Even more new table games

10 November 2016

By John Grochowski

Among the many considerations that go into designing a new table game is whether it looks both intriguing enough and easy enough that players will give it a try. There’s no point in offering a game that scares off players.

So most new table offerings are new riffs on familiar concepts. Every so often, that leads to different game developers hitting on similar ideas at the same time. That happened a few years ago when a walk around the Global Gaming Expo display floor found four blackjack side bets that paid when the dealer busted.

This year, I tried out two games that paid off on flushes of varying lengths, American Gaming Systems’ Chase the Flush and Shuffle Master/Scientific Games’ Flushes Gone Wild.
Both were fun to play and both seem like they have a chance to carve out a following in casinos, though an operator might not want both in the same pit.

The object in Chase the Flush is to make the longest flush among seven available cards.

You start by making ante and X-tra Bonus bets of equal size. Players and the dealer each receive three cards face down, and four community cards also are dealt face down.

After you see your three cards, you may either make an all-in bet of three times your ante, or check. If you’ve checked, then after seeing a two-card flop, you make either bet twice your ante or check again.

The turn and river cards then are turned face up, and those who have checked through must either bet equal to the ante or fold.

To beat the dealer, you must either have a flush with more cards or, if you and the dealer have flushes with the same number of cards, yours must have a higher rank.

However, if the dealer does not have a 9-high three-card flush or better, he does not qualify and the antes in action push.

The mandatory X-tra Bonus pays when the player wins with a flush of four or more cards. Winners are paid according to a pay table that maxes out at 250-1 for a winning seven-card flush.
An optional side bet called Same Suit also pays on a four-card flush or better, but players do not have to win the base bet to win on Same Suit.

In Flushes Gone Wild, deuces are wild – enabling your flush to go wild, of course.
You start with equal ante and blind bets. Players and the dealer each receive five cards face down, and two community cards are dealt.

After you’ve seen your five cards, you may either fold or stay in the game with a Play bet of double your ante. The dealer then reveals his cards and the community cards.

You use your five cards and the two community cards to make your longest flush. You win if you have a flush with more cards than the dealer, or if your flush is of the same length but higher rank.

Winning ante and play bets pay even money, while blind bet payoffs depend on your margin of victory. If the margin is five, you’re paid 200-1. Other blind payoffs are 25-1 on a margin of four, 5-1 on three, 3-1 on two and a push on zero or one.

At the start of play, you also have the option of making a side bet on a progressive jackpot or a side bet called Flush Rush. On Flush Rush, the top payoff of 200-1 comes on a seven-card natural straight flush – no deuces.

Look for John Grochowski on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/7lzdt44) and Twitter (@GrochowskiJ).