New poker games

27 October 2016

By John Grochowski

Each year at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, new table games cluster around two areas. There are new poker-based games, and new blackjack variants.

That’s only normal. Blackjack is the most popular casino table game, and the biggest growth in recent times has been in poker-based games such as Three Card Poker and Mississippi Stud.

This year is no exception, and I sat in for a few hands of a number of new games at G2E. For this week, let’s spotlight a couple of new poker-based games and save blackjack variants for next week.

CAJUN STUD, Galaxy Gaming: A five-card stud variant, Cajun Stud has you playing against a pay table that starts at a pair of 6s. You don’t have to beat the dealer to win.

Play starts with an ante. You’re then dealt two cards, and three community cards are dealt face down.

After you see your cards, you may either fold or bet one, two or three times your ante. One community card is flipped up, and you again may fold or bet one-to-three times the ante. A second community card is turned up, and you have the same options.

Finally, the last card is flipped up and hands are decided according to a pay table that starts with a push on a pair of 6s or 10s and even money on a pair of jacks or better, and rises to 500-1 on a royal flush. In between, there are several available pay tables.

Optional side bets include the Board Bonus, with payoffs on pairs or better among the three community cards; the Pocket Bonus, which pays on a pair or better in your two cards, and the Lo Ball bet, with payoffs when you have no pairs and a high card from 7 through jack.

Optional side bets include the Board Bonus, with payoffs on pairs or better among the three community cards; the Pocket Bonus, which pays on a pair or better in your two cards, and the Lo Ball bet, with payoffs when you have no pairs and a high card from 7 through jack.

THREE CARD DRAW POKER, Score Gaming: An easy-to-play game, Three Card Draw Poker gives the players the option of discarding a card from their original three, then drawing a card to complete a three-card hand.

At the start of play, you must make an ante and have the option of making a First Three Bonus bet. You then receive three cards, while the dealer receives four.

After you look at your cards, you have three options. You can fold, and forfeit your ante. You can make an In to Win bet equal to your ante and stand on your first three cards, or you can discard a card and make a Draw Bet equal to your ante to receive an extra card.

After all bets are made, the hand is decided by the higher-ranking poker hands, using three-card rankings where straights outrank flushes. If you win, you’re paid even money on the ante and on either In to Win or Draw.

In addition, a bonus is paid to In to Win/Draw bettors who have a straight or better. Bonus payoffs are even money on a straight, 5-1 on three of a kind, 10-1 on a straight flush and 20-1 on a mini-royal.

The First Three Bonus bet pays even money on any pair, 3-1 on a flush, 6-1 on a straight, 30-1 on three of a kind, 50-1 on a straight flush and 200-1 on a mini-royal.

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