SCORE GAMING
business a long time, with someone who wants to enhance it. It is slow and steady, and you learn every day.
CI: Finding balance in side bets is tough –
it’s got to hit enough times to make people want to play, but not cripple the casino. DMS: Exactly. I couldn’t agree more. There
can’t I do that?’ One of the games we have that is more successful is Double-Up Blackjack. In that game you get your first two cards, or you split and get a two-card hand; then instead of standing you can double your bet then stand. Part of this is frustration when playing – I might make a big bet of $50, and I would get a 18 and the dealer would show a ten, and get a 20; then I reduce my bet to $25 after losing and then I get a 20, and the dealer shows an eight. Now I bet less and got a better hand. So why can’t I bet more after I see my hand, then stand? Why do I have to double down and then risk a card? Then I went to a mathematician, and often they will tell you that what you are trying to do is impossible; then I try to figure out a way that I can do it, where it works with the math and the house edge. Then you factor in what players like and don’t like. So the process is usually, why can’t we change this? And if we can, let’s figure out a way, a system so the impossible can be done.
Often, we look around to see where there might be a gap in the market, a need not being fulfilled. One game I invented is called Lucky 8s, which trialled at The Venetian. There is no game built around the Asian lucky number 8, so I thought I could do that, it’s a unique opportunity. We have another game called
Throw One Back; I get very frustrated when I’m playing and I get a 10 and a 2 for a 12, and the dealer shows a two, I get a ten and bust out. So, instead of busting, why can’t I get give back the 2 and play my two 10’s for a 20? I created this game, which gives an incredible player advantage that you then have to figure out a way to balance. These are the kinds of things that create impetus for a game. I think about games a lot. One of the key things for me
was meeting Bobby Jones. He’s been in the industry forever, and he came to me and saw that I am an inventor that wants to learn, that I look at a game and want to know what’s wrong with it, not what’s right; if I can figure out what’s wrong with it, I can grow as a result. Bobby joining Score gives us a synergistic relationship where you bring his skill of operations and relationships in casinos, and someone that’s been in the
28 FEBRUARY 2017
are side bet games that you add to Blackjack that do different things. You can add a side bet, to allow players to do something they couldn’t before with their main wager, such as in Throw One Back. The side wager is there to offset the player advantage that comes from being able to give back a card and change a busted hand to a playable hand all while the player does not lose the main wager as they would in regular blackjack. Other side wagers do not change the game of blackjack at all, but give the player a chance to win on their original cards. Then you have to balance what players like compared to what inventors think will work… you want to walk away with the feeling that you have gotten value, in gaming or anything in life. I’ve tried to give people more value by giving a winning unit almost 25% of the time – and players didn’t like that. They wanted to win less but get paid more.
CI: Do players all want higher volatility? What about players from different countries? How does that factor into a side bet? DMS: These are the things that keep me up at night. One of the things about culturally specific game content is that culturally specific things are often based on assumption. If I want Score Gaming to have Asian game content and I pick a game based entirely around the number eight, that’s supposed to be culturally specific. Using dragons and themes like that, it’s supposed to say, I’m thinking about your culture – but to the player that might not matter at all. You consider cultural things, but you can run the risk of being offensive with that, by assuming you know that other culture.
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