Cashless gaming is coming to a California tribal casino, while the state’s cardroom operators are pleading to be allowed to reopen after their latest pandemic lockdown.

This week, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians’ Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa in Cabazon announced plans to introduce cashless markers for its slot and video poker machine customers. The new system, which the casino expects to launch early next year, will mark a first for both a US tribal casino operator and a California gaming venue.

The Marker Trax system developed by Nevada’s Marker Trax LLC will utilize Konami Gaming’s SYNKROS casino management system, and aims to have Morongo gamblers apply, register and start cashless gaming within a five-minute period. The system was field-tested this summer in Las Vegas at the off-Strip Ellis Island Casino.

Marker Trax employs a PIN-protected app that allows customers to digitally fund their account through – in this case – the Morongo venue’s membership rewards program. In exchange for offering their customers a friction-free approach to funding game play, the venue will enjoy access to customers’ data analytics and marker tracking.