New Games at Global Gaming Expo from SHFL

            It is hard to believe that a year has gone by since the last Global Gaming Expo.  Last year, I previewed three games that were on display - Cincinnati Stud, Six Card Poker and Money Market.  To date, one of those (Six Card Poker) has had some success while the other two continue to try and make inroads into the casino.  As I've written many times, no one can guarantee the success of a game.  It is far easier to predict failure.  This is because some attributes of a game are likely to result in the game failing and because 99+% of all games developed fail.

            Because of the extensive analysis and development work that I do with Shuffle Master, I often get to provide a preview of their games to Gaming Today readers.  This year is no different.  I have been told that Shuffle Master will be showcasing both existing successful games, such as Ultimate Texas Hold'em and Mississippi Stud and some very new games like House Money (both Blackjack and Baccarat versions), 6-Card Fortune Pai Gow, Raise It Up, Straight Jack Progressive, Face Up Stud Poker and Free bet Blackjack.  I can't cover all of these games in detail in this column, but I'll do my best to give a little synopsis of each. 

House Money -  I've written about this game twice in the past few months.  Obviously, I'm not the only one who thinks this game is a winner.  This week, House Money Blackjack won an award as the Best Table Game Product or Innovation as determined by Global Gaming Business magazine.   It is a very simple blackjack sidebet, but with a twist.  If you are dealt a Pair, a 2-Card Straight or a 2-Card Straight Flush, you win.  Now you have the option to add your winnings to your base blackjack wager.  So, if you're dealt a Pair of 10's looking into a Dealer 6, you can add your winnings to your base wager and take home even more money.  A similar concept has been developed for Baccarat, but here you win if the Player or the Banker hand is dealt a Pair, and even more if both are dealt Pairs.  You may then take your winnings and place it on the Banker or Player hand  - your choice - regardless of how you played your original wager.  So, if you originally bet Player and the Banker is dealt a Pair of 9's and the Player is dealt a Pair of Jacks, you can STILL take your winnings and put in on the Banker hand - which has already won the hand!

6-Card Fortune Pai Gow -  Have you ever found the House Way to be confusing at Pai Gow?  Well, those days are gone.  In this version of the popular game, the Player and the Dealer each get 6 cards to make a 5-card hand and a 1-card hand.  The Dealer CANNOT break apart any sets (i.e. Pairs, Trips) unless he has 2 Three of a Kinds, a Straight, a Flush or a Straight Flush.  Also, the Player does not LOSE all 1-card hand ties with the house.  It is Pai Gow but even simpler.

Straight Jack Progressive -  This is another blackjack sidebet, but with a Progressive payout.  If your first 2-cards form a 2-card Straight, you win.  You win more if your third card continues the Straight.  If you get dealt a 6-card Straight (A-2-3-4-5-6) you can win a jackpot.  If at any point, your 'hit' card causes the Straight to end, you still win for the longest straight you were dealt, even if the hit card causes you to bust (but the bust card CANNOT extend the Straight).

Free Bet Blackjack-  A new version of blackjack that utilizes the Push 22 rule from Blackjack Switch.  Here you have the opportunity to get certain splits and double downs for free (no additional wagers required to play them). 

Raise It Up - A little like Let It Ride with some Ultimate Texas Hold'em sprinkled in.  This is a 6-card poker paytable game.  You combine your 3 cards with three community cards.  You're not playing against the Dealer, only a paytable.  You win with a Pair of 10's or better.

Face Up Stud Poker - A whole new concept for a table game.  You get to see the ENTIRE hand of the Dealer, but only a portion of your own.  Based on your partial hand, do you think you can beat the Dealer's hand?  If he's got a weak hand, the chances are far greater, so the payout is lower.  If you can beat a strong hand, you can win a lot of money on a single hand - 8 to 1 for beating Trips; 50 to 1 for beating a Flush, etc...

If you make it to the show, I strongly suggest you stop by the Shuffle Master booth and give these games a try.  I find the only way to get a good sense of a game is to sit and play a dozen or two hands.  I'm looking forward to playing these and also wandering around the rest of the Sands Convention Center in search of the next big casino game - almost sounds like a reality tv show, doesn't it?   If you see anything that you find interesting, shoot me an e-mail at elliot@gambatria.com and let me know where I can find it. 

Don't Be Foolish!

            It was almost a year ago that I launched this blog (gambatria.blogspot.com).  I was very nervous about launching it.  If there is one thing I've learned about the internet over the years is that pretty much any idiot can have a blog - and quite frankly, I didn't want to be 'any idiot.'  I'd like to think that the name "Frome" is the gold standard in the industry where math analysis is concerned.  To our credit, we have Three Card Poker, Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud Poker, Spanish 21, Ultimate Texas Hold'em, Mississippi Stud, Imperial Pai Gow and countless sidebets.  That's a lot of the casino floor whose math was done by Leonard Frome or Elliot Frome. 

            So, I was quite surprised this past week when I came across a financial blog that was very unimpressed this year's G2E where table games were concerned.  Admittedly, I did write a column last year that called on more inventors to display their ideas at the G2E.  I recognize that the cost of even a small booth can be rather prohibitive for the individual inventor, but what a great opportunity to show your game to people in the industry.  I was pleasantly surprised to see at least two new inventors displaying their games and larger booths from some of the more established companies.

            What I found amazing about this financial blog, however, was not that the writer looked over every game and found none of them to his liking.  That would've been one thing.  Instead he essentially takes table game companies to task for "designing games that the gambler has no hope of beating, but they force the gambler to take the time to learn how to play them!"  This blew me away!  Does he truly expect the casino to introduce games that the Player can easily beat?  That's not going to happen.  The only game that has ever been put on the floor that can readily be beaten are certain variations of video poker. 

            Further, our blogger is annoyed that you have to take time to learn how to play them.  The only game which requires ZERO time to learn how to play them is perhaps slot machines.  As I've recounted in my column many times, I can't even figure out when I've won or lost anymore in today's video slots, but since all you need to do is press the 'spin' button and we can assume that the machine will properly tally your win or loss, I assume this meets the requirement of not needing to take time to learn how to play them.

            Thus, we can conclude from our blogger that what he is looking for is a slot machine with a 100%+ payback.  Perhaps he should've read my column from two weeks ago where I talked about a company that provides the payback information for their slot machines.  This WOULD necessitate learning how to use the smartphone 'app', so I don't know if this meets his strict criteria.

            A couple of days after this first column appeared, our blogger was back with more information for us.  First, he repeats some of his thoughts from the previous column, decrying the lack of innovation from table game companies and then stating, "how the gaming industry has not seen a blockbuster table game since blackjack, and how the industry may not see one until somebody steps up and creates a game that is theoretically beatable."

            That is quite a statement.  According to Wikipedia, blackjack's origins may be as much as 400 years old.  The game as it is played in most jurisdictions is hardly beatable - or at least not easily.  Yes, we're all aware of the MIT team that did it, but this took a rather significant effort on the part of a focused group of individuals. 

            In 1991, the table half of the casino floor consisted of nothing but blackjack, craps and roulette.  Twenty years later, it is estimated that as much as 15-20% of the tables in the U.S. market may be those that were invented AFTER blackjack.  Twenty years from now, I have little doubt that blackjack will make up an even smaller percent of that floor.   Let's not forget that a blackjack table is essentially FREE to the casino while they have to pay to put a proprietary table game on their floor.

            As a gaming analyst - and one that focuses mostly on table games - I am keenly aware of the math of the games.  Most of the newer games that are being introduced have paybacks in the higher 98% to low 99% range.  Yes, they do require that you 'learn' how to play them to achieve these paybacks.  No one, not myself, not the inventors nor the casinos will try and let you believe that the games are beatable in the long run.  That does NOT, however mean that you cannot have winning sessions in the short run and enjoy the entertainment value that they can provide.  Most table games are developed to have the Player win about 35-45% of the time over a 3-hour session - assuming you are willing to 'take the time to learn how to play them'

            Best of all, I won't "force" you to do this, but I'll give you the opportunity to!  There are now 7 books in the Expert Strategy series for table games (Let It Ride, Three Card Poker, Four Card Poker, Spanish 21, Caribbean Stud Poker, Mississippi Stud and Blackjack Switch) and for a limited time, you can order the entire set for $20 which includes postage and handling.  Send a check or money order to Gambatria, P.O. Box 36474, Las Vegas, NV 89133.

            

Coming Soon to a Casino Near You?

           Every inventor thinks their new game is going to be a sure-fire hit.  It's taken Three Card Poker about 15 years to get to 1500 or so tables.  Everyone else is sure they can do it in 2 to 3 years.  So what, if so far, no other game has even come close.  I believe the record for fastest game to 100 tables belongs to Ultimate Texas Hold'em and that took just over a year.

            So, in reality, I can't say with any certainty that any of the games I'm going to discuss today will make it to a casino any time soon.  They will, however, be on display at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) next week, at the Shuffle Master booth.  I didn't work on these games, so I can't give much insight into the strategy or the math (yet).  If you're going to the show this year, make sure to check these games out.  Next week, for the G2E edition, I'll review a couple of games I did the math on and be able to go more in depth on each.

Cincinnati 7 Card Stud

The base game is a simple game going head-to-head against the Dealer.  You make an Ante and Blind wager.  You get to look at the first 6 cards of what will eventually be a 7-card hand.  After reviewing your 6-cards, you can Fold or Play 1x or 2x your Ante.  The Dealer reveals his 7-cards and you get to see your 7th card.  If the Dealer beats you (best 5 out of 7 cards), you lose all your wagers.  If you beat the Dealer, the Ante and Play pay even money and the Blind pays according to the paytable.  There is also a bonus sidebet that pays if your 7-card hand is Three of a Kind or better.

The twist in Cincinnati 7 is the second optional sidebet.  Here, you are playing against all the other Players as well.  Top hand takes the enitre pot - as long as it at least a Two Pair or Better.   The Dealer participates just like every other Player - including putting up a wager each hand.  If nobody has Two Pair or better, all the wagers carry over to the next round.  Obviously, you can't jump into the middle of a pot.  If you skip a round, you're out until someone wins the pot.  Get a mini hot streak and you can increase your bankroll quickly.  It should also be noted that this sidebet has NO house advantage.  You're playing true odds against everyone.

Six-Card Poker

Another relatively simple to understand game against the Dealer.  Player makes an Ante Wager and is dealt 6 cards.  The Dealer is dealt 6 cards as well and turns over three of them, face up.  Player can now Fold or Play, making another wager equal to the Ante.  The Dealer reveals the rest of his hand.  If the Dealer does not have an A-K or better, the Ante pushes and the Play wager is won or lost depending on who has the best hand (best 5 out of 6 cards).  If the Dealer does have an A-K or better, then both Ante and Play wagers are won or lost depending on who has the best hand.

There is also an Aces Up sidebet that pays if the Player's hand is a Pair of Aces or better.  This sidebet pays even if the Player folds.  Yes, you will Fold with a Pair of Aces if the Dealer's three upcards are Three of a Kind.

Money Market

This one is a bit more complex and a little reminiscent of Mississippi Stud.  To begin Play, you make an Ante Wager and get 4 cards.  You must now either Fold or discard 1 card AND make a wager of 1-4x your Ante.  The Dealer will now expose the 1st of 3 community cards.  You must now either Fold or make a wager of 1-3x your Ante.  Dealer will expose the 2nd of 3 community cards and you will either Fold or make a wager 1-2x your Ante.

The Dealer will expose the final community card and then expose his 3 cards.  Best 5 out of 6 cards wins.  The Ante will pay according to the paytable.  All other wagers pay even money.

The betting structure on this one means you'll be wagering at least 4 units if you stay in until the end and might wager as much 10 units.  Unlike Mississippi Stud, you might have a likely winner, but you will rarely have a guaranteed winner.

There is also a one-way bad beat sidebet.  If you lose with a Pair of Jacks or Better, you win this sidebet.  This wager stays in action even if you Fold your base wager.

If you make it to the show and get to check out these games, feel free to let me know your thoughts about any or all of them.  You can reach me at elliotfrome@gamingtoday.com or on my blog at gambatria.blogspot.com.