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IGT was showing tables games and not just slot machines. CHIPCO was not even there, and if Dolphin was, I missed them. I was told (later) that GEMACO (well known for playing cards) is now in the chip manufacturing business and they were there with their offerrings.
Matsui was there and it was interesting to see that they had a three-ring binder of 20-pocket chip pages to display their 39mm chips. In the binder were sample chips and live-action chips (a Four Queens half dollar and the Hollywood Park Lunar New Year set of 3). They were giving out key-ring sample chips, which I'll show later.
I sat and played many of the new games being offered and an interesting one was "Under the Gun 31" and variation of blackjack with a draw card component. The developer said that the game was actually a pre-cursor to blackjack, but I have no idea if that is correct. It is played as follws:
Bets are made to an "ante" spot and optionally, you can place a "bonus" bet. Players and dealer alike are dealt 3 cards. This is a single deck game with a complete shuffle for each hand. Individual cards are scored just as they are in blackjack, HOWEVER, your point total can only be as high as the highest single suited card you have, or the addition of two or all three of your cards if they are the same suit. 3 Kings means you have 10 points total. 2 Kings and 7 in the same suit as one of the Kings is a total of 17. A 3-card Royal Flush is the ideal hand, as it gives you 31 and also yields a very large bonus pay-off.
After the deal, players look at their cards, pick 2 or 3 to hold, or fold (lossing the ante). To continue play for a replacement card or no-draw, you must match your ante bet. A forth card is given and again, your score can only be the highest amount obtainable by like suited cards!
The dealer does the same and you win by having a higher point count than the dealer. The dealer's hand always qualifies for play. The bonus bet is paid for 3-card straights, flushes, straight flushes, Royal flushes and 3 of a kind, with a multiplier statistically associated with the odds of getting such a hand. (When Pam and I were playing, she hit the Royal and they paid out with the higher denominations of advertising chips. She asked to keep a white one and they said OK.
Anyway, at first, the game was complicated, but after a few hands, it was as simple as blackjack, but the draw card added a bit of excitement to the game! It was fun. The developer is a brother, brother and sister team and they were very straight forward about looking for casino liscensing or venture capital for the endeavor.
This is a scan of some chips I came away with. The boxed chips are the same on both sides. The ShuffleMaster chips are re-used from last year. I have a few traders of the ShuffleMaster chips, the Midwest red with the face, as well as the 10,000 and 100,000 chips, which are from the South Korean, Seven Lucky, State run casino activity. This is not to say that the chips are from the casino, but only from the casino authority for South Korea.
Thanks for looking!
Jim
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