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Unusual VP Game in an Indian Casino

The BJ game had a 0.46% edge as a flat bet game provided you bet an even
number of coins and make sure you have at least as many credits as your bet
left over in the machine. Maximum bet is ten coins per hand.
The rules: one deck shuffled after each hand.
Dealer stands on soft 17.
BJ pays 3 to 2. (rounded down if you play an odd number of coins.)
Insurance (never a good play on this machine.)
Can split any pair but not resplit. (This includes the bad split of
non-identical tens.)
Double on 10 or 11 only but not after a split.
Six cards under 21 is an automatic win.
Early surrender (before dealer looks for BJ) on 12 through 16 (hard or
soft) vs dealer's 10 or Ace.
A later version of this game eliminated early surrender making the game
about a 0.1% house edge.
Much of a Michael Shackleford (Sorry if I blew the spelling!) article on
Internet BJ in Casino Player from a couple of years ago applies to this
game.
I used it to build a perfect basic strategy for this machine.

I do not know for sure but I think the double up was the source of the fix.

ยทยทยท

[Original Message]
From: brumar_lv <brumar_lv@yahoo.com>
To: <vpFREE@yahoogroups.com>
Date: 8/30/2004 6:07:46 PM
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Unusual VP Game in an Indian Casino

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Howard Stern" <howard.w.stern@e...>
wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Thanks for the very interesting background on Multi-Play!

This game disappeared in the Chicago Area
> for several reasons. One: It usually also contained a BJ game with
very
> good rules (Player edge 0.46% and you could let your winnings ride
and you
> got full comps.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Another reader inquired privately regarding the BJ game. If I return
this summer I will check it out. Are the "very good rules" you
referred to due to letting winnings ride, or something more?
Unfortunately, Chewelah doesn't offer comps at this time.

Two: Some versions of this game had an "easter egg" that
> the programmer put in to allow a set of button presses to activate
a cheat
> mode! The programmer fled to Canada and I do not know what happened
since.
> Several Chicago Area casinos got stung on this for six figures each
and
> sued WMS.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Another reader inquired privately regarding the double-up option for
VP ... that there was some kind of flaw. Is this what you are
referring to? I'll check that out too.

Also on this machine there may have been a game called Bonus
> Flush which is easily the most volatile version of VP ever seen. A
9-6
> jacks except that no payout for any pair and two pair was a push!
The
> gimmick was that after any flush you got paid one unit for every
card of
> the same suit as the flush in the final hand for the next seven
deals. In
> the non-bonus segment you never discarded all five cards. 2FL was
playable,
> 3FL was better than any pair, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I don't recall Bonus Flush, but will check to be sure.

Incidently, another reader inquired regarding bonusing slots ...
whether they can be found in Chewelah. I don't play slots much, but
hope to check that out too. The thing that puzzles me about bonusing
slots is how, even with a high bonus, does one know when the EV
exceeds 100%? I don't see how it's possible to profit, in the long
run, unless the EV can be determined. The 8/5 JorB game in Chewelah
(with a prog RF) has a poor pay schedule, but at least its possible
to calculate the game goes positive when the RF exceeds $433. But it
can't be calculated with a slot ... or am I missing something?

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Howard Stern" <howard.w.stern@e...>
wrote:
"The BJ game had a 0.46% edge as a flat bet game provided you bet an
even number of coins and make sure you have at least as many credits
as your bet left over in the machine. Maximum bet is ten coins per
hand. The rules: one deck shuffled after each hand. Dealer stands on
soft 17. BJ pays 3 to 2. (rounded down if you play an odd number of
coins.) Insurance (never a good play on this machine.) Can split any
pair but not resplit. (This includes the bad split of non-identical
tens.) Double on 10 or 11 only but not after a split. Six cards
under 21 is an automatic win. Early surrender (before dealer looks
for BJ) on 12 through 16 (hard or soft) vs dealer's 10 or Ace. A
later version of this game eliminated early surrender making the game
about a 0.1% house edge."

The best version of the game paid 2 to 1 for a single coin BJ
(otherwise, it did round down on BJ for odd wager amount), which
meant the player had a huge edge. Some versions gave the players
five coins on Surrender if the player wagered 9 coins, which meant
the ev of the surrender was 0.55+% of the bet versus the traditional
0.50%. Lastly, the dealer was limited to 6 cards, whether or not the
dealer had a hard 17 or higher.

There were other quicks in the game as well.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Howard Stern" <howard.w.stern@e...>
wrote:

The BJ game had a 0.46% edge as a flat bet game provided you bet an

even

number of coins and make sure you have at least as many credits as

your bet

left over in the machine. Maximum bet is ten coins per hand.
The rules: one deck shuffled after each hand.
Dealer stands on soft 17.
BJ pays 3 to 2. (rounded down if you play an odd number of coins.)
Insurance (never a good play on this machine.)
Can split any pair but not resplit. (This includes the bad split of
non-identical tens.)
Double on 10 or 11 only but not after a split.
Six cards under 21 is an automatic win.
Early surrender (before dealer looks for BJ) on 12 through 16 (hard

or

soft) vs dealer's 10 or Ace.
A later version of this game eliminated early surrender making the

game

about a 0.1% house edge.
Much of a Michael Shackleford (Sorry if I blew the spelling!)

article on

Internet BJ in Casino Player from a couple of years ago applies to

this

game.
I used it to build a perfect basic strategy for this machine.

I do not know for sure but I think the double up was the source of

the fix.

I returned to Chewelah yesterday (for the last time this summer) and
here's more detail about the Multi-Pay game.

It is a WMS (Williams Electronics) game, as you mentioned. There are
ten machines, and they offer these games:
Keno
Bonus5Line - A slot game
Wild and Loose - A slot game
Mystery Treasure - A slot game
Joker Poker
Deuces Wild (4000/500/100/60/50/20/15/15/10/5)
Bottoms Up (Similar to 7/5 BP except 400 for 4 Deuces, not 4 Aces)
JorB (8/5)
Money Fever (Flush activates a 7 hand flush bonus round)
Multi-Pay (But no double-up option)
BlackJack (on at least 8 of the 10 machines)

I believe the Blackjack is as you described. Dealer must draw if 16
or less, stand on 17 or higher. If player draws 6 cards the player
automatically wins. There is a double bet key, giving player 1 more
card. There is a split button, but only once. If splitting on Aces
only 1 more card is permitted. A 21 in a split hand is a regular
win. There is a Surrender Key ... can be used if dealer has 10 or
higher and player has 12-16 ... returns 1/2 bet to player. There is
an Insurance Key, and a Let It Ride Key. One deck is shuffled.

I also looked for Bonusing Slots, but I found only one ... Piggy
Bankin (only one machine).