RACING CARD DERBY G
reat games – and by that, we mean games that endure – are generally very simple. Blackjack, Roulette, even Casino War; simple, but with enough quirks to engage customers for hours. You may now be able to add to that list Racing Card Derby [RCD], a deceptively simple game coming out of Australia that could become a global staple for casinos.
Tony Brown, inventor of the game and Director of Racing Card Derby, Australia, explained
to Casino International the basis of the game. “It’s a new casino table game that uses one deck of cards; the cards move horses in a horse race and people can bet on the outcome of the horse race. One drawn card is one move for the corresponding horse, the suit moves the horses in the race, and you can bet on win, red or black, quinellas and trifectas.”
It is exactly as simple as it sounds, and with the right staff member dealing it, Racing
Card Derby could be a huge draw for customers. Tony, who has experience of casino management himself, added: “The way to talk up a game on a Craps table, for example, is to give people a pump, give them a bit of excitement and a bit of entertainment, some value for money. Get some banter going, and the betting becomes almost secondary in a way. With Racing Card Derby we have a dealer’s manual that goes with each table, and all of the race calls are in there. The game is so simple, it’s only four moves to win the race. When you’re calling the race, you call the suit and say who’s in front, who’s coming up – given half a dozen race calls, any dealer will get the hang of this very, very quickly. It needs a little energy behind it; put a Craps dealer behind Racing Card Derby, tell them to talk it up and call the suit, before you know people will be cheering the results!”
The table takes up the same approximate space as a Blackjack table, yet seats up to 10
players, and a full table yield around 48 hands per hour. With just two players, it rises to around 75 hands an hour. Tony says: “Compared to Blackjack, there are less cards, it’s faster, no player decisions slow it down, there are no splits or double-downs and there’s an 11-card average per game.”
So where’s the house edge? Well, that’s where the 2 of spades comes in. If the two comes up while all four horses are in contention, it acts like a ‘protest’, which reduces the odds on paying red or black by half, and a win bet from 3-1 to 2- 1. A win bet still wins, but the win is reduced. If first place has been determined, then the two of spades is just another card.
RCD is gathering momentum already, and has GLI11 certification, with a number of
casinos having bought the game and, as we went to press, awaiting final approval. Tony elaborates: “The Venetian Macau has taken the game but is still waiting for final approval, Jupiter’s in Australia has done the same, they’ve already trained their staff ready for when the game can go live; Cactus Pete’s, a small casino in Nevada has agreed to a trial version pending final approval. The tables should be on the floor live by late August 2010.”
The game comes with everything a casino needs to get up and running, with a miniature PC running Windows XP, light boards (with 15-year redundancy on the LEDs) and the outstanding ICU2 card reader, which uses facial and pattern recognition technology to read the cards – and any shoe can be used with RCD and ICU2. Chip tray, table top and printed felts, plus a whole lot more – not to mention the potential for increased income and an injection of energy into your gaming floor – come with the RCD package.
www.racingcardderby.com
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