Friday, September 26, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

PLAYER'S EDGE: Gaming Expo's new skill games should attract interest

Every year in the fall, all of the gaming manufacturers unveil their newest creations. While there were more than 200 new slot machines, at this year's Global Gaming Expo, we concentrated on the games of skill. These are the most interesting new skill games that we'll be seeing on casino floors in the next six months or so.

Multi Hand Multi Strike Poker (IGT) -- Multi Strike Poker was the hottest new game to come out of last year's show. It's a four-line game in which you progress to the higher lines only if you score on the lower lines. The newest twist on this game is a five-play version. When we heard six months ago that they were going to have a five-play version of a four-line game, we found it impossible to visualize. But you'll see it soon.

Big Split (IGT) -- This is a video game similar to pai gow poker. You get eight cards and need to arrange them into hands of five cards and three cards. The larger hand must qualify (two pair, jacks or higher) but when you can do that the smaller hand acts as a multiplier if you can get a pair, flush, straight or other combination in it. You can move the cards back and forth and it's fascinating.

Super Times Pay (IGT) -- IGT introduced 10 to 15 new games in which you buy a bonus somehow. This game will be out in a few weeks and is the best of the lot, in our opinion. Here you play a multihand game (i.e. Triple Play, Five Play or Ten Play) and bet six coins per line. You normally get paid for five coins per line, but every 15 hands or so you get a random multiplier (2x, 5x, 8x, up to 10x) that multiplies the payout. The nice part of this game is that proper strategy doesn't change and the multiplier effect adds a quarter percent or so to the base game.

Reel 'em In (WMS) -- You've seen this game as a WMS slot machine. Now it's a WMS video poker game, complete with fishing sound effects and animation. Once every 52 cards on the draw (about every 10 hands), one of the cards is designated as a "Go Fish" card. When you receive that card, you get to see up to seven cards, one at a time, to put in place of the Go Fish card -- except once you pass on a card it's gone.

Pick 'em Poker Plus (Bally) -- This game lets you play the standard Pick 'em Poker game in a multihand version.

Ten Hand Stud Poker (Sigma) -- Sigma has been trying this game for a few years. The basic idea is you are dealt 10 cards and you throw away three of them -- and the remaining seven cards are shuffled and dealt into 10 hands for which you're paid. Many of the hands are intuitively obvious how to play, but sometimes you have to choose which possibility to throw away.

Bonus Point Schedule: Bally's (Connection Club) -- 2x daily in September; Barbary Coast (Fun Club) -- 2x Mondays; Barley's (Reward Club) -- 2x midnight-8 a.m., 5x Tuesdays and Sundays in September; Binion's Horseshoe (Horseshoe Club) -- 2x Tuesdays; Cannery (American Can Club) -- 4x Monday and Tuesday, 3x Wednesday-Sunday, 6x 6:30-7:30 p.m. and 9:30-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (some machines excluded); Casino MonteLago (Club Uno) -- 2x Monday-Thursday; Casino Royale (Club Royale) -- 2x 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 8-11 p.m., 3x 7-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m.; El Cortez (Jackie's Club) -- 2x Tuesdays and Thursdays; Ellis Island (Passport Players Club) -- 5x 9 p.m.-9 a.m. daily, all day Thursdays and Sundays (some machines restricted); Fiestas (Amigo Club): 5x Fridays, 5x table-game points Mondays (register at booth); Hacienda (Club Matador) -- 2x Wednesdays; Imperial Palace (Imperial Club) -- 2x midnight-6 a.m.; Key Largo (Players Club) -- 4x Sunday-Thursday, 3x Friday and Saturday; Opera House (Slot Club) -- 2x Tuesdays; The Orleans (Club Orleans) -- 2x noon-midnight Tuesdays; Palms (Club Palms) -- 2x Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; Paris Las Vegas (Connection Club) -- 2x daily in September; Railroad Pass (Players Junction) -- 2x Wednesdays and 3x Thursdays; Slots A Fun (One Club) -- 2x Wednesdays; Terrible's (Players Club) -- 2x cash-back redemption Sundays-Wednesdays, 5x points Thursdays, 5x points midnight-9 a.m. Sundays-Wednesdays.