Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Vegas tech company brings online gaming to bowling

RollTech App

Christopher DeVargas

A look at Rolltech, an app for bowling enthusiasts, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015.

RollTech App

A look at Rolltech, an app for bowling enthusiasts, on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015. Launch slideshow »

At Red Rock Lanes, a bowling alley in Summerlin, Rich Belsky makes a strike. He’s bowled more than three in seven turns, and this is just practice for his league game tonight. Through his Las Vegas-based mobile app company, the Philadelphia native, who has bowled since he was 6, has more in mind than just avoiding the gutter: He wants to put an end to bowling alone.

Founded in 2011, the application brings technology to the old-school sport, offering players analytics, a way to keep track of their scores and a way to compete with each other remotely.

Now, Rolltech has its sights set on online skills-based gaming. After months of beta testing, Rolltech is expected to launch Action Bowling, a way for league players to submit their certified scores to daily online tournaments for cash payouts, as early as next week.

“It’s really unprecedented in the world of gaming,” Belsky said.

With the gaming vertical Belsky hopes to modernize the traditional bowling league model.

Rolltech’s Action Bowling feature will enable league bowlers to submit their certified scores to an electronic pool comprising bowlers throughout the country. Participants in the prize pools can choose from different tournaments, which are expected to occur daily, using the application to process their payments through a secure platform.

Action Bowling is categorized as a skills-based game because, like a live tournament, the competition relies on a player's physical skill. It’s similar to daily fantasy sports and online poker in that there will be buy-ins and prize pools, but the online league play is regulated differently.

“The legality is completely different,” Belsky said.

The number of bowling alleys and leagues in the United States has steadily declined, a trend publicized by political scientist Robert Putnam in his 2000 book “Bowling Alone,” which he argued marked a decrease in civic participation.

That’s a trend that Belsky wants to buck. “We feel we can turn (it) around,” he said.

The downtown-based company, which has 15 employees, has raised more than $3 million in funding since 2011. An investor in Rolltech, Zach Ware, a partner at the VegasTechFund, said the company’s value largely stems from its plan to revamp an existing commercial model — bowling leagues — that is localized. “Rolltech eliminates a huge level of inefficiency,” he said.

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