Australia's Skycity Darwin has installed new keno ball draw devices for their territory -wide keno draw, in order to reduce staff labour times and enhance customer appeal.

“Skycity Darwin and TABCORP installed the two Tripp Plastic keno ball draw devices in early April, which are now used to draw keno games for the entire state of the Northern Territory (NT) from our casino,” said Vanessa O'Grady, NT Keno Manager, Skycity Darwin.

“We are very pleased with the system's performance, and are also excited to have the first of these products installed in Australia. NT Keno is also the only fast draw keno game in the country utilising ball draw devices instead of Random Number Generators (RNG's), which is creating lots of attention from interstate players.”

One of the key features of the Tripp AKV2100PC device is its security. Simon Best, IndoPacific's VP Casino Operations, who supplied the system, explained that the completely enclosed and locked system containing the keno balls prevents tampering.

“Security is paramount for any operation, and Tripp Plastics have ensured that their product cannot be interfered with. They have over 100 games in the field, so have definitely proven that they have a sound and reliable product,” he said.

“Skycity Darwin were also keen on the ability to transfer ball draw information from the device to the central controller, and the way that the product can call out the numbers on an existing audio system, with speed and accuracy.”

According to Ms O'Grady from Skycity Darwin, customers were not entirely happy with the old RNG system. The decision to change to ball draw devices was both a business and PR decision.

“We upgraded to the new ball draw devices in order to give the customers what they wanted in regards to the way the games are drawn,” she said.

“An added benefit is that we can utilise our staff to serve our customers, rather than the need to physically confirm the game on the completion of each draw. Instead of three people confirming the draw, we now only require one person to be present whilst the games are drawn.. Our keno patrons love the excitement of a live ball draw, and we like the 'hand's free' approach for security.”

The Keno system is pre-programmed to trigger the AKV2100PC ball draw device to draw all 20 numbers at set intervals. It electronically identifies each pictorially coded keno ball, and then verifies the identity again before transmitting the information through the keno station. When the number has been accepted, keno system sends the number out to all monitors throughout the Territory and shows the number drawn. The keno system can call out the number through an intercom.

The Tripp Plastic keno devices draw the keno numbers for the NT Keno network around every three and a half minutes at the Skycity Darwin Casino. The ball draw devices are located in the main keno area of the keno lounge, and the actual keno draw is visible on monitors throughout the casino and within all venues throughout the Territory.

The numbers are immediately transmitted by the Tabcorp Keno system and network to almost 50 NT keno venues (pubs, clubs and taverns), including the two casinos, Skycity Darwin and Lasseters Hotel Casino in Alice Springs.

Installation of the new draw devices was performed in conjunction with a complete keno system upgrade ordered from Tabcorp International. Skycity Darwin has been using Tabcorp Keno equipment since April 1995, creating the most popular keno game in Australia on a per-capita basis.