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Be Wary of IGT Game King 25 -- you may find Double Trouble

#1

I was in the Par-a-Dice Casino in Peoria, Illinois, sitting close to
a middle-aged woman playing an IGT Game King 25. She was one of
those players who has to let everyone around her know what was
happening.

Suddenly she gave an excited shriek. "Four threes!"

Many of us gave her our congrats. But her beaming happiness suddenly
froze. She began to babble something about "not wanting to," an
attitudinal shift that was bewildering.

She finally hit a button in desperation and slumped back in the chair.

The video poker machine that stung her had undoubtedly gotten
others. This model doesn't show anything about double or nothing on
the screen UNTIL you have a winning hand. Then the double button
shows up on the touch screen. It's very easy for someone to hit it
without fully intending to. And as with any of the doublers, once
you hit it, it can't be changed.

Most people who stumble on this may lose 5 or 10 credits, not a
particularly expensive lesson. But in her case, she was out 400
credits.

I looked at the machine after she left. There was a small plate
attached to the front which warned that, "...the double down choice,
once made, could not be aborted." So at least the warning was there.

Does anyone know of any other models which operate in the same or a
similar way?

Mcgwrite

#2

...... Does anyone know of any other models which operate in the

same or a similar way?

Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I thought they all pretty much
operated this way: i.e. you don't see the double up button on screen
until you get a winning hand. Some machines will have a different
background color (such as black instead of blue) which varies
according to whether or not double up is enabled, but this is
certainly not an obvious indication to the average person that double
up will appear.

I have also seen machines where double up is apparently turned off,
UNLESS you get a hand paid jackpot hand. Imagine playing a machine
for hours with no double up when suddenly you hit a Royal. Then the
machine asks you DOUBLE??? You want to be really careful at this
point :wink: I can see where someone might be excited about hitting the
Royal and could easily hit the double up button by mistake in this
situation.

EE

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "mcgwrite" <mcgwrite@a...> wrote:

#3

My wife once was dealt a royal on $1 machine, and in her exitement,
inadvertantly hit the double-up button. She had to beat a 3. Drew a
4 and was paid $8000. Casino Royale then took us OFF of their mailing
lists.

···

On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 13:20:00 -0000, you wrote:

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "mcgwrite" <mcgwrite@a...> wrote:

...... Does anyone know of any other models which operate in the

same or a similar way?

Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I thought they all pretty much
operated this way: i.e. you don't see the double up button on screen
until you get a winning hand. Some machines will have a different
background color (such as black instead of blue) which varies
according to whether or not double up is enabled, but this is
certainly not an obvious indication to the average person that double
up will appear.

I have also seen machines where double up is apparently turned off,
UNLESS you get a hand paid jackpot hand. Imagine playing a machine
for hours with no double up when suddenly you hit a Royal. Then the
machine asks you DOUBLE??? You want to be really careful at this
point :wink: I can see where someone might be excited about hitting the
Royal and could easily hit the double up button by mistake in this
situation.

EE

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#4

eecounter wrote:

Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I thought they all pretty much
operated this way: i.e. you don't see the double up button on screen
until you get a winning hand.

I have also seen machines where double up is apparently turned off,
UNLESS you get a hand paid jackpot hand. Imagine playing a machine
for hours with no double up when suddenly you hit a Royal. Then the
machine asks you DOUBLE??? You want to be really careful at this
point :wink: I can see where someone might be excited about hitting the
Royal and could easily hit the double up button by mistake in this
situation.

In the case of Game Kings, things are a little different than other
machines. When the double up is turned on, a small video "button"
along the bottom of the screen lights up after any win. Press it and
you start a double. Notable, however, is that this button appears
along side a number of other small standard video buttons of similar
size - for the Deal/Draw, wager, machine speed, etc.

Most other machines require you to physically confirm whether you want
to double after a win and the feature is impossible to overlook.
However, on Game Kings you can simply ignore the button (provided you
noticed it to begin with) and continue play without doing anything
different.

Since most players tend to use the physical buttons to play they
generally take little notice of these buttons. In fact most players,
including myself, don't even realize that the double option is being
offered until at some point down the road they happen to scan the
screen carefully.

The point is that things starkly differ when a win is hit that will
require a handpay. Now, all machines on which the double is turned on
will give you one last option to double before lighting the lamp for
an attendent. However, in the case of Game Kings the player
frequently isn't aware that the double is turned on ... not until that
big win when huge letters now flash on the screen asking if you want
to double, with a sizable (2"x2"?) button to activate it.

There have been more than a couple of players who have reported
brushing there hand/body against that body in their excitement over
the win and in turning to let others know the good news. Others have
simply frozen in their seats when confronted with this unwanted and
unexpected option, afriad to touch anything. Many players come away
with the impression that the double option only appears on a hand pay
... a nefarious attempt by the casino to hold onto their money ;).

There are any number of ways that IGT could have implemented this in a
more player-friendly manner. Chief among these would be making the
activation button far smaller, lessening the likelihood that a player
will inadvertantly trigger it.

- Harry

#5

mcgwrite wrote:

I was in the Par-a-Dice Casino in Peoria, Illinois, sitting close to
a middle-aged woman playing an IGT Game King 25. She was one of
those players who has to let everyone around her know what was
happening.

Suddenly she gave an excited shriek. "Four threes!"

Many of us gave her our congrats. But her beaming happiness suddenly
froze. She began to babble something about "not wanting to," an
attitudinal shift that was bewildering.

She finally hit a button in desperation and slumped back in the chair.

The video poker machine that stung her had undoubtedly gotten
others. This model doesn't show anything about double or nothing on
the screen UNTIL you have a winning hand.

snip

Yes ... and I'd bet a dollar to a donut that she had, in fact, had at least some winning hands before she managed to hit quads. So, I'd think that it would have sunk in by then, and it should not have caught her off guard. I don't see this as being "stung".

Bill

#6

.... doubled, was paid $8000 [then] Casino Royale then took us
OFF of their mailing lists.

Sounds like win, win, win.