Last week, Gamblit Gaming announced that it will soon launch a pair of poker “skill game” machines on casino floors, Deal or No Deal Poker and Deal or No Deal Poker Special. The games were first unveiled at the Global Gaming Expo eleven months ago and will go live later this year.
A Game of Random Luck
The games were developed in collaboration with Endemol Shine Gaming, a subsidiary of the Endemol Shine Group, the company that created the hit Deal or No Deal television show. For those unfamiliar with the show, it is a pure luck-based game with a small bit of strategy involved. In the television show, the contest chooses from one of 26 closed briefcases, each of which contains a different amount of money, from a penny to a million dollars. In the first round, the contestant eliminates six of the remaining cases. After that, a mysterious “banker” gives the contestant a dollar offer, based on a percentage of the average values of the briefcases still available. The contestant can choose to take the offer or continue on, risking that the briefcase he chose has more money in it.
The game goes on from there, with the contestant eliminating more briefcases and the banker giving more offers until the contestant ends up with the offer or his briefcase.
Deal or No Deal Poker
Gamblit Gaming’s new games use the Deal or No Deal format with a poker spin. Deal or No Deal Poker is a single-player game which is essentially video poker. Five cards are dealt to begin and the player chooses which ones to hold, just like in video poker. Above each card is a column of four briefcases, each of which contains a card from the deck; for each card that is discarded, the player can select one of the five briefcases in the column above it. Those new cards make the player’s final five-card hand.
That’s not all, though. If the player holds three or fewer cards, the “banker” will give the player a monetary offer after the first new card is chosen. The player can evaluate the offer based on the current hand and the payout tables and choose to take it or draw the next card. Offers are made until there is just one card left to select.
Deal or No Deal Poker Special
Deal or No Deal Poker Special is a four-player game where the participants sit down and compete against each other. After each person places an equivalent bet, briefcases with dollar (or cent) amounts are mixed up in the center of the table (displayed on a monitor, of course). Each player then selects one, which is the possible prize he or she can win.
When the game begins, each player is dealt two cards face-up and a timer begins to count down. At the same time, cards from the deck are revealed one by one. If a player wants to add that card to his hand, he presses a “Grab Card” button. Only one person can get each card, so it is a quick-finger contest if more than one person wants the same card. When someone completes their five-card hand, the timer advances quickly and the remaining players only have a few more seconds to find some cards. The player with the best five-card hand at the end wins.
And of course, since it’s Deal or No Deal, a few of the unselected briefcases are opened to show their dollar amounts and the dealer makes the winner an offer. The winner can take it or go for the briefcase he took in the beginning.
