Ace Invaders

Ace Invaders is one of those gimmicky VP variants out there, carnival VP if you will. The Wizard explains it here and you can play a demo at the manufacturer's website.

Ok, I know the return is probably lousy and there are better alternatives out there. But I've enjoyed playing the demo and would like to try it for real. So, does anyone know of a casino that has it? The Wizard's review mentions TI, and I shall look it up (I need to get their player card anyway).

Thanks.

When it first came out I looked around for it and the only location I remember seeing it was Sam's Town, where I gave it my one and only play. But that was quite a few years ago, and I have not seen it since.

I checked the BConnected site and Boyd doesn't appear to have it anywhere, same with Caesars. Stations tends to have the largest selection of "different" VP games but I don't recall seeing it at Red Rock a few weeks ago, (but I wasn't looking either).

I hate to see that game dying off because it was one of the first games I was ever hired to analyze.

The three units at the Red Rock are gone. When I was last at the Barona, about a year ago, they had one unit in the high limit room, of all places. I forgot that I said the TI had one, and don't know if it is still there.

Quote: PaulEWog

I checked the BConnected site and Boyd doesn't appear to have it anywhere, same with Caesars. Stations tends to have the largest selection of "different" VP games but I don't recall seeing it at Red Rock a few weeks ago, (but I wasn't looking either).

Thanks. I'll look up Caesars' slot finder as well.

Wizard, last year whenever I went past TI I kept feeling I needed or wanted something there, but could not recall what it was. Since I had other things to do, I didn't go in. A few months later I remembered. Oh, well, odds are I wouldn't have thought to look up the game then. I swear next time I'm taking a "to do" list along with the pay table list.

It's an odd game as VP goes. It probably didn't appeal to serious VP players, especially if the paytable wasn't that good, and I guess it didn't draw non-VP players in.

Wizard, I used your strategy over a year ago to play Ace Invaders. Can you explain the four-flush-plus-unsuited-ace hold? It seems incomprehensible to me that this could be superior to holding the lone ace.

The only advantage of holding all five is that the correct-suit ace could drop for a flush, a 1/52 chance if it's dealt on the middle line, some fraction of that if it's dealt on the top line since it might or might not drop to the middle... let's be very generous and say that it's a 1/30 chance, for equity of one coin.

By contrast the equity of drawing to the ace would be over two coins in a standard VP game, and it's going to increase in AI because you could catch one or two more aces and greatly increase your chance of catching 4-5 aces on the drop. Granted there are some situations where you draw to the ace and make a hand (say, trips) that ends up being the same hand you'd make without the draw (because you'd drop two aces and catch trips anyway), so you can't count *all* of that 2-3 coins of equity as an advantage for drawing, but I find it hard to believe that you can't count *most* of it. More than half, at least.

Anyway, while I was playing, I skipped the four-flush-plus-unsuited-ace and two-pair-plus-ace holds in your chart. I just found them too hard to believe. But I'd love to hear why I'm wrong.

I'm surprised that more places haven't tried installing the 9/6 version of Ace Invaders, even on floors that don't have many other 99%+ games. People play the game so horribly, I'm sure the hold would be through the roof. And the variance is enough to drive off most AP grinders.

Thanks.

After hours of practice at home, I went looking for it at Treasure Island on March 30, 2009. I couldn't find it, asked a slot attendant, who asked a supervisor. They couldn't find it, either, and concluded that it was gone.

Still a few circulating in Missouri.

I tried a search using "where to find Ace Invaders poker" and the first result was this:

http://www.videopoker.com/gamesNearYou/?game=Ace%2BInvaders%2BPoker

But alas, it appears Ace Invaders was dropped from the list.

Quote: PaulEWog

I tried a search using "where to find Ace Invaders poker" and the first result was this:

http://www.videopoker.com/gamesNearYou/?game=Ace%2BInvaders%2BPoker

But alas, it appears Ace Invaders was dropped from the list.

I tried the Harrah's search tool. When searching for VP it searches by property and denomination, so that was no help at all. i tried a general Google search and turned up empty. I guess it's largely gone :(

Oh, well, for now it can be played for free online.

LED gaming has some interesting ideas, with mixed results. The multistrike series is still around, but not as much as there once was. I suspect that the high cost and high variance took their toll. I'm still rather fond of it because I hit my first royal on line 3 of a quarter game.

Big Split poker was an interesting concept as well, and I played it quite a few times. I think the Golden Nugget may still have one or two. The big problem with that game was it often goes lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, minor win. Wash rinse and repeat. But this seems to be a problem with a lot of their games.

I never saw Cash King Checkers in a casino, but I did find a Bunco Nights at NYNY once. I didn't see it, I heard it. If you've played the game online you know that music. I followed my ears until I found it and played a quick session with a bonus round and walked away. I think I played it again a few years later, but I don't recall seeing it on my last visit.

I have seen Gems Wild tiles in a few places, and the Plaza had a bank of Multi-Strike Triple Diamond Video Slots that are now gone. I suspect these games also fell victim to their volatility.

On the other hand the Elvis Multi-Strike Video Slots seem to still be around, at least a few are. The 4 Queens has had a bank of 4 in the same place for a few years, and I believe I saw them at the Hilton in the not too distant past.

It has been a few years since the site has said "coming soon" for Multi-Strike Poker Deluxe, so I won't hold my breath waiting for that demo to come online. But I did finally get a chance to play it at Red Rock recently. Just like multistrike, but one more pay line, (which I never did get to play).

I do like their games, their fun to play, especially online, but my experience with them is that while there is a great potential for some big wins they can suck you dry pretty fast, and that is my guess as to why we don't seem they around very much.

Quote: PaulEWog

LED gaming has some interesting ideas, with mixed results. The multistrike series is still around, but not as much as there once was. I suspect that the high cost and high variance took their toll. I'm still rather fond of it because I hit my first royal on line 3 of a quarter game.

I've played it online only. I wouldn't play it for money becasue it feels too much like you're betting hand you may or may not get to play. Actually you are betting for hands you may not get to play :)

Quote:

Big Split poker was an interesting concept as well, and I played it quite a few times. I think the Golden Nugget may still have one or two. The big problem with that game was it often goes lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, minor win. Wash rinse and repeat. But this seems to be a problem with a lot of their games.

Agreed. I only played it online. I deiced I was better off playing PGP for money.

Ace Invaders provides lots of small wins, which is odd considering there are only three lines and the top two are stud poker. What's sweet is when you have alosing hand on the bottom line, and then enough aces drop to make it a winning hand. Often you break even, or you lose less, but the feeling is there.

Quote:

I do like their games, their fun to play, especially online, but my experience with them is that while there is a great potential for some big wins they can suck you dry pretty fast, and that is my guess as to why we don't seem they around very much.

Maybe they should sell the games for PC. That might amke them more popular in the casino as well.

Quote: PaulEWog

LED gaming has some interesting ideas, with mixed results. The multistrike series is still around, but not as much as there once was. I suspect that the high cost and high variance took their toll. I'm still rather fond of it because I hit my first royal on line 3 of a quarter game.

Big Split poker was an interesting concept as well, and I played it quite a few times. I think the Golden Nugget may still have one or two. The big problem with that game was it often goes lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, lose, minor win. Wash rinse and repeat. But this seems to be a problem with a lot of their games.

I never saw Cash King Checkers in a casino, but I did find a Bunco Nights at NYNY once. I didn't see it, I heard it. If you've played the game online you know that music. I followed my ears until I found it and played a quick session with a bonus round and walked away. I think I played it again a few years later, but I don't recall seeing it on my last visit.

I have seen Gems Wild tiles in a few places, and the Plaza had a bank of Multi-Strike Triple Diamond Video Slots that are now gone. I suspect these games also fell victim to their volatility.

On the other hand the Elvis Multi-Strike Video Slots seem to still be around, at least a few are. The 4 Queens has had a bank of 4 in the same place for a few years, and I believe I saw them at the Hilton in the not too distant past.

It has been a few years since the site has said "coming soon" for Multi-Strike Poker Deluxe, so I won't hold my breath waiting for that demo to come online. But I did finally get a chance to play it at Red Rock recently. Just like multistrike, but one more pay line, (which I never did get to play).

I do like their games, their fun to play, especially online, but my experience with them is that while there is a great potential for some big wins they can suck you dry pretty fast, and that is my guess as to why we don't seem they around very much.

I've played Gems Wild Tiles in both Vegas and Atlantic City--I know there was a game in Bally's and one with a broken touch screen in the AC Tropicana that still was getting plenty of play. I've played Elvis in the Las Vegas Hilton and the AC Tropicana, and somehow the people who weren't playing max coins kept hitting the bonus but the ones playing max rarely hit, so it will eat your bankroll alive since you won't hit big if you bet big, or at least not any of the times I played. I still like to play the Cleopatra Wild Tiles online to watch it gobble up $100 in no time. I doubt I'd try it in a casino the way it eats cash.

So I googled Ace Invaders just now. The second result was the Wizard's article on his odds site. The fourth is this thread :)

Still no Vegas casino, though...