Feature by Bob Dancer

Dancer’s Picks
My favorites from the 2000 World Gaming Congress

Each year in October, the World Gaming Congress and Expo, held in Las Vegas, is the industry's biggest and best trade show. Manufacturers of any product related to gaming (slot machines, video poker games, coin sorting equipment, uniforms, security systems, accounting systems, consulting services, table games, lights, furniture, Internet gambling, etc.) all come together for three days, hoping to catch the eye of casino buyers.

As most players don't make it to the show, I thought you might like to know what caught my eye. My specialty is video poker and other machine games of skill, so those are what I concentrated on. For this article, I'm only evaluating whether I think the game is fun and interesting. The pay schedules demonstrated at the show are usually the loosest ones available, and they will be tighter when the games actually end up in a casino. Only after they're on the floor will I be able to judge whether or not the knowledgeable player can beat them. "Fun and interesting" is good enough for many players. For me, being able to win at the game is far more important.

Unfortunately, there's a time lag between what's unveiled at the show and when it gets to the casino floor-and different parts of the country experience different lags. At last year's show (October 1999), I liked, among others, Heads Up Poker, which has just been licensed in Mississippi; Fifty Play Poker, which started appearing in Las Vegas in August 2000; Matrix Poker, which showed up in Vegas in October 2000; and 3 Way Poker (which still isn't out, but it's getting closer).

IGT is the biggest slot and video poker machine manufacturer in the world and they introduced more new games than all of the other manufacturers put together. More and better. Their poker games all come from Action Gaming (inventor of Triple Play series of games-clearly the hottest video poker games around). I was particularly impressed with three of them. They also have two strategy games not related to video poker that I liked. Finally, there was one game each from Bally Gaming, CDS and Sigma Games that I thought had potential.

Cash King Checkers, IGT

This isn't video poker at all, but based on the familiar game of checkers. You start with five blue checkers and 12 red checkers are randomly placed on the board. You now use your blue checkers (which are actually kings and can jump forward or backward) to jump the red ones. The more checkers you jump, the higher your score. Although simple in concept, sometimes you have to choose which checkers to jump first, and often it matters. Strategy counts. I think this one will be a hit.

Chase The Royal, IGT/Action

In this Triple Play game, if you're dealt JJ, QQ or KK, you have the option of playing that hand or giving up the high pair and starting your three hands with a three-card royal, like A(tm) K(tm) Q(tm) or Q´ J´ T´. The values of the straight and flush are bumped up so that it's always in the player's long-term interest to go for the royal. Players of this game will receive a lot more royals than usual, but will lose a lot more money between them. This volatility is exciting, but it's not for either the faint of heart or folks on a budget.

Four Play Blackjack, IGT

In this game, you're dealt four up cards against one "dealer's" up card. You then play blackjack four times. Labeling your cards A, B, C and D (which we will say are a K, a 7, a 3 and another 7; let's also say the dealer has a 4), you first play hand BC (i.e. a 7 and a 3); you'd double and take a card. You then play hand AC (a K and a 3) and you'd stand. Next, play hand DB (a 7 and a 7), which you should split. Finally, hand AD (a K and a 7), where you'd stand. The dealer now draws until he gets at least 17 or goes broke. Since the player sees five cards before he must make any play, and sometimes 10 or more before he makes his final play, there is far more room for skill here than simple one-on-one machine blackjack. And, as in all blackjack, the exact rules will determine whether this is a good game or not for the expert player.

Hundred Play Poker, IGT/Action

You've seen Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play and Fifty Play. Get ready for the next generation. With IGT's EZ Pay system (which has the potential to be coinless), it is now possible to have games denominated in pennies. This game's a natural for that. For a $5 bet (the same as a single-line dollar player invests), the player gets 100 hands-and there is always at least some return.

Millionaire Poker, IGT/Action

This is normal Triple Play with a twist. If you're dealt a paying hand (i.e. a pair of Queens, or a straight, etc.), you get a special bonus opportunity on your very next hand. If, on your next hand, you're dealt a royal flush (a one in 650,000 chance), instead of receiving the 12,000 coins you'd usually get, you receive 1,000,000 coins. Since dealt paying hands happen every seven hands or so, you'll get 50 to 80 long shots at a million coins every hour-often enough to get your personal dream machine nicely oiled!

Multi-Play Poker, Bally Gaming

This is a knockoff of Five Play poker (can also be played in a three-line version) with a twist: You don't need to play all five hands the same. Let's say you were playing 10/7 Double Bonus and you were dealt AAA55. The correct play would be to hold just the Aces, but that can be expensive if you don't draw another Ace. So many players might chicken out and keep the full house on three of the hands (for a guaranteed profit) but gamble it up on the other two. Not a smart way to gamble, perhaps, because in any hand, one play will have the highest expected value. But many players don't want to place all of their eggs in the same basket, so this might end up being popular.

PokerJack, CDS

This is a game that combines video poker and blackjack. You're dealt two cards and see the "dealer's" up card, just like in regular blackjack. If you like your chances blackjack-wise, you can play the hand that way. If you think your hand would be better at poker, you can do that instead. For example, let's say you were dealt a K and a T (mixed suits) against a dealer 6. You have to like your chances at blackjack, so you'd keep your 20 and let the dealer draw. But if you started with a pair of 4s against a dealer A, now you want to play video poker.

Super 9's, Sigma

Sigma specializes in novelty video poker games (Sneak Peak and Krazy Kickers, among others), and Super 9's is no exception. You get dealt four cards and there are some payoffs on the deal. A pair of nines gets you something, as does two pair, three of a kind, etc. You then play video poker, holding as many of the four cards as you like and drawing enough new cards so you end up with a five-card hand. You get paid according to a 9s or better pay schedule. Since you only start with four cards, you can never receive a dealt straight, flush, straight flush or royal. Like many Sigma games, this one is impossible to analyze with readily available software. (I believe this is one reason why Sigma games aren't as popular as those from IGT.)

Well, those, in my opinion, were the standouts this year. No telling how long they'll take to get to the casinos, where we'll discover just how good they really are. Until then, keep your eyes peeled. The new crop of games definitely includes some winners.