Pick A Card - Any Card

It occurred to me that I never created a dedicated thread here to formally announce my new game.

Pick A Card is a patent pending casino game inspired by the scene in Vegas Vacation where Clark and Cousin Eddie go to that odd casino where the games are a little different.

Included was a game called Pick A Number, seen here, which used no device to determine the winner. Despite being absurd to the max and ripe for cheating, it was the inspiration for a fair version, with a house edge that is reasonable but hard to calculate on the fly, is fun and easy to play, and seems to be player advantage.



Players bet that the card rank(s) they choose will be among three cards selected. A unique feature, one player selects the three cards used to determine the outcome.

There's also a side bet, similar to Three Card Poker side bets, but with a jackpot that can be progressive.

For the record, I demonstrated the game at two different G2E Wizard Meet-Ups. Mike seemed to like it.

I loved this scene, and I love the GIFs you've put together for your game. Best wishes on its success! I'd love to see it in a casino — it would have instant nostalgia appeal!

Easy to calculate on the fly. Chance of getting more than zero hits is very close to 1 - (12/13)^3. Roughly 20%

Quote: Ace2

Easy to calculate on the fly. Chance of getting more than zero hits is very close to 1 - (12/13)^3. Roughly 20%
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Actually, the odds of HITTING are 21.7%

The hard part, is calculating the edge.

When I played it with the gang at my poker league, there were several players convinced that it was a player advantage.

Spoiler alert: It's not.

Chance of getting more than zero hits = odds of hitting

I like the simplicity and nostalgia. I think the trick would be designing the layout such that it is not crowded, 13 betting spots + side bet + jackpot is crowded unless there is some clever way to organize or share among players (like roulette betting....). Would also consider dropping any player choosing the cards mechanism and stick to the dealer just dealing top 3 cards. Anyways, just my unsolicited opinions... Will we see this at Global Table Games conference this year?

Quote: zbrownson

I think the trick would be designing the layout such that it is not crowded, 13 betting spots + side bet + jackpot is crowded unless there is some clever way to organize or share among players (like roulette betting....).

Will we see this at Global Table Games conference this year?
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I have a design with 5 player positions on a BJ size table, and a design that has two larger community style betting areas on a Big Six size table. Scale mock-ups are linked on my home page and my betting & rules page, as well as a full size mock-up of a single player’s betting zone for BJ tables - useful to demo or play this game at home.

GTG / G2E? Not unless I get a deep pocket investor, or a deal with a distributor.


Frankly, I think the thing that kills this game is that there are 15 betting positions where at least 10 are losers and up to 5 winners. Too much chance for a dealer to muck winning bets or pay losers.

Electronic / stadium style is probably the way to go.

I like it. Simple but I like the feature of the players choosing the cards. Not sold on the stylus mechanism but overall like the idea of a player choosing the cards. Does raise some card tracking AP possibilities depending on the dealing/shuffling procedure of course.

my question to you is did you take all the games - check to see if they were patented - and then decide to make them based on which ones were not?

Quote: TinMan

Does raise some card tracking AP possibilities depending on the dealing/shuffling procedure of course.
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The procedure is to shuffle, or use a shuffle machine, after every round. Since you only see 3 cards between shuffles, I gotta think that even a sloppy manual shuffle would be sufficient to thwart any AP card tracking methods.

Quote: heatmap

my question to you is did you take all the games - check to see if they were patented - and then decide to make them based on which ones were not?
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I’m not sure what you meant.