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Video Poker I Want to See “Any Denomination” Video Poker Games

Discussion in 'Video Poker' started by thecarve, Apr 4, 2014.

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  1. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    When you think about it, the differences between the various video poker denominations are pretty damn big. 50¢ and two dollar games are fairly common now. But not all multi-denomination games have them and you’re forced to increase your bet by a factor of four or five if you want more action. Imagine if you were playing blackjack on a $10 table and wanted to bump your bet up to $15 or $20, only to be told, “I’m sorry sir/ma’am, if you want to increase your bet you have to bet $50”. And even on the games that have the 50¢ or two dollar option, there’s still a pretty big difference between a 50¢ game and a dollar game (and an even bigger difference between two and five dollar games).

    So, why not have games that allow you to input whatever amount you want? If your bankroll will accommodate 75¢ (or 61¢ or 88¢ for that matter) video poker, why should you have to choose between being bored at 50¢ or overreaching at $1? It isn’t like it would be difficult or expensive for the casinos or game makers to make/maintain such machines. And they could still divide up the casino into denominations like they do now – some machines could go from 1-25¢, some from $.25-5 etc. But instead of choosing between nickel, quarter or dollar games we could input whatever value we wanted within that range.

    I assume that the answer to the question, “why not”, is the obvious one: the casinos believe (or know) that we will bet more with the fixed denominations; that the guy who wants to play a $3.50 game is more likely to jump up to $5 than he is to play at $2. And no $5 player who plays games with 250-credit quads would ever play $5 anymore. He’d play at $4.75 to avoid all those W2-Gs. (Though, in this instance, I suspect that the 5% reduction in denomination would be more than recouped due to less playing time being wasted waiting for the hand-pay, less labor needed to process the fewer number of hand-pays and the fact that instead of “real money”, players would be paid in easier-to-spend credits for big hits.)

    I’m not sure I have much of a point other than I’d like to see these types of machines introduced. What do you think? Something you’d be interested in? Have you ever seen or heard of such games? Are my assumptions correct or way off? Thoughts? Comments?
     
  2. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    Personally, no. I like round numbers and I hate coins in Vegas.
     
  3. MWJ51102

    MWJ51102 Low-Roller

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    Cool idea. I'd do a little over 25 cents so I could get the royal to just under $1200. I've never thought of this before.
     
  4. DonnyC

    DonnyC VIP Whale

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    Probably so they don't have to pay out in coins.
     
  5. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    Cuz you will get someone that misses the decimal point and enters $100 instead of $1.00, plays a hand and freaks out that there whole bankroll is gone, calls the attendent and then drama ensues

    Also, more stuff for the player to do before playing. You want machines to be simple so people will play them, if there is any frustration involved, people wont play.

    Also, you will get people playing penny VP and just sessing on free drinks
     
  6. Buddha

    Buddha VIP Whale

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    Not sure what "sessing" is .... However, for the previous 2 or 3 years, I would often see the same elderly man playing VP on the multi-denominational 50-play VP machine at the Four Queens. He would always play ONE line for ONE penny, and the cocktail waitresses never refused his request for a drink.
     
  7. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    Indeed. Plus, there can certainly be a lower limit to the amount you can choose. If casinos don’t want it as low as a penny, they could put whatever number they wanted as the lowest about you could play.

    I also don’t think that the “wrong decimal point” argument is all that big of a deal. You would have upper and lower limits as I mention in my OP. There wouldn’t be a machine where it would be possible to think you’re playing $1 but actually be playing $100. The machine would go from say $.25-$5, or something like that. And you don’t necessarily have to make it so the player would have to type in the number. There could be a slider type thing like you find on smart phones and tablets. Also, I’m sure this sort of thing happens today with the penny slots (people thinking they’re playing a very small amount but are actually playing three or four bucks a spin). That doesn’t seem to have stopped their proliferation.

    Now, the “simplicity” argument, on the other hand, is a tough one. They want to make it as simple as possible for you to piss away your money and don’t like things that add complication. I still think there are reasonably easy solutions, though. There could be preset amounts like 25¢ or $1 that the machine could revert to when not in use so someone not familiar with the machine wouldn’t have to do anything but sit and play. If someone wanted to change the denomination they could do it just as they do today – choosing between 25¢, 50¢, $1 and $2 – or they could select their own amount. Still, this one might bother the decision makers a bit.
     
  8. DrLect

    DrLect Winning!

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    I think the ability to choose denominations to the penny would be very valuable to players who are trying to manage the W2G payouts they receive. Someone pointed out that they would like to avoid $1200 royal flushes and would adjust their play accordingly. It might be even more valuable to players who seek to avoid getting W2Gs when certain four of a kind hands exceeds the threshold.

    To avoid coin handling when TITO can't be used, casinos could opt for a "round-up" feature in the software so that payouts in excess of $1199 are automatically calculated in whole dollars to facilitate hand pays when they are required.
     
  9. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    Sessin' on brews? no? hmmm...I guess I am showing my age :thumbsup:
     
  10. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Yeah, I don't think I have seen that low of a bet before by anyone. I would have to at least max bet the one line. When playing for drinks on those machines, I'm almost always at 36 cents (6 x 6 for STP)


    And OP, actually, U1 gaming machines do this. The paytable also gradually increases with larger wagers. I have seen them at South Point. They may be at a couple of downtown places too.

    http://wizardofodds.com/games/keno/u1/
     
  11. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    Interesting. I’ve never seen those before. Thanks for the heads up. :beer:

    Do the actual games have some of the more popular variants? Or are they populated with the weird ones shown in the picture?
     
  12. vetsen

    vetsen Low-Roller

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    There are a fair amount of machines now that allow you to play up to 6-10 coins or even more. If you play six coins at quarters you're essentially playing a $.30 5-coin game.

    Current 100-play machines do allow the casino to set a minimum bet. Not sure how flexible this is. I'm pretty sure I've seen $2 and $5 mins.
     
  13. M_ILIS

    M_ILIS VIP Whale

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    I'm all for this. My experience earlier this week taught me I'm not properly funded for quarters, but I find nickels a little bit boring.
     
  14. Kickin

    Kickin Flea

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    I like the idea and I think I'd get some good use out of it. The main denoms I play are $2, $5, and $10 and as you said the jumps between those are pretty large. I'd still stick to round numbers though (like $4 so $20/spin), just to maintain my sanity.

    I'm not sure the coin issue would matter to casinos. The biggest and fastest growing slots are penny slots which also pay out in those odd amounts. They may worry it will just be confusing to people though especially since there is so much convention in how VP is played.

    I think its unclear if locking you into betting a higher amount actually benefits the casino. I've read that one of the factors that contributes to penny slot popularity is the fact that people can bet whatever amount they feel comfortable with. I guess illusion of control factors into that as well.

    IGT has been laying people off, maybe this is the new big idea they need to turn things around!
     
  15. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Unfortunately, I don't really remember. Bah. :grrr: I would think if they were smart they would though.

    I just tried it for a few minutes playing the wacky poker game in the picture actually...:eek: South Point also has 8/5 Bonus with Double Super Times Pay for quarters (99.67%; the best paying Double STP game nationwide), so I couldn't be too bothered by the U1 machines. :evillaugh

    Well, it's a better idea than their new VP machine design at least. I hate the new CET units.

    Dimes is often an option though.
     
  16. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    In Reno, there are machines that offer 1-20 coins (full-pay at 5+ coins) for 5¢/10¢/25¢/50¢/$1/$2/$5.
    That's a LOT of variations... Vegas probably doesn't have it simply because they want more money than little odd amounts (people like round numbers, $50/$100/$250/$500/$1000)
     
  17. jackincols

    jackincols Guest

    I'm no techno wizard so this might be plum dumb, but wouldn't it be so time consuming to program in all the variations if a machine would let you bet any amount as Carve suggested, let alone the various payouts for those bets.
     
  18. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    To program it? It wouldn't take very long; I would think that would be one of the easier parts to program. Now could you add too many options to confuse/annoy patrons. Look at how well the "myPoker" machines by WMS turned out.
     
  19. Dewey089

    Dewey089 VIP Whale

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    Perhaps "cessing" meaning in Irish slang, luck.
     
  20. The Furry One

    The Furry One Low-Roller

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    Ok, I'd never use "sessing" and nor would anyone I know but obviously it's not that common in North America for someone to go on a 'drinking session'?

    Certainly not uncommon over here, heck we even refer to an ATM as a 'drink-link' :)

    Furry
     
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