DETROIT -- Early next year, something will be missing at a couple of poker tables at Greektown Casino -- dealers.

Greektown Casino will be the first in Michigan to install two computerized poker tables. The high-tech tables operate without dealers, real cards and poker chips, but the popular game Texas Hold'em will otherwise play exactly the same.

Players can bet, raise, fold and make other routine plays on a touch-screen terminal in front of their seat.

Greektown Casino is looking to seize on America's poker craze and appeal to a growing breed of card enthusiasts who are just as comfortable with an electronic screen as they are with Bicycle players cards and green felt.

The tables made by North Carolina-based PokerTek Inc. are another sign of the impact technology is having on casino gambling. Casinos in Detroit are going to coinless slot machines that spit out vouchers instead of cascades of tokens.

Computerized poker play will save the casino money because it won't have to pay dealers. It also speeds up the game, which means more profit for the house because more hands are played per hour.

Greektown hopes to tap the thousands of online gamblers who can no longer use their bank cards and credit cards to play poker online because of new federal regulations.

"With these tables, we have a golden opportunity to actually grow the poker market in Detroit," said Jack McGinty, vice president of Greektown Casino operations. "When players get into the rhythm, the game will be 50 percent faster than traditional poker with a dealer."

Gaming officials expect the automated tables to show up at all three of Detroit's casinos eventually. They're already in use in some casinos in other states and cruise ships.

No dealers' jobs to fold

Greektown's high-tech tables will be in addition to the 19 traditional tables in the casino's two poker rooms. McGinty said no dealers will lose their jobs when the tables are installed in January.

Here's how it works: Each poker table has 10 embedded player stations. With computerized touch screens, players can do everything they would in a traditional game of Texas Hold'em. A central video display shows the community cards all players use to try to make a hand. The computer can lead novices through the game and prompts players to place bets.

Cards appear on the screen facedown. If a player cups his hands around a card, the corner folds back so the card can be identified. The card turns down again when the hand moves away.

And with an automated system, there's virtually no chance of dealer error, which minimizes disputes and mistakes. "No cards get flipped over by mistake or on purpose," said Glenn J. Arana, Greektown poker manager.

Unlike traditional Texas Hold'em, chips are not used.

Players use money cards purchased from the cashier's window.

The Michigan Gaming Control Board, which regulates casinos, evaluated the tables before they were approved for use at Greektown.

"We put it through some outlandish tests where we tried to get the table to lock up," said John Page, deputy director of enforcement and head of the testing laboratory for the state agency. "But everything worked well."

Some eager, some wary

For some purists, poker without chips and dealers just wouldn't be the same -- especially when it comes time to flip over those pocket Aces.

"I still like the dealer," said Judd Noe, 62, of Sterling Heights, a retired General Motors Corp. worker. "I'm not so sure about this computerized thing. I'm worried about how fast the game will move. If it goes too fast, you can't get very comfortable with it."

Others are eager to give it a try.

"I like the idea it can remove dealer and human errors," Mark Messens, 55, of Warren, a semi-professional poker player and regular at the Greektown Casino poker room. "It also gets away from the dealer fatigue factor and 3 a.m. doldrums. It's a fantastic opportunity for poker players. I'm excited about it."