EDITH stands for Electronic Debit Interactive Terminal Housing and has been under development and testing in casinos in California for the past year. EDITH is a new technology that takes advantage of ticket-in ticket-out technologies and is reliable, efficient and convenient.
If approved, EDITH would sit at the end of a row of slot machines to allow casino patrons to purchase slot machine vouchers with a debit card. The machine boasted an easy to use interface in which customers slide in the debit card, enter a pin, and request an amount. The transaction is quickly approved, and then a ticket is printed containing a bar code, and patrons can use that ticket in lieu of cash to play slot machines.
To the dismay of EDITH fans, last week the Nevada Gaming Commission met and unanimously rejected the proposal. Basically, the commission agreed that the lack of research made them uneasy, so until further information comes to light, Nevada will pass on the debit card / ticket-in ticket out-vouchers program.
All things considered, is there really a need for ticket-in, ticket-out machines in casinos? "We already have ATMs on the casino floor, and I just haven't seen a lot of demand for this type of product," Art Marshall (Gaming Commission member) said. While ATM's are abundant on the casino floor, personally I was hoping for a way to use my debit card without paying the exorbitant ATM fees that go along with using the card.
Marshall was also uncomfortable with the possible negative impact EDITH might have on the compulsive gambler.
Compulsive gamblers will find a way to get the next fix no matter what, but board members agree that we don't have to make it even easier for them to feed the addiction. Keith Whyte, the executive director of the Washington, D.C., based National Council on Problem Gambling, told the gaming commission that clinical research on the product was incomplete and that studies of the device during its testing stages didn't provide enough information.
Current gaming policy doesn't allow a debit card transaction to result in a ticket-in, ticket-out voucher. If the vote would have been successful, policy would change in Nevada and more machines like EDITH would be springing up. Since the proposal was rejected, the commission says that these companies can "stop wasting time" developing ticket-in ticket-out debit card transaction machines.
So, unless something drastic happens, we won't be seeing EDITH in the Poker Room anytime soon. Luckily, we can still use our credit cards to fund online poker accounts at Duplicate Poker ! See ya at the tables.