Lucky Cat Blackjack

Absolutely. He needs to be back in UK before Brexit... LOL

Quote: jackmagic777

Switch, how much longer will you be in " THE COLONIES " ?

Leaving tomorrow. Should be back in Vegas in April.

Quote: tringlomane

This doesn't surprise me. Even though the net outcome is tilted toward the house, it's a fun distraction from regular BJ routine and there is a chance you might win big!

Quick update before I head back. The numbers on the game have been good and have been comparable with their regular Blackjack game.
I've completed an alternate version which has a lower push rate (30%) with a flatter paytable. Nevada Gaming have told me that they can approve both versions if I wish to add the 2nd version and extend the trial period.
I'm aiming to do that as I want to cover which options the players prefer - feedback has suggested that a higher hit frequency and flatter paytable may be more desirable. Also, in order to roll the dice more often, the feature will occur on a dealer bust hand rather than a dealer 22.
Once I've submitted the 2nd version I'll post it here and hopefully get some insighful feedback as to which version appears better.

Any dealer bust hand? That is interesting. It certainly solves the feature frequency issue discussed here. What would the new pay table be? Something like: 0, 1, 2, 5, 10? Hell, I bet "0, 1, 2, 3, 5" would work since it's not a side-bet. I think you're on to something with this tack.

Quote: Gialmere

Any dealer bust hand? That is interesting. It certainly solves the feature frequency issue discussed here. What would the new pay table be? Something like: 0, 1, 2, 5, 10? Hell, I bet "0, 1, 2, 3, 5" would work since it's not a side-bet. I think you're on to something with this tack.

So far I am looking at two paytables, although I have changed the dice set up as well:-

1, 3/2, 3/1, 10/1 and 1, 6/5, 5/1, 10/1, 20/1 is the other. One adds around 1.6% so can be used to change 3/2 to 6/5 and the other adds around 0.3% to the overall HE.

The rules of Lucky Cat as played at the Golden Nugget have changed. How the dice have four blank sides, one white cat, and one gold cat. Here is the new pay table on a dealer 22, according to the dice:

Three matching cats pays 10 to 1
Three mixed cats pays 3 to 1
Any two cats pays 1.5 to 1
Any one cat pays 1 to 1

I calculate this costs the player 0.34% above the normal blackjack house edge.

For more details please see the version 2 section of my Lucky Cat Blackjack page.

duplicate

Quote: Wizard

If he is in Nevada, would that count as being in the the "colonies?"

Maybe in Madrid it is.

I misunderstood one of the new rules. The dealer now rolls the Lucky Cat dice on ANY bust. I'm showing the effect of the Lucky Cat rule to be an increase in house edge of 1.29%. If you read my Lucky Cat page yesterday, please reread it.

I'm a little confused since the Version 2 intro section still twice refers to a dealer 22 hand.

Also, how many dice are used in Version 2? The entry shows no 4OAK pay-line for either mixed or matched rolls.

Quote: Gialmere

I'm a little confused since the Version 2 intro section still twice refers to a dealer 22 hand.

Sorry, I just fixed that. Thank you for the correction.

Ah, so it is only THREE dice now. Hopefully Switch (or a user who's played V2) will comment on the new tweaking. Table excitement? Frequent rolls? Big hits? Etc.

I've just done a very quick calculation (so not checked it, using infinite decks and assuming dealer stands on soft 17) as with other Push 22 or similar ideas I get that you hit 12 vs 4. The logic being it's a close decision and you're better off taking a reduced chance of the lower payouts on Dealer bust affecting you. I'm also geting not splitting 2sv2 3sv2 3sv3, and fewer soft doubles (almost certainly due to using s17 rather than h17).

Quote: Gialmere

Ah, so it is only THREE dice now. Hopefully Switch (or a user who's played V2) will comment on the new tweaking. Table excitement? Frequent rolls? Big hits? Etc.

Yes, there are now 3 dice (colored black generally) with a gold cat and white cat on opposite sides.

The reason I wanted to test 'Version 2' came from watching the original game with Roger Snow. We both noticed that the players got excited when the dealer scored 22 - almost as though it was a bonus round. On the downside, we also noticed that there were a lot of pushes which were needed to offset the 50/1 top payout. (48% of the time 0 cats showed). We both agreed that increasing the feature could make the game more exciting so decided to use the feature on every dealer bust hand.

Version 2 uses flatter payouts and has less pushes (30%) with 1 cat being the most common outcome. I've watched the game numerous times and players seem to prefer this version and it has performed slightly better than version 1, albeit early days. (Version 1, incidentally, out-dropped the 6/5 table next to it by a considerable margin during the trial).

The idea behind 'Lucky Cat' was to give casinos the option to offer 3/2 Blackjack while retaining close to the 6/5 house edge that they are accustomed to. I designed several paytables to cater for either adding an additional edge to the existing game or to convert from 3/2 to 6/5. The Golden Nugget use the 3/2-6/5 conversion so the paytable adds around 1.3% to the house edge (similar to what 6/5 adds). The payouts are:-
0 cats - push
1 cat - 1/1
2 cats - 3/2
3 mixed cats - 3/1
3 same color cats - 10/1

If you change the 3 mixed cats from 3/1 to 4/1 (my alternate paytable for casinos) then this adds around 0.5% to the existing house edge.

For 6/5 games then I have 3 options for the casinos to choose from. The preferred paytable is:-

0 cats - push
1 cat - 1/1
2 cats - 6/5
3 mixed cats - 5/1
3 same color cats - 15/1
which adds around 0.3% to the existing house edge.

If you change the last 2 payouts to 6/1 and 10/1 then this adds around 0.8% to the house edge (paytable 2).

Finally, if you just change the last payout from 15/1 to 10/1 then this adds 1.6% to the existing house edge. Bearing in mind that this is added to a 6/5 table then this last paytable would give the casino a house edge of around 3.5%.

Since the field trial, I have constructed a paytable that I really like for the 3/2 game. It offers a high payout and does not increase the house edge by too much (0.26%). The payouts for that are:-

0 cats - push
1 cat - 1/1
2 cats - 3/2
3 mixed cats - 3/1
3 white cats - 8/1
3 gold cats - 20/1

There is an argument that equal outcomes should have the same payouts i.e. 3 white, 3 gold, however, I like the attraction of offering a high payout instead.

The game is up for approval with Nevada Gaming towards the end of June. I have interest from 3 other casinos as well as The Golden Nugget stating that they will install a 2nd Lucky Cat table at that time. I've only spoken to a handful of casinos at this point so I'm excited at the potential of this concept but will remain quietly optimistic at this point.

Any feedback on the game or paytables greatly welcomed.

I read at WOO that "Lucky Cat Blackjack" (version 1) is being offered for online play by Bunfox games. Gratz to Switch for the pickup!

Edit: Free Demo

Quote: Gialmere

I read at WOO that "Lucky Cat Blackjack" (version 1) is being offered for online play by Bunfox games. Gratz to Switch for the pickup!

Edit: Free Demo

Thanks Gialmere,

That is a Licensed Lucky-Cat Blackjack for Online.

I had a chance to mess around with the demo over the weekend. During one hand I split aces and the dealer busted on a 22 which triggered the lucky cat dice roll. Unfortunately the roll was all blanks so I won nothing. Then, to my surprise, my split hand was highlighted and the dice rolled again, this time yielding two cats for a 3-1 payoff on my split wager. Awesome!

I'm pretty certain that this is not how it's done live and wonder how it effects the math for the player. Good? Bad? Neutral? Because I got blanks first and then two cats I was happy for the save. Suppose, however, that I had rolled the two cats first and then (what the hell is this?) the blanks. Suddenly, not so cool a feature.

Quote: Gialmere

...[following a] split ... dealer busted on a 22...

Does the dealer re-roll for each split hand?

Technically it makes no difference whether you roll for each hand or all hands receive the one roll. The worst case for the casino would be a player had many bets out (say 8s and then doubled vs dealer low card), Dealer busts, Player rolls "3 gold cats". The casino would have to make the top payout multiple times. I should imagine the risk to the casino is much less, if for split hands, there are seperate rolls for each hand. However this needs to be listed explicitly in the house's rules or procedures and it also slows the game down.

Quote: Gialmere

I had a chance to mess around with the demo over the weekend. During one hand I split aces and the dealer busted on a 22 which triggered the lucky cat dice roll. Unfortunately the roll was all blanks so I won nothing. Then, to my surprise, my split hand was highlighted and the dice rolled again, this time yielding two cats for a 3-1 payoff on my split wager. Awesome!

I'm pretty certain that this is not how it's done live and wonder how it effects the math for the player. Good? Bad? Neutral? Because I got blanks first and then two cats I was happy for the save. Suppose, however, that I had rolled the two cats first and then (what the hell is this?) the blanks. Suddenly, not so cool a feature.

I've never had the Lucky Cat roll on a split hand so I didn't realise that they employed that method. It must be their interpretation of what to do in that scenario as it doesn't affect the house edge as Charlie stated.

Thanks for the information though, it's always useful to know if a procedure is different albeit in an unusual situation.