Mission146
Posted by Mission146
Sep 25, 2020

INTRODUCTION

First of all, let me make it clear that I have absolutely not invented any new games for casinos and have no direct experience in that regard. With that said, I did think it would be an interesting subject for an article to compile the basics I think I learned from this section of our forums.

And, also to share a few game ideas that I’ve had that I think would be fun.

Please leave your opinion on my games down in the comments, or in the new thread I will create when this is published! Also, what sorts of new game ideas do you have?

DOS AND DONT’S

In addition to what I gathered from the forums, I’ve also read a few different materials elsewhere on the subject. The most notable of which was WoV’s own late (R.I.P.) Dan Lubin’s (PaiGowDan) The Essentials of Casino Game Design. Actually, I had the indescribable privilege of being one of the first people to ever get to read that book (highly recommend) as he advanced me a copy!

Of course, PaiGowDan was widely known as being someone who had a...let’s say less than favorable opinion of advantage players. Despite that, he should be remembered by those who knew him in person as being about as well-spoken, classy and friendly as they come. I only met him in person on one occasion and chatted with him on the phone a few others, but I always really enjoyed those interactions.

Of course, his focus was mainly on the design of Table Games, but many of those same concepts can be applied to other types of games.

1. Variations are Better than New Concepts

The first thing that I’ve gathered on the subject is that variations of existing (and successful) games seem more likely to spread in appeal than are totally new concepts foriegn to existing games. In other words, players want to feel like they basically already understand how the game works.

This is especially true when it comes to Table Games, which is why some of the more successful introductions in recent decades are EZ Pai-Gow Poker and EZ Baccarat.

EZ Pai-Gow arguably made the game simpler by getting rid of the 5% commission on player wins. The dealers no longer have to do the math (or players worry about bet sizes) in order to determine what 5% of the bet amount is.

The house edge is basically similar to the original game because the EZ version simply creates a criteria by which the hand (dealer has a five-card Queen high) is automatically a push. It’s also a brilliant way to sort of, ‘Hide,’ the house edge in that this function sometimes actually helps the player, in those somewhat rare instances the player would have lost anyway. Also, it doesn’t turn a player win into a loss, but rather a push.

EZ Baccarat also does the same base function of getting rid of the commission on Banker wins. In order to do this (and preserve the house edge) the result of a three-card Banker win that totals seven is a push.

Another thing that I’ve noticed is that new side bets (though technically not a new game unto themselves) tend to be more successful than new games. Obviously, this is because players are playing an already-extant game that just incorporates a side bet with some sort of unique gimmick.

While more complicated, Crazy 4 Poker is a game that is essentially based on Three-Card Poker and has enjoyed increased popularity since its invention. One thing that players might like about this game compared to Three-Card is that they can (and should) make a 3x bet anytime they have a really strong hand, which is a pair of aces, or better.

While the optimal strategy is a bit more complicated, I’ve always thought of Mississippi Stud as basically being Let it Ride in reverse, in fundamental concept. Instead of removing bets from the table as more cards become known, players instead either fold or add to the total amount bet.

Obviously, even Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em is based on the player-banked popular poker game Texas Hold ‘Em and almost amounts to just playing that against the dealer.

2.) Keep It Simple!

One characteristic that the above games all share is that they are simple to understand.

While there is some room (often significant) for the player to get a sub-optimal expected return due to player errors, players can basically sit down and feel like they basically understand the game. The dealers can also explain the concept to new players in a pretty quick amount of time.

That’s another reason that variations of games tend to be more successful than entirely new games that have no commonalities aside from being played with cards, or dice. It’s fundamentally easy to understand how the game works.

It’s also important for most games, even most slots, for players to understand the conditions needed to win, or to trigger a particular feature. In my opinion, slots have a little more wiggle room in this regard as many players will play something just because it, “Looks interesting,” regardless of whether or not they understand the conditions needed to win.

However, any table game whatsoever---or video keno or video poker game with some sort of, “Gimmick,” is going to have to be an easy gimmick for the players to comprehend.

In my opinion, and some may disagree, I think that the gimmick should be directly related to gameplay in the case of video poker and video keno games. In other words, you shouldn’t have a video keno game with a mechanism that triggers free games completely at random AND unrelated to the balls that are drawn. That just wouldn’t make any sense to people. Also, some players would likely perceive the random element to be less likely, “IT NEVER HAPPENS,” than it actually is.

3. Make Free Games Compelling

In my opinion, good Free Games on any electronic game should be compelling. There are two different ways that I think this can happen:

  1. The player KNOWS there is a potential to win a lot.
  2. The player almost always at least wins something.

One thing that I’ll never understand about many types of Free Games on slot machines is the fact that so many of them have a feature where the player is somewhat likely to win virtually nothing. Many times, the players will win less than 10x the bet amount.

One type of game that solves this in a way that allows for potentially huge wins is the slot games that have a, “BONUS GUARANTEE,” whereby the player has his/her win automatically brought up to 10x the bet (or some other amount) if the Free Games yielded less than that.

Maybe I’m in the minority on this, but I have to believe that there are players out there who will play a particular slot title, lose a bunch of money getting to Free Games, win less than 5x the bet amount during those Free Games...and absolutely never touch the machine again.

Video Keno and Video Poker (though the latter usually doesn’t have Free Games) can probably get away with this a bit more because players are used to it coming down to the numbers drawn or the hand dealt.

4. Table Games MUST Be Easy for Dealers

Initial installs of Table Games, within the first couple months, need to be at least performing as well as other games on the floor relative to the hours they are open...otherwise, why would you want them? No casino wants games that aren’t profitable.

It’s for that reason that Table Games must be relatively simple for dealers to deal, but more importantly, relatively simple for the dealers to understand the payouts and conditions by which a hand is a loss/push/win for the player.

This can sometimes become a problem (and there have been a few notable examples) when dealers misunderstand the conditions for the player winning the game, or for getting paid particular amounts on certain aspects of the bet.

When this happens, people can essentially advantage play the game sometimes unknowingly! If the dealer is making a payout error under a given condition, then he’s probably making that error for every player, not just the ones who realize it’s an error.

Any such errors are ultimately going to hurt the bottom line of a game, so it’s for that reason that the payouts/rules also have to be simple enough for the dealers to understand.

They also have to be easy from a game protection standpoint, but I would recommend getting yourself a copy of Dan Lubin’s book, or perhaps studying the works of Eliot Jacobson, (Forum Member: Teliot) for more on that. I’d totally be speaking out of class to get into any real detail.

LET’S HAVE SOME GAMES!

I’m going to introduce two games I have come up with, although I know there might be a few roughly similar to my Video Poker concept.

In addition to explaining the rules, I will also set about mathematically proving the game.

If anyone wishes to use any of these games, they are welcome to do so provided I am given credit, so PM me for more details on that.

Lockballs Keno (or Keno Lock)!

I’m going to be really straight with you guys: If I was inclined to gamble on negative EV games, I would be a total video keno junkie. Totally love it. Every once in a while (though extremely rare) I’ll go to a parlor in WV and just play one of the Keno games at $0.10/card. I don’t know why, but I find it both entertaining and relaxing.

Anyway, that might be why I have a very biased opinion of my Keno concept...which I think is just awesome! I’d totally play this game.

Another thing that I notice about Video Keno is that the most popular games do have some sort of gimmick to them, which is usually Free Games or Multipliers. On some occasions, there is a wheel spin, (or equivalent) but mostly, the bonuses relate back to something that happens on the actual Keno game.

Here are the Rules for Lockballs Keno:

  1. The player shall choose a bet level and mark anywhere from 4-10 spots.
  2. The game shall draw twenty numbers at random and the player will be paid according to the paytable and how many of the player’s spots were hit.
  3. If the player has a winning result that includes the last of the Twenty Numbers hitting, then the player shall be paid according and go to the Lockballs feature.
  4. The player will be presented with nine Keno balls, each having the words, “One Ball,” “Two Balls,” or “Three Balls,” behind it. The player is equally likely to uncover any of these.

When the player has selected three balls that match, the player will go back to the main screen for the Free Games.

  1. On the main screen, a padlock will appear (randomly) on one, two or three of the players already-picked spots, depending on how many were awarded on the match game.
  2. There is no increase in prize values, but the player will get three Free Games with the Lockballs automatically counting as, “Hit.” The game will also draw twenty new numbers (at random) of the 77, 78 or 79 remaining numbers.
  3. The payout from the Lockballs game will be added to the payout from the main game.

---One thing that you will notice is that the conditions for entering the Bonus Games (winning result with the last number hit) follow the same rules as Cleopatra Keno.

---Therefore, the probabilities for entering into the Free Games will be the same.

For the purposes of this article, we will address only a five-spot play, otherwise this whole article is just going to be a bunch of math. Again, this can be lifted directly from Cleopatra Keno:

Paytable:

0 Spots = 0

1 Spot = 0

2 Spots = 0

3 Spots = 3

4 Spots = 22

5 Spots = 220

The return of the base game (according to the probabilities) is as follows:

3 Spots: 0.25180516

4 Spots: 0.26603144

5 Spots: 0.14188343

TOTAL: 0.65972003

The probabilities of Free Games are as follows:

3 Spots: 0.01259026

4 Spots: 0.00241847

5 Spots: 0.00016123

TOTAL: 0.01516996

The number of Lockballs given in the Free Games are all equally likely, so here is the probability of getting each type of Free Games:

1 Lock: 0.01516996/3 = 0.00505665333

2 Locks: 0.00505665333

3 Locks: 0.00505665333

With that, we now determine the expected return for each of the different Free Games:

3 Lock Balls:

With three balls locked, the player only has two numbers available to hit and there shall be drawn twenty balls out of a possible 77:

Catch 3 Total:

nCr(2,0)*nCr(75,20)/nCr(77,20) = 0.5454545454545455

Catch 4 Total:

nCr(2,1)*nCr(75,19)/nCr(77,20) = 0.3896103896103896

Catch 5 Total:

nCr(2,2)*nCr(75,18)/nCr(77,20) = 0.0649350649350649

EXPECTED RETURN IN UNITS (PER GAME):

(0.5454545454545455*3) + (0.3896103896103896 * 22) + (0.0649350649350649 * 220) = 24.4935064935064857

Expected Return * Number of Games:

24.4935064935064857*3 = 73.4805194805194571

Total Expected Return * Probability:

73.4805194805194571 * 0.00505665333 = 0.37156551352

UH-OH!!!

We have a serious problem here, which is that the Free Games are too good on this version. Simply put, it’s way too easy to catch 5/5 for what the result pays, so let’s adjust our Base Paytable down a bit and see what happens.

The return of the base game (according to the probabilities) is as follows:

3 Spots: 0.25180516

4 Spots: 0.26603144

5 Spots: 0.14188343

TOTAL: 0.65972003

Instead of having 5/5 pay 220, let’s have it pay 100 instead:

5 Spots: 0.14188343 * (100/220) = 0.06449246818

NEW TOTAL:

TOTAL: 0.65972003 - (.14188343-.06449246818) = 0.58232906818

Okay, so let’s get our new return on the game with hitting 5/5 in the bonus:

((0.5454545454545455*3) + (0.3896103896103896 * 22) + (0.0649350649350649 * 100)) *3 = 50.1038961039

Total Expected Return * Probability:

0.00505665333*50.1038961039 = 0.25335803308

Add to Base Game: 0.25335803308+0.58232906818 = 0.83568710126

Okay, so now let’s determine the Expected Return with two balls.

2 Lock Balls:

Catch 2 Total:

nCr(3,0)*nCr(75,20)/nCr(78,20) = 0.4055944055944056

Catch 3 Total:

nCr(3,1)*nCr(75,19)/nCr(78,20) = 0.4345654345654346

Catch 4 Total:

nCr(3,2)*nCr(75,18)/nCr(78,20) = 0.1448551448551449

Catch 5 Total:

nCr(3,3)*nCr(75,17)/nCr(78,20) = 0.014985014985015

With that, we will calculate our expected return of the Free Games:

((0.4345654345654346* 3) + (0.1448551448551449 * 22) + (0.014985014985015 * 100)) * 3 = 17.9670329670329748

Which we will then multiply by the probability:

17.9670329670329748*0.00505665333 = 0.090853057082967072242226084

And then add to our earlier total:

0.83568710126+0.090853057082967072242226084 = 0.926540158342967072242226084

Finally, we have to determine the expected return with one Lockball:

2 Lock Balls:

Catch 1 Total:

nCr(4,0)*nCr(75,20)/nCr(79,20) = 0.3029122775958219

Catch 2 Total:

nCr(4,1)*nCr(75,19)/nCr(79,20) = 0.4327318251368884

Catch 3 Total:

nCr(4,2)*nCr(75,18)/nCr(79,20) = 0.2163659125684442

Catch 4 Total:

nCr(4,3)*nCr(75,17)/nCr(79,20) = 0.0447653612210574

Catch 5 Total:

nCr(4,4)*nCr(75,16)/nCr(79,20) = 0.003224623477788

EXPECTED RETURN OF FREE GAMES:

((3*0.2163659125684442)+(22*0.0447653612210574)+(100*0.003224623477788)) * 3 = 5.8691940970421862

Which we will then multiply by probability:

5.8691940970421862*0.00505665333 = 0.029678479875224713998710046

FINAL GAME RETURN:

0.029678479875224713998710046+0.926540158342967072242226084 = 0.95621863821819178624093613 OR 95.622%.

GAME NOTES, DESIGN AND VARIATIONS:

  1. Obviously, this version of the five-spot that has an overall return-to-player of 95.622% would likely only be acceptable on high-denomination games, probably dollars, or higher.
  2. The easiest adjustment (downward) for the return of this game and five spots picked would be to adjust what the 4/5 pays, it’s probably best to leave 5/5 constant.
  3. This game would mostly be attractive to players who enjoy playing 7-10 numbers as the nature of the FREE GAMES does not really leave much flexibility for high payouts on lower total numbers picked.
  4. The number of Free Games (three in this five-spot version) would be adjustable, but should ultimately be a constant in all versions of this game. Naturally, any upward increase in the number of Free Games awarded comes at the expense of the base paytable.
  5. This game would especially be attractive to 9 and 10 spot players as it makes those results at least more feasible.
  6. You would not have a two or three spot version of the game because as many as three numbers can be locked during Free Games.
  7. Numbers that are hit would be marked by an open padlock, if the last number is hit on a winning result, the padlocks on the numbers hit would close before the game goes to the, “Pick Three,” screen. On the Free Games, the locked numbers would be represented by a closed padlock.
  8. It would not impact anything for the player to be permitted to choose which specific numbers (based on the number of locks the player receives) are locked. Random pick would likely be quicker, though, and this could be adjustable based on operator preference.

What do you think of Lockballs Keno? Would you play the game?

ROYAL RUSH VIDEO POKER

For the purposes of this article, I’m only going to discuss one version of this game, though the overall add to base return would be the same for all possible video poker paytables.

THE RULES:

1. Royal Rush video poker is played as a standard single-line Video Poker game with the base game for this version being 6/5 Jacks or Better. The player must bet six credits to play the feature.

2. Standard Video Poker rules apply, except in Royal Rush mode.

3. The Video Poker Game (for each denomination and game type) will keep a hidden counter of, “Hands played,” when the total number of hands played hits 100, the game will enter Royal Rush mode regardless of whether or not the player won the 100th hand.

(Alternatively, this could also be done as a hidden feature with Odds of 1 in 100, per hand, but no fixed number of hands in which it is guaranteed to happen---i.e. Randomly triggered)

4.) In Royal Rush mode, the player will get to play four draws all attempting to get a Royal Flush. Play begins by the player selecting his/her preferred suit.

5.) The player will automatically start with a ten in the preferred suit.

6.) For each draw completed, the player will automatically be given a Royal Flush card that corresponds to the game number of the next game if the player does not already have that many, or more.

EXAMPLE: The player chooses spades and starts with a ten of spades automatically. On the first draw, the player does not receive any Royal Spades, therefore, the player will automatically be rewarded with a Jack of Spades for the second game and will start with 10-J.

If, after finishing the draw, the player has at least the number of Royal cards corresponding to the next game to be played, then no Royal cards will be automatically awarded.

7.) The player shall keep all Royal Flush cards of his/her chosen suit from one game to the next.

8.) No other pays shall be awarded during Royal Rush and the game shall only display, “Royal Flush,” on the paytable.

9.) If the player hits a Royal, the player is paid accordingly and Royal Rush ends.

Okay, so let’s look at our probabilities and see what this adds to the game!

ROYAL RUSH FREE GAMES:

DRAW ONE---PLAYER ALWAYS HAS A TEN:

Royal Flush:

nCr(4,4)*nCr(47,0)/nCr(51,4) = 0.0000040016006403

Four to a Royal:

nCr(4,3)*nCr(47,1)/nCr(51,4) = 0.0007523009203681

Three to a Royal:

nCr(4,2)*nCr(47,2)/nCr(51,4) = 0.0259543817527011

Two to a Royal:

1 - (0.0000040016006403+0.0007523009203681+0.0259543817527011) = 0.97328931572

Remember, it doesn’t matter whether or not a player, “Naturally,” receives a single Royal card on the draw, because the player will be awarded one either way.

DRAW 1 PROBABILITY TABLE FOR DRAW TWO:

Royal Flush Obtained, No Draw: 0.0000040016006403

Four to a Royal for Draw Two: 0.0007523009203681

Three to a Royal for Draw Two: 0.0259543817527011

Two to a Royal for Draw Two: 0.97328931572

DRAW TWO---PLAYER HAS FOUR ROYAL CARDS:

If the player has four Royal cards by draw two, then the only thing that matters is whether or not the player catches the last one. Because the player has four Royal cards already, no additional Royal cards will automatically be awarded regardless of what happens.

Therefore, we need only look at the probability of the player hitting the Royal Draw

1/47 = 0.02127659574

Of course, the player must first be in this situation to begin with, so:

0.0007523009203681* 0.02127659574 = 0.0000160064

Running Royal Probability: 0.0000160064 + 0.0000040016006403 = 0.000020008

For the probability of entering into the next draw with Four Royal Cards, we need only look at the probability of not hitting the Royal multiplied by the probability of the player being in this situation in the first place:

(46/47) * 0.0007523009203681 = 0.00073629451

DRAW TWO---PLAYER HAS THREE ROYAL CARDS:

If the player starts with three Royal Cards for the second draw, the only two scenarios that improve this situation are a Royal Flush or getting an additional Royal Card on the second draw. The player already has three Royal cards for the third draw, (if needed) so no additional Royal cards will be automatically awarded.

Royal Flush:

nCr(2,2)*nCr(47,0)/nCr(49,2) = 0.0008503401360544

Of course, the player needs to be in this situation to begin with, so we will take our earlier probability:

0.0259543817527011*0.0008503401360544 = 0.00002207005

Running Royal Probability: 0.00002207005+0.000020008 = 0.00004207805

Four to a Royal:

The player can also catch one Royal card which will give the player Four to a Royal for the next two draws.

nCr(2,1)*nCr(47,1)/nCr(49,2) = 0.0799319727891156

Of course, the player must be in this situation to begin with, so:

0.0799319727891156*0.0259543817527011= 0.00207458493

DRAW TWO---PLAYER HAS TWO ROYAL CARDS:

This draw only matters if the player either hits a Royal or ends up with Four to a Royal. Any other result means that the player drew either 0 or 1 Royal Cards, but one Royal card would have been rewarded no matter what.

Royal Flush:

nCr(3,3)*nCr(47,0)/nCr(50,3) = 0.0000510204081633

Of course, the player must be in this situation to begin with, which happens:

0.97328931572, so 0.97328931572 * 0.0000510204081633 = 0.000049657618149013359017076

Running Royal Probability: 0.000049657618149013359017076+0.00004207805 = 0.00009173566

Four to a Royal:

nCr(3,2)*nCr(47,1)/nCr(50,3) = 0.0071938775510204

Of course, the player must be in this situation to begin with, so:

0.97328931572*0.0071938775510204 = 0.00700172415

With that, here are the probabilities going into the third Draw:

DRAW TWO PROBABILITY TABLE FOR DRAW THREE:

Royal Obtained, Draw Not Needed: 0.00009173566

Four to a Royal: 0.00073629451 + 0.00207458493 + 0.00700172415 = 0.00981260359

Three to a Royal: 1 - (0.00009173566+0.00981260359) = 0.99009566075

DRAW THREE---PLAYER HAS FOUR TO A ROYAL:

For Draw Three, the only thing that matters is whether or not the player hits the Royal Flush. This is obviously true if the player has Four to a Royal because the player will not receive any additional Royal Cards automatically. This is simply 1/47, so we will factor in the probability of the player being in this situation to begin with on the same line:

(1/47) * 0.00981260359 = 0.00020877879

Running Royal Probability: 0.00020877879+0.00009173566 = 0.00030051445

DRAW THREE---PLAYER HAS THREE TO A ROYAL:

Similarly, the only thing that matters here is getting the Royal Flush. If the player does not get the Royal Flush, then the player will go into the fourth (and final) draw with Four-to-a-Royal regardless of whether or not the player gets 0 or 1 additional Royal Cards:

nCr(2,2)*nCr(47,0)/nCr(49,2) = 0.0008503401360544

Of course, the player must be in this situation to begin with:

0.0008503401360544*0.99009566075 = 0.00084191807

Running Royal Probability: 0.00084191807 + 0.00030051445 = 0.00114243252

FOURTH DRAW PROBABILITIES:

Player Obtained a Royal, No Draw Needed: 0.00114243252

Four to a Royal: 1 - 0.00114243252 = 0.99885756748

FOURTH DRAW PLAYER HAS FOUR TO A ROYAL:

This is just the probability that the player has hit this point multiplied by 1/47:

0.99885756748 * 1/47 = 0.02125228866

FINAL ROYAL PROBABILITY: 0.02125228866+0.00114243252 = 0.02239472118

ROYAL FLUSH PAYS: 800 * 0.02239472118 = 17.915776944

ROYAL RUSH RETURN * FEATURE PROBABILITY: 17.915776944 * .01 = 0.17915776944

As we can see, this feature adds 17.916% to the overall return of the game. The base game of 6/5 Jacks or Better has a return of 94.9961%, so this will obviously not do. However, we can fix this by simply making the necessary feature bet six credits, which does this.

Base Return: 0.791634

ROYAL RUSH Return: 0.17915776944

Total Return: 0.17915776944 + .791634 = 0.97079176944

Therefore, the overall return of the game has increased to .97079176944, which is an increase in return compared to the base game of:

0.97079176944-.949961 = 0.02083076944 or 2.0831% RTP increase.

6/5 BONUS POKER STANDARD RETURN: 0.968687

6/5 BONUS Six Credits Bet: 0.807239

ROYAL RUSH RETURN: 0.17915776944

Total with ROYAL RUSH: 0.17915776944+.807239 = 0.98639676944

Difference: 0.98639676944-0.968687 = 0.01770976944

NOTES AND PLAY:

  1. Obviously, the bet on the extra coin has a positive player expectation, taken alone. The cost of the extra credit is .1666666 (relative to total bet) and the return is .17915776944, which results in a return to player of .17915776944/.16666666 = 1.07494665964 or 107.495% for the overall feature.
  2. Because of #1, the better the base return of the underlying game is, the better the overall return with the ROYAL RUSH feature. The base return of the game should be adjusted accordingly by modifying the paytable.
  3. The worse that the base game returns to begin with (based on a five credit bet) the greater the difference in return factoring in the ROYAL RUSH mode with a six credit bet will be.
  4. Generally speaking, the ROYAL RUSH feature should be combined with paytables that already pay less than 98% as it would turn some games positive otherwise.
  5. There is no difference in optimal strategy compared to the base game because nothing the player does has any effect on the feature.
  6. The probability of getting a Royal Flush during the feature is 0.02239472118, which is about once every 44.6534 features. Effectively, this adds a Royal Flush for every 4,465.34 hands played.
  7. The best part of the feature is the fact that players are guaranteed to get a four-to-a-Royal draw at least once.
  8. The feature can also be attached to a Progressive on the Royal Flush, which can either apply to all Royal Flushes, or only those obtained during the feature.

What do you think of ROYAL RUSH? Would you bet the extra credit to play with the feature as opposed to playing the base game only?

CONCLUSION

Originally, I was going to include a Table Game idea that I came up with, but have decided not to, otherwise this entire article would just be a wall of playing card math. There would have been about 200 individual sequences of events to account for, and that’s assuming that the player would play the game optimally.

For that reason, I also wouldn’t want to do the math on it as it would be much more easily accomplished by simulation or computer program.

That’s why prospective Table Games inventors would do well to hire math experts if they think they have a viable concept, (and have also created a game with an easily adjustable paytable or rules) so they can do all the hard work in a much faster way. In addition to that, different Gaming agencies often require that a game has had its math certified anyway.

What sorts of ideas for games do you have?

Comments

Gialmere
Gialmere Sep 25, 2020

Here's two side bet ideas free for anyone...

Pai Gow Poker: I'd like to bet on whether I'll get dealt the dragon head (1st hand) or tail (7th hand). It seems a waste to have an official random event occur at the table and not be able to wager on it. A head or tail bet would pay 5-1. An either bet would pay 2-1 or (more likely) 3-2.

Baccarat: I'd like to wager on the outcome of the entire shoe. Will the banker win more hands or the player? How many ties will there be? That sort of thing. (Obviously some tweaking will be needed to balance the banker edge.) Players betting this way need not even be at the table. They could relax in the back with a drink and watch the action on a screen, like sports betters or players in the keno lounge.

Mission146
Mission146 Sep 26, 2020

I like both ideas, but I think the Baccarat one is extremely cool, especially if you could have some live feed of the HL Baccarat and maybe the odds change as the shoe is going on.

FleaStiff
FleaStiff Sep 28, 2020

Îf You can’t pitch your game to a manager in añ elevator you can not pitch it to drunk players ôr their spouses much less a slightly soused dealer Sôcial gambling is the current darling of the decision makers,

odiousgambit
odiousgambit Oct 01, 2020

Impressive immersion into the details of your own idea for a game. You clearly have a degree of talent here

Unfortunately I don't think it's an avenue to pursue any further for you if you intend to profit and not just make it an odd hobby to pursue

Just saying.

Mission146
Mission146 Oct 02, 2020

Thanks for the compliment, OdiousGambit!

No intent of profit, definitely not something I would pursue. Maybe someone will see it and run with the Keno game, though, I don't want anything except credit for creating it.

TumblingBones
TumblingBones Oct 18, 2020

I know that the general consensus of most members community is that "Variations are Better than New Concepts" is the 1st rule for a successful new game design but I'm going to argue that shouldn't be the case. The actual key is the 2nd point. As you note:
[quote]players can basically sit down and feel like they basically understand the game. .....
That’s another reason that variations of games tend to be more successful than entirely new games that have no commonalities aside from being played with cards, or dice. It’s fundamentally easy to understand how the game works.[/quote].
If a new concept was simple enough to understand quickly, I don't see any reason it couldn't be a success.

CharlesMousseau
CharlesMousseau Oct 22, 2020

One thing I always try and do is get my (potential) clients to explain the game to me, as succinctly as possible, in 30 seconds. This should translate to about 60 seconds in a noisy casino with a new player who may well have been 'enjoying their evening' thus far. That's about the limit of patience I can see a potential new player having before just zoning out.

Some staples.

Spanish 21: "It's like regular blackjack, except the player always wins on 21, there are various bonuses for 21 hands, and there are no ten spots in the deck."

Ultimate Texas Hold'em: "You're trying to beat the dealer at a round of Texas Hold'em. You'll see the hand unfold and at some point, you'll have to make one more bet to stay in, or fold. The sooner you make that bet, the bigger it can be."

Casino War: "You and the dealer each get a card, highest card wins; on a tie, you either need to surrender half your bet or make a Tie wager that can pushes on a winning hand."

Craps: ........ "So this is called the Iron Cross, yeah? ...." well, you get the idea :)

Mission146
Mission146 Oct 26, 2020

TumblingBones,

I tend to agree with that, and we definitely see it in action with some of the installs of the, "Moneysuit," branded games that seem to be doing fairly well in different casinos. With that said, most games are just some sort of poker or blackjack variant...even new dice games have basically failed, but I attribute that mostly to the fact that Craps is so good as to not need to be replaced by anything.

CharlesMousseau,

Thanks for leaving a comment!

I definitely know that was something that PaiGowDan also pushed pretty heavily! Even though the player isn't going to actually know optimal strategy, there's only a limited amount of time to make a person feel like they understand how to play it correctly.

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