A Las Vegas poker dealer, who for obvious reasons did not want to give his name, had conflicting reactions while trying out the new electronic poker tables at the Excalibur. As a dealer, he hated the 10-player tables which are fully automated and do not require cards, chips or a dealer. In other words, one less casino job. As a poker player participating in a low-limit cash game, though, he found the tables easy to maneuver and faster than live games.

Nick Trout bet he would get rich creating software for a fully automated poker table. Things didn't work out that way. Instead, Trout, who runs Tellis Software Inc. out of his San Antonio home, now is embroiled in a lawsuit with PokerTek Inc., based in Morris, N.C. He moved his company here a few years ago from the Houston area. "I was supposed to get 2 percent equity in the company and up to about USD 800,000," Trout said. "At the end of the day, I only got USD 30,000 out of them."