by its residents. Online gambling is illegal in Hong Kong, with stiff penalties for violators--a maximum HK$5 million fine and seven years imprisonment. There was no word on how the monitoring was going to be accomplished.
"The police will carry out enforcement actions if violations of the gambling ordinance is found," a spokesman for the Commercial Crime Bureau told the Hong Kong Standard. Even the press release promoting the site could also be illegal under Hong Kong's Gambling Ordinance, which prohibits
encouraging of betting. Current law, reportedly under review, allows betting only on the Mark Six lottery or Hong Kong Jockey Club races.