EZ 9 Debuts at Hollywood Park

Just wanted to publicly extend my congratulations to Johnny Ma for the debut of his game EZ 9 at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. The game went live a few days ago and the early returns, I hear, are encouraging.

Johnny's game was part of the May 2012 SHFL focus group under the name "Max 9." He shrugged off the middling reviews by the judges and got his game approved by the California Dept. of Justice and into a live casino, proving two things along the way: 1) Focus groups don't necessarily mean anything; and 2) There is no substitute for perseverance.

Go Johnny, go.


Roger

He is definitely not Johnny Come Lately. CONGRATULATIONS on the first of many installs !

" Focus groups don't necessarily mean anything" In my case the judges erred in rating it other than last.

Not covered at WoO site btw

Is there another thread about this game here? I play poker at Hollywood frequently.

Quote: Pacman

1) Focus groups don't necessarily mean anything

As the person who got the lowest score, I glad to see you say that.

Of course, your comments at the Focus Group, that I had the biggest challenge of anyone in presenting the idea within the 10 minutes alloted, does help me feel better about the low score I got for Poker For Roulette.

Was this the "Triple Aces" game from the May 2012 Focus Group or did Johnny have another game at Focus Group 2? Hopefully Johnny can post a summary of the game rules for EZ 9 (and perhaps optimal strategy so we all know how best to play).

Congrats, Johnny......I'll have to see if I can make it up to Hollywood Park and check this out. Always looking to support an indie develpoer that gets their game on the floor!

Quote: Paradigm

Was this the "Triple Aces" game from the May 2012 Focus Group or did Johnny have another game at Focus Group 2? Hopefully Johnny can post a summary of the game rules for EZ 9 (and perhaps optimal strategy so we all know how best to play).

Congrats, Johnny......I'll have to see if I can make it up to Hollywood Park and check this out. Always looking to support an indie develpoer that gets their game on the floor!

Max 9. It may have been at a later focus group.

Got it, so I haven't seen it yet. If I make it up to Hollywood Park I'll see if I can pull a rack card and post an image for the Forum.

Hopefully, Johnny gets on here first with his game/strategy information that is likely to be more accurate than what I glean from playing and reading the rack card.

Here is the lineup of games for the May 2 focus group, along with the surname of each inventor:

1. Three Card Hi Lo (Ventura)
2. Bad Beat Stud Poker (Snow)
3. Poker for Roulette (Miller)
4. Triple Aces (Ma)
5. Twist'em (Friedman)
6. Hong Kong Poker (Willis)
7. Blackjack Split (Milosevich)
8. Action Blackjack (Paff)
9. Money Suit 31 (Weiss)
10. Hi Lo Stud Poker (Lima/Snow)

Place your bets.

Roger

Switch's review of Focus Group 2

1. 2 Way Blackjack - player plays 2 hands (equal wagers), one spot marked 'Never Bust' and the other 'House Way'. You are dealt 2 hands and with your first hand ('Never Bust') you can decide to 'Hit' or 'Stand'. 'Blackjacks' pay 1/1 and you can only split A,A. if you go over '21' then the card is used in your 2nd hand, if the 2nd hand also goes over '21' then you lose half of your 1st hand wager.

Your 2nd hand is played using the 'house way' i.e. hit until 17 or more. So, you have to hit 16 verses a 6 for example.

Example, you are dealt 2,7 and 10,7 verses a dealer 6. You may as well hit the 10,7 as any 'bust' card will be dealt to your 2nd hand which cannot 'bust'.

I think that the strategy would be harder than the 'switch' strategy by a long way.

2. Casino KAT - A 'Rock, paper, scissors' version using a 54-card deck of cards consisting of 18 each of A, 2 and 3. You wager on A, K or 2 and you get 1 card - the dealer gets 1 card and highest wins with Ace beating king, king beating 2 and 2 beating Ace. There were also some tie rules and a 'streak' sidebet.

3. On Target - A streak-style version of 'Red Dog'. Players are dealt 4 cards and decide whether they will hit a target of 1, 2, 3 or 4 wins with ascending payouts. Dealer deals 2 cards and you have to put down 1 of your 4 cards that is in between the dealer's 2 cards. So, a hand such as 3, 6, 8, 10 would be quite a good starting hand.

4. Rock It Dice - A craps side wager that is based on a streak of events similar to the 'Fire Bet' or 'Any Tall Any Small' bet. Players can opt to bet the 'High' or the 'Low' or 'Both'. Each 'High' and 'Low' contains the numbers 1-6. The dealer will mark off the numbers depending on the 2 dice values - a 7 will end the run. So, for example, a player rolls 5, 1 so 5 is marked on the 'High' and 1 is marked on the 'Low'. Next roll is 3,3 so a 3 is marked off on both 'High' and 'Low'. Play continues until either 'High' or 'Low' or 'Both' are completed, or a 7 is rolled.

5. Royal Match Streak - As the name suggests, this is a Blackjack side wager where players are aiming to get suited cards. Each time the player gets a suited 2 cards then the wager moves up a ladder - the more hands that match then the higher the payout up to a possible 3 levels. For example, player is dealt 5, 7 diamonds so his sidebet wager is moved to 'Level 1'. Next hand he receives A, 9 spades so his wager now moves to level 2. Next hand he receives 3 clubs, 10 hearts so as they do not match suits the wager is now settled at level 2 odds.

6. Texas Dinero - As explained by Dan.

7. Three Card 21 - Also explained by yourself in an above post.

8. Tricarta - A roulette-style game using 3 cards rather than the spin of a wheel. Players can bet on the outcome of the first card - suit, color, denomination, actual card, as well as bet on the structure of the 3 cards in total i.e. straight, flush, pair etc. Players may also bet on any of the 3 cards that they think will be exposed by placing their wagers on a roulette style layout marked with the 52 cards. A 'Joker' is also included which acts as a 'stopper' i.e. if the first card is the King of spades and the 2nd card is a 'Joker' then just the one card is used to settle the wagers - all 3-card wagers will lose ('Joker' is sort of like the 0, 00 on the roulette wheel). You can bet on the 'Joker' appearing as well.

The Results :

Results from today's new-game focus group at SHFL:

1 Three Card 21
2 Texas Dinero
3 Rock it Dice
T4 Tricarta
T4 2 Way Blackjack
T4 On Target
7 Royal Match Streak
8 Casino KAT

Quote: Pacman

Just wanted to publicly extend my congratulations to Johnny Ma for the debut of his game EZ 9 at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. The game went live a few days ago and the early returns, I hear, are encouraging.

Johnny's game was part of the May 2012 SHFL focus group under the name "Max 9." He shrugged off the middling reviews by the judges and got his game approved by the California Dept. of Justice and into a live casino, proving two things along the way: 1) Focus groups don't necessarily mean anything; and 2) There is no substitute for perseverance.

Go Johnny, go.


Roger

I am sure I will regret this . I should know better than to tug on Superman's cape http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jti7E8vnpHA

But I do not see Max 9 or EZ*9 in either Focus Group ? ? ?

Hmmmmm. I just checked my notes and you are right. Johnny never showed EZ 9 at a SHFL focus group.

I was thinking of the game Max 9, which has a similar name and similar design.

Johnny, as you correctly pointed out, demoed "Triple Aces" at the May 2012 focus group.

My bad.

As absolution, would you consider a 2013 Focus Group ? ? ?

If I had a chance before Roger confirmed the error, I would have asked Buzz what the point was of throwing Roger under the bus.

Bottom line: He made a mistake. A minor mistake. No big deal. Get over it.


On the other hand, if the "bus" you were driving was to get another focus group, I'm intrigued, and I'd want to participate. I've shown my Poker For Roulette idea to several casino managers and DTGs, and I'm better prepared to put on a demonstration...

Damn Teddy. I was hoping to catch Roger in a moment of weakness. DAMN !

Quote: Buzzard

Damn Teddy. I was hoping to catch Roger in a moment of weakness. DAMN !

LOL. We will probably have another one in the next few months.

Teddy, you are forgiven.

I want to thank everyone for all the kind words. Just to clarify a few things regarding the Focus Group back in May of last year. The game that I showed at the Focus Group was called “Triple Aces.” There was also another game called “Max 9” which coincidentally belongs to another game developer who is also named Johnny. Interestingly enough, I chose the name “EZ*9” for this game so you can see how it can be a bit confusing.

Anyways, "EZ*9" is my most recent project which is also very different from "Triple Aces." Mathematical analysis was done by Dr. Jacobson of Jacobson Gaming. Thank you, sir. It’s been a pleasure working with you on these projects in the past three years and I look forward to continue working with you in the future. And Mr. Snow, you are an INSPIRATION. I’m sure many in the gaming community would be satisfied to achieve just a fraction of what you have accomplished. For those who are curious about "EZ*9", thank you. I will post more info about the game here shortly. I appreciate your patience.

Alan... grab a rack card!

Mathematical Analysis of “EZ-9” with the “Triple Match Progressive” Side Bet © Johnny Ma, 2012

Introduction

EZ-9 is a casino table game based on the traditional games of Pan-9 and baccarat. The player competes against the banker. EZ-9 is played from a shoe consisting of twelve standard decks of playing cards with 7, 8, 9 and T all removed and no jokers. The shoe consists of 432 cards. Each round, the player and banker are dealt three cards from which they make their best baccarat hand consisting of any two or all three of their cards. The player’s best hand competes against the banker’s best hand. The player wins 2-to-1 automatically if his hand is 2/3/4 or 3/3/3. Otherwise, if the banker’s hand consists of three face cards (J, Q, K) then the hand is an automatic push. Otherwise the winning side is determined by the hand with the higher baccarat total.

Game Procedure for EZ-9
1. The player starts by making a wager.
2. The player and banker are each dealt three cards. The banker’s cards are dealt face down.
3. As in baccarat, hand totals are obtained by adding the pip values of the cards, with face cards (J, Q, K) having the value 0. If a hand total is 10 or more, the total is reduced by 10 to get a value between 0 and 9.
4. The player examines his three cards and makes his best baccarat hand, with value closest to 9, using any two or all three of his cards.
5. If the player’s hand consists of 2/3/4 or 3/3/3 then the player shows his hand and is immediately paid 2-to-1 on his hand.
6. After all players have made their best hand and all instant player wins have been accounted, the banker turns over his cards and sets his cards to make his best baccarat hand, with value closest to 9, using any two or all three of his cards.
7. If the banker’s hand consists of three face cards (J, Q, K) then all remaining bets immediately push and the hand is over. Otherwise, the player competes against the dealer.
8. If the player’s total is greater than the banker’s total, then the player wins even money on his bet.
9. If the player’s total is equal to the banker’s total, then the hand is a push and the player’s wager is returned.
10. If the player’s total is less than the banker’s total, then the player loses the hand and forfeits his wager.

Triple Match Progressive
There is an optional progressive side bet for players. This side bet pays whenever the player is dealt three-of-a-kind (trips). The player who participates in a progressive jackpot makes a $1 wager at the start of the hand. The progressive payout is given for a hand consisting of 3-3-3 in diamonds. Other hands are awarded fixed dollar payouts. Details of the payouts are given below.

EZ*9 Triple Match Progressive
Event	Pays
3-3-3 in diamonds (progressive)	Progressive
Any 3-of-a-kind (same suit)	$250
Any 3-of-a-kind (same color suits)	$100
Any 3-of-a-kind (mixed color suits)	$50

The progressive has a seed value of $2,000. When the progressive is hit, the full progressive amount is split between all players who hit the progressive on that hand. The progressive is reset to its seed amount of $2,000 on the next hand. For each dollar wagered on the progressive, the progressive is incremented $0.05 (5 cents).

EZ*9 Progressive Jackpot Details
Progressive hits 1-in-	60653.45
Seed	$2000
Increment	$0.0500
Average Pot	$5032.67

EZ*9 Triple Match Mathematical Results
House Edge	10.0654%
Standard Deviation	22.3233
Hit Frequency	1.1666%

There is an optional “Tie Bet” side bet for players. This side bet pays 6-to-1 whenever the player highest total equals the dealer’s highest total. Mathematical results for the Tie Bet are given below.

EZ*9 Tie Bet Mathematical Results
House Edge	11.600%
Standard Deviation	2.325
Hit Frequency	12.629%

Bonus Bet Side Bet
There is an optional “Bonus Bet” side bet for players. This side bet pays whenever the player is dealt either a two-card or three-card total of 9. Details of the payouts are given in Figure 1. Because some hands can total 9 with two cards or three cards, for example J-3-6, these hands are indicated as a separate category.

EZ*9 Bonus Bet Side Bet
Event	Pays
Two Card 9 only	3-to-1
Three Card 9 only	6-to-1
Both Two-Card 9 and Three-Card 9	6-to-1

Bonus Side Bet Mathematical Results
House Edge	8.023%
Standard Deviation	2.145
Hit Frequency	16.682%

Thanks for that info, Johnny!

Do you have the mathematical information for the main bet available for posting. Very interested to see the hit rate, house edge and standard deviation info on the main game.

Well done on the placement, I will see if I can make it up to Hollywood Park and help the drop. It seems like player strategy would be fairly easy, just make your hand as close to 9 as possible with 2 or 3 cards, which should be fairly obvious, correct?

Was going to just say " Good Luck , Johnny ", but after reading latest posts, don't think you will need it.

Great game and good lucky anyway. Never hurts to be superstitious !

Quote: JohnnyTheGent

Mathematical Analysis of “EZ-9” with the “Triple Match Progressive” Side Bet © Johnny Ma, 2012

Introduction

EZ-9 is a casino table game based on the traditional games of Pan-9 and baccarat. The player competes against the banker. EZ-9 is played from a shoe consisting of twelve standard decks of playing cards with 7, 8, 9 and T all removed and no jokers. The shoe consists of 432 cards. Each round, the player and banker are dealt three cards from which they make their best baccarat hand consisting of any two or all three of their cards. The player’s best hand competes against the banker’s best hand. The player wins 2-to-1 automatically if his hand is 2/3/4 or 3/3/3. Otherwise, if the banker’s hand consists of three face cards (J, Q, K) then the hand is an automatic push. Otherwise the winning side is determined by the hand with the higher baccarat total.

Hi, Johnny, Congratulations!!! This is a California game, so players play against the "Company", not the house, right? Roger is right on the money in his implication, "Market is the only judge!"

I will swing by there tonight, just fifteen minutes from my home. Can someone tell me how to post photos on this site? A link to the instructions? thanks.

First, you need to have the photo hosted somewhere. Then put the url of the photo in an img tag.

For example, I have an avatar image located at http://djteddybear.com/images/rd_photo.gif

When I enter [img=http://djteddybear.com/images/rd_photo.gif] you see:

Admin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/rd_photo.gif

Quote: DJTeddyBear

First, you need to have the photo hosted somewhere. Then put the url of the photo in an img tag.

For example, I have an avatar image located at http://djteddybear.com/images/rd_photo.gif

When I enter [img=http://djteddybear.com/images/rd_photo.gif] you see:

Admin note: removed image www.djteddybear.com/images/rd_photo.gif

Handsome Devil . . . .

The mathematical results for EZ*9 are given below.

EZ*9 Mathematical Results
House Edge	2.3722%
Standard Deviation	0.9318
Player Wins 2	0.9584%
Player Wins 1	39.3818%
Player/Dealer Push	15.9890%
Player loses	43.6708%

The current House Edge for the game at Hollywood Park is 2.8514%, which is slightly higher because we adjusted the pay for instant winning hands of 2-3-4 and 3-3-3 from 2:1 to 3:2. The reason for that change is because we needed to make the House Edge a little more attractive for the Corporations since they will be banking on the game mostly. However, for casinos in Los Angeles, California , all players will be offered the chance to bank on the game if they wish and they can bank with any amount they prefer instead of only up to the amount of their wager in the previous hand like in some other jurisdictions.

EZ*9 game logo and table layout.

Okay, I stopped by and these photos cost me $238 at the $100 buy in no limit table (LOL) but that was a small price to pay for a good story.





There is also an article on my website here: http://www.alanbestbuys.com/id104.html

DJTeddybear thanks for giving me the link info to post the photos.

Edited to add: I should add why there are three circles at each player position. HPC limits the bets at each position to $100, so if you wanted to bet $300 per hand you would have to make three separate $100 bets. Why? I asked the floorperson. Why not make the limit $300 per player? She didn't know. But I suppose multiple players could stand at each betting position and make additional bets to piggyback on the original bettor's $11 outlay. And each additional $100 would require another $1 fee.

There are no formal handouts at the table to explain the game, but they might be coming. When I asked for a flyer or something that explained the game I was handed a photo copy of the sign on a standard sheet of paper.

There was no mention of what the deck of cards consists of. I asked about that when I was talking to the floorperson and was questioning about winning and losing hands.

Johnny, congratulations! I've heard good feedback about the game already, although I doubt I'll be able to get out to California to check it out anytime soon.

Is "EZ" trademarked by DEQ?

From the USPTO website or a quick search on Google, you can find many different trademarks that have "EZ" in them. Just because a product is registered with a name like EZ Fit, for example, it doesn't mean no one else can create another product and name it something like EZ-21, or EZ Brite, or in this case, EZ*9. By the way, I would like to thank Jon Muskin and Shawn Farmer for their time on the IP works for this EZ*9 project. Thank you, gentlemen.

I just created a page for EZ-9. Please have a look. I welcome all comments and corrections. One Wizard point for each typo you catch.

I normally wouldn't be so strict, but I like my Wizard points. How many do I need for $100 Free Play? (Just kidding)

Quote: Wizard

I just created a page for EZ-9. Please have a look. I welcome all comments and corrections. One Wizard point for each typo you catch.

Quote:

As of this writing (January 2013) it can be found at the Hollywood Park casino in California.

Run-on, "As of this writing, (January 2013)..."

Quote:

2.Cards are scored as in baccarat, with aces one points, two to six according to pip value, and face cards zero.

Subject/Verb agreement, Aces one point.

Quote:

4.After making a wager the player and dealer shall each receive three cards.

Run-On sentence. "After making a wager, the player and dealer shall each receive three cards."

Quote:

5.The player may use any combination of two or three cards to form his best hand.

Avoid gender specific pronouns when possible, "...two or three of cards to form the best hand."---That the cards would belong to the player is a given.

Quote:

6.If the player has a 9-point hand consisting of 2-3-4 or 3-3-3 it shall immediately win and pay 3 to 2.

Run-on sentence, comma after prepositional phrase required. "If the player has a 9-point hand consisting of 2-3-4 or 3-3-3, then it..."

Quote:

7.The dealer shall then turn over his cards and make his best hand using any two or three of his cards.

The gender distinction is unavoidable in this sentence, unless you want to go with the awkward his/hers. However, you state that the cards belong to the dealer twice, which is repetitive. "The dealer shall then turn over his cards and make the best hand using any two or three of them."

Quote:

8.If the dealer has a 0-point hand, consisting of three face cards then all remaining wagers shall push.

Run-on sentence. "If the dealer has a 0-point hand, consisting of three face cards, then all remaining wagers shall push."

Quote: Mission146

I normally wouldn't be so strict, but I like my Wizard points. How many do I need for $100 Free Play?

Here are the rules for EZ*9 as I originally wrote them. I obviously will disagree with any "corrections" you offer. You do not need a comma before the "then" in an if-then statement. Omitting this comma does not create a run on sentence. Including this comma, or not, is up to the writer's sense of what the sentence requires to be easily read. There is widespread overuse of commas. In my case, I use a comma if "then" is preceded by an ordinary word, and don't use a comma if "then" is preceded by something other than a word.

1. The player starts by making a wager.
2. The player and banker are each dealt three cards. The banker’s cards are dealt face down.
3. As in baccarat, hand totals are obtained by adding the pip values of the cards, with face cards (J, Q, K) having the value 0. If a hand total is 10 or more, the total is reduced by 10 to get a value between 0 and 9.
4. The player examines his three cards and makes his best baccarat hand, with value closest to 9, using any two or all three of his cards.
5. If the player’s hand consists of 2/3/4 or 3/3/3 then the player shows his hand and is immediately paid 2-to-1 on his hand.
6. After all players have made their best hand and all instant player wins have been accounted, the banker turns over his cards and sets his cards to make his best baccarat hand, with value closest to 9, using any two or all three of his cards.
7. If the banker’s hand consists of three face cards (J, Q, K) then all remaining bets immediately push and the hand is over. Otherwise, the player competes against the dealer.
8. If the player’s total is greater than the banker’s total, then the player wins even money on his bet.
9. If the player’s total is equal to the banker’s total, then the hand is a push and the player’s wager is returned.
10. If the player’s total is less than the banker’s total, then the player loses the hand and forfeits his wager.

Quote: teliot

Here are the rules as I originally wrote them. I obviously will disagree with any "corrections" you offer. You do not need a comma before the "then" in an if-then statement. Omitting this comma does not create a run on sentence.

Yes, but I also added the, 'then,' if you are referring to #6.

Quote:

4. The player examines his three cards and makes his best baccarat hand, with value closest to 9, using any two or all three of his cards.

Repetitive. You state that the cards belong to the player twice. You could end the sentence, "...using any two or three cards."

Quote:

5. If the player’s hand consists of 2/3/4 or 3/3/3 then the player shows his hand and is immediately paid 2-to-1 on his hand.

Repetitive. You state that the hand belongs to the player three times. See above. Further, you don't have to end the sentence with anything about the hand. REVISION: "If the player's hand consists of 2/3/4 or 3/3/3, then the player shows the hand and is immediately paid 2-to-1."

Quote:

6. After all players have made their best hand and all instant player wins have been accounted, the banker turns over his cards and sets his cards to make his best baccarat hand, with value closest to 9, using any two or all three of his cards.

Subject/Verb agreement. "After all players have made their best hands." OR, "After the player(s) has made his/her best hand(s)." I would change the word, "Accounted," to, "Resolved," as that is more of a gambling term.

You state that the cards belong to the banker twice. See above.

7-10 are fine.

Two things I always do are repeat myself and repeat myself and use gender non-neutral language. If I am writing a rack card, then each word is precious. If I am writing a technical document, then I will construct sentences that reinforce themselves internally, including gender non-neutral language and repetition. I will use any rhetorical device that helps to get complex ideas into easily understood content. I disagree with every "correction" you made that is based on either one of these elements. I agree with #6.

Quote: Mission146

I normally wouldn't be so strict, but I like my Wizard points. How many do I need for $100 Free Play? (Just kidding)

Thanks! I'll give you five Wizard points. Some of your corrections I don't entirely agree with, and some I thought were too nit-picky, but I just implemented most of them. If you get enough points you can redeem them for a Wizard polo shirt. If you already have one then we'll figure out something else.

One thing I make no apologies for is using "him/his" when referring to players and dealers. This is not to be sexist, but it is my opinion that if the gender is not important or unknown then you default to male. In Spanish if a group of people has a million women and one man then you refer to the whole group in the masculine form. I don't think that is to imply one man is more important than a million women, but it just says the group is either all male or of mixed gender.

what's the break-even jackpot on the progressive bonus?

My guess is $12,206.....do I get any Wizard points if I am correct ;-)?

I confess I am an overuser of the comma....I would agree with where Mission added them, but not being the best wordsmith, I don't know what is correct.

Don't really care about the gender usage as I don't think it makes the sentences in which they are used are more clear without them [more clear....did I really just type that phrase ;-)].

I do feel strongly about Aces and being one point (vs one points), but you already changed that so I am adding no value here.......out!

Quote: Paradigm

My guess is $12,206.....do I get any Wizard points if I am correct ;-)?

I'd give you 1/2 a Wizard point. $11,845.28

Miplet is right. One Wizard Point! Well, I get a penny less, but whose counting?

Quote: teliot

Two things I always do are repeat myself and repeat myself and use gender non-neutral language. If I am writing a rack card, then each word is precious. If I am writing a technical document, then I will construct sentences that reinforce themselves internally, including gender non-neutral language and repetition. I will use any rhetorical device that helps to get complex ideas into easily understood content. I disagree with every "correction" you made that is based on either one of these elements. I agree with #6.

I also have +1 Teliot point, in that event, "I obviously will disagree with any "corrections" you offer." I should have gotten some money down on it first, oh well, maybe someone will take me up on the bet that I can't quit smoking and lose weight simultaneously...

I understand the point that you are making about reinforcement, but with #5, you state that the hand belongs to the player three times in one sentence of twenty-three words. You must admit that is a little excessive...

Quote: Wizard

Thanks! I'll give you five Wizard points. Some of your corrections I don't entirely agree with, and some I thought were too nit-picky, but I just implemented most of them. If you get enough points you can redeem them for a Wizard polo shirt. If you already have one then we'll figure out something else.

I already have one, but another one wouldn't kill me. I also don't mind accumulating points just for the sake of accumulating them!

Quote:

One thing I make no apologies for is using "him/his" when referring to players and dealers. This is not to be sexist, but it is my opinion that if the gender is not important or unknown then you default to male. In Spanish if a group of people has a million women and one man then you refer to the whole group in the masculine form. I don't think that is to imply one man is more important than a million women, but it just says the group is either all male or of mixed gender.

I agree, to an extent. In my opinion, the he/she (and variants) is more politically correct, but lacks concision.

Quote: Mission146

You must admit that is a little excessive...

Yes, dammit.