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.
![](https://wizardofvegas.com/images/user-images/DJTeddyBear/3125_large_6f058de5-bdff-4321-9a2d-b296b706447d.gif)
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.
Actually, the odds of HITTING are 21.7%Quote: Ace2Easy 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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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.
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.Quote: zbrownsonI 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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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.
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: TinManDoes raise some card tracking AP possibilities depending on the dealing/shuffling procedure of course.
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I’m not sure what you meant.Quote: heatmapmy 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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For my taste this game is too simple and thus lacks a fun factor that would make me hang around for a long session, but that may not be true of your target audience. I presume you know more than me about what attracts players.
Not sure if you're trying to obtain a placement with Pick A Card, but I wish you best of luck with this.
Yeah, the hit rate is low - when betting a single rank. But not as low as betting a single number on Roulette! 😁Quote: gordonm888Losing that frequently is oppressive, IMO, especially as it lends itself to long losing streaks that destroy your soul.
I presume you know more than me about what attracts players.
Not sure if you're trying to obtain a placement with Pick A Card, but I wish you best of luck with this.
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No. I don’t “know” what may attract a player. I just come up with ideas I *think* might be attractive. For the record, except for the novelty of playing my own games (which probably isn’t allowed anyway), I wouldn’t play this, or my other game, Poker For Roulette.
Placement? Sure! Know anybody?
By the way, I don’t mean to be Monday morning quarterbacking. I know a lot goes Into designing a game and it’s frustrating when someone gives their two cents with limited knowledge.
Quote: Ace2Give the player seven chances to hit, win pays even money. 10% house edge and many players will believe it’s positive EV since 7/13 is greater than 50%
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Interesting. I have never done that calculation for the average number of "ranks per hand" in a seven card hand. But there are so many One Pair Hands (6 ranks), Two pair Hands and Trips hands (5 ranks) That the average must be a bit below 6 ranks per hand, on average.
Quote: gordonm888Quote: Ace2Give the player seven chances to hit, win pays even money. 10% house edge and many players will believe it’s positive EV since 7/13 is greater than 50%
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Interesting. I have never done that calculation for the average number of "ranks per hand" in a seven card hand. But there are so many One Pair Hands (6 ranks), Two pair Hands and Trips hands (5 ranks) That the average must be a bit below 6 ranks per hand, on average.
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0 0 0.0000%
1 0 0.0000%
2 624 0.0005%
3 219648 0.1642%
4 5948800 4.4466%
5 36241920 27.0898%
6 63258624 47.2839%
7 28114944 21.0151%
8 0 0.0000%
133784560 ways
Average: 5.8454
No. Keep it simple.Quote: JoeTheDragonNo mini royal in the Bonus Sidebet?
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But thanks for checking my site. What do you think of the game?
Now can you bet bonus only?
For the Jackpot Sidebet you don't have to make any other bets to have action the next deal right after hitting stage one?
What are the jackpot splitting rules on the % pay outs as they are community cards
IndyJeffrey -
No online version. I'd LIKE to do it but I don't have the programming skills for that.
Ace2 -
7 chances? Seems like a nightmare to monitor. But I agree with your edge assessment.
TinMan -
Longshot for a specific card? Yeah, but the layout would be huge. I like simple.
JoeTheDragon -
Aside from your Roulette comment, my website addresses your other questions.
Specifically, it's the casino's option to have the progressive or not as well as to allow betting on the bonus or progressive without a bet on the basic game. Frankly, since the edge on those is higher than the base game, I would allow it.
Note that the progressive jackpot would be shared by all participants. But I believe regulations (or mere caution) would keep the progressive from being offered during a field trial.
Thanks for the comments!