Riviera casino went live with EZ Pai Gow today

I stopped in tonight, to EZ Pai Gow at the Riviera, when the game opened for the first time there. I finally made it to the Las Vegas strip.
It was configured with an EZ Trak console, which tracks the frequency of Envy level hands, dealer Queen-high Pai Gows, etc., pretty interesting concept. Each hand is a different trial, but still, interesting stats to see, WTH. Me and three other players playing away....

Congrats Dan....I am sure more installs are on the way!!

Thanks, - I hope so! So far, so good....

Congratulations! how many installs is that now?

Thanks! -
Believe it or not, I won't discuss too many specifics, but an open install at the Riviera here in Las Vegas is very prominent.
I will say:
1. approximately 50, some more coming, and this info is researchable.
2. Widely disbursed, mostly Southern California and the Midwest.
3. The install at the Riviera has an EZ Track on it, which has the RNG and some stats on the hands.

Quote: Paigowdan

Thanks! -
Believe it or not, I won't discuss too many specifics, but an open install at the Riviera here in Las Vegas is very prominent.
I will say:
1. approximately 50, some more coming, and this info is researchable.
2. Widely disbursed, mostly Southern California and the Midwest.
3. The install at the Riviera has an EZ Track on it, which has the RNG and some stats on the hands.

Nice One.

Mazel Tov! Best of luck.



When is it gonna come east?

I'd like to play it without my wife making comments about "That stupid game with the quarters."
Of course, this is the same woman who recently spent 2 hours playing the 25¢ ante BJ game. Sigh...

Though I hate the commission, the dice and the banking are two of my favorite aspects of PGP!
Congratulations on your success but I do hope EZ doesn't replace the original game.
I don't think the HE is as attractive as it is when alternating banking.
When playing head to head, And alternating banking, PGP is in a range of 1.2% to 1.5%
Depending on your strategy and prepaying commission.
The edge in EZPGP is 2.47% when banking is not allowed.
I am curious about the probabilities in EZ?
I know the Q high pai gow hand has a 1,76% probability.
I know that the back hand copies about 2.55% of the time and the front copies 0.1% of hands.
I am not entirely clear on how the HE is calculated in regular PGP,
Now that I think about it...

A lot of the places keep the dice, as they are provably not connected to the shufflers, which can read and order cards. Not that they do that at all during play, but it's what some players feel more comfortable with, so we have the dice option instead of the RNG for customers who want to use dice. The RNG on EZ Pai Gow screen is also disconnected from the shuffler machine.
The house edge on Regular commission-based Pai Gow Poker is 2.73%, and on EZ Pai Gow it's 2.469%.

The decision to offer player banking is a decision the local casino operator makes.
There is a trend for casinos to abandon player banking as a relic feature of Pai Gow, as it loses the house money and really bogs the game down. This is because there are two periods of player hand settings (one for non-banking players, and one for the banker), two take-and-pays (one by the house on the bonus bets, and one to reconcile the banker-to-player results), and it produces a lot of player-to-banker conflicts and dealer errors. For this reason we recommend to abadon player banking, (and almost always the casino operator says "Yes, please - THANK you!!!") as the house does not need it, and it annoys dealers and non-banker players (who constantly say, "If you wanna bank, - go to the poker room"), so players often stay out of the action during banking, costing the house money by reducing action.

The Queen high occurs once in every 58 hands on average, or about once every two hours, so it very unobstrusive. Compare that to to typical poker side games, where the half-pay dead hand non-qualifer goes off WAY more often.

I must say I didn't expect I'd find a reason to go back to the Riviera.

Well done, Dan! May you see many more.

Congrats Dan. This might actually get me to hit the Riveria the two times I'm scheduled to be in Las Vegas later this year.

Thanks!
I WOULD be curious for input on the EZ Trak "Pai Gow hand statistics" screen that is a feature of this particular install.
Anyone?

It might generate some interest in the side bets if players get to see
The display of a winner stay up for the next ten or twenty hands.
Out of sight, out of mind...so conversely the display helps to keep winning side wagers in mind.
It also serves to advertise these winners to passersby and spectators.
Also, people always look for patterns to make sense of their surroundings.
This is especially true among superstitious gamblers.
The display may help to encourage larger betting if the player feels a big hand is "due".
It could also serve to make them feel they are safe from a Q pai gow.
It's a good idea for the operator I think.

Quote: Paigowdan

Thanks!
I WOULD be curious for input on the EZ Trak "Pai Gow hand statistics" screen that is a feature of this particular install.
Anyone?

I would be curious to know if you counted LOL

Seriously, congratulations. I hope the green glow on my face is from the computer screen and not ENVY !

Quote: Paigowdan

Thanks!
I WOULD be curious for input on the EZ Trak "Pai Gow hand statistics" screen that is a feature of this particular install.
Anyone?

I'd be glad to. Just remind me again in early May.

I know you won't discuss specifics, but is there any chance of EZ heading into a Caesars property? I know they are pretty sold on Fortune PGP across the board, but it seems to me that it would be a major coup to get into a property? If it makes you feel better, a supervisor who worked in St Louis and played the game at Ameristar was advocating heavily to get the game approved in Indiana at Horseshoe Southern Indiana.

I had a TERRIBLE session on your game last time I was at Ameristar CB, so I'm taking a break, but good luck.

Quote: Tiltpoul

...a supervisor who worked in St Louis and played the game at Ameristar was advocating heavily to get the game approved in Indiana at Horseshoe Southern Indiana.

Music to my ears, really! The game's approved in Indiana, and is at the Ameristar East Chicago, and is doing well there. It's getting out pretty well, would love to see it somewhere near Louisville.

Quote: Tiltpoul

I had a TERRIBLE session on your game last time I was at Ameristar CB, so I'm taking a break, but good luck.

I've been getting terrible cards recently also. It seems that the gremlins of gambling have eyes...

I can't wait for the next time a dealer mispays me on ez pai gow... Just kidding, Congrats on the install.

Quote: Paigowdan

Music to my ears, really! The game's approved in Indiana, and is at the Ameristar East Chicago, and is doing well there. It's getting out pretty well, would love to see it somewhere near Louisville.

From what I've gathered, Indiana requires each casino to submit a game proposal, so just because it's at one casino doesn't automatically get it approved at another casino. It took about a year to install Ultimate Hold Em, despite the fact that it's at Belterra and Hollywood. And then each casinos rules can be different. Are you having much luck with Caesars properties?

Dan---

I've suggested this game to Downstream Casino in Oklahoma in a guest comment card. Id love to play it a lot closer to home. I played it last August at Ameristar in St. Charles, Mo.

Ever since Downstream got rid of their Emperors Challenge game back in early 2010, there hasn't been a Pai-Gow game within a 3 hour drive of here, to my knowledge. I'd love to see it's return to the area!

Quote: cestanl

Dan---

I've suggested this game to Downstream Casino in Oklahoma in a guest comment card. Id love to play it a lot closer to home. I played it last August at Ameristar in St. Charles, Mo.

Ever since Downstream got rid of their Emperors Challenge game back in early 2010, there hasn't been a Pai-Gow game within a 3 hour drive of here, to my knowledge. I'd love to see it's return to the area!

I remember the EC game at Downstream. In fact, that was the only game I played on my one trip to that casino. Interesting fact to those not familiar with Downstream... the casino is located in Oklahoma, the parking lot in Missouri, and the hotel in Kansas.

It's hard to think EC will get EZ Pai Gow for one main reason. Oklahoma requires an ante, paid to the tribe, and paid on every decision hand (pushes TECHNICALLY shouldn't be double charged, but often are). Downstream's proximity to Missouri means they have to be competitive with the MO casinos that don't charge, so the house pays the commissions for each hand. While EZ still offers a house edge, it's easier on paper to count the antes toward the cost of the commission. However, for the other casinos in the area that charge the antes to the player, EZ would probably look like a better game