Playing fast does not affect the EV of this game. If you get your bank over 30 seconds, those extra seconds are instead used to double (or triple etc.) up to the excess over 30 seconds. Playing faster increases the drain waiting for the bonus rounds that exactly offsets the doubling or tripling affect.
Here is a direct link to the website at WMS gaming that explains the Big Event VP game:
http://www.wms.com/game-detail.php?Category=00&Themes=836
When I first played it, I just sat down and started playing as I thought it was just a regular VP game and didn't really take the time to read the HELP info on the game, but it is rather entertaining. An article that I had read from the internet, while I was trying to gather and find more info on this new game, stated that it was first installed at Red Rock in Las Vegas, but it was slow to catch on, but I cannot verify that, as I'm not a local resident of Nevada.
I found it at a local casino back here in Michigan. The problem is most people are sitting down and like me, are not reading the screen or help info on it and you just start to play. If you don't hit bet MAX 7 coins, you are not eligible for any bonus rounds and then you can just play it like a regular 5 coin VP machine. Kind of like playing supertimes pay machines and never having the multiplier spin out if you are only betting 5 coins per hand.
This game reminds me of the flush attack game of long ago, but unlike that game, where you had "campers" at the machine, reading books and newspapers and just waiting with credits on their machine to only play during the Flush Attack mode, this game has a countdown meter, (in seconds) that is on your screen and it continuously counts down from a range of 30-0 seconds, as you play each VP hand. If you remain inactive and don't play for 30 seconds, you are excluded from entering a bonus round if one is triggered, (unlike the flush attack game), which was activated on every machine on the linked bank of machines regardless if a machine was being played or not. The unique thing about this game though, is prior to entering a triggered bonus round, if you are playing fast and I mean REAL FAST, your pays entering the bonus round are either in 3X, or 2X, mode play, and this is constantly being updated and displayed on your screen in the top left corner near the countdown. If you play really slow, you enter all bonus rounds with just a normal pay multiplier of 1x pay. All credits awarded during the bonus round and then multiplied by your award that you received from playing fast, prior to entering the bonus round. The website at WMS, really doesn't show that while I played the game in demo mode online, it went into a bonus round, but every round that I played for fun online was only at 1X award play. For real and in the casino, I went into every bonus round, (except 1 time, when I stopped to put more money into the machine), at the 3x level, but it is a lot of work to keep up that level of play and at that pace. One of the bonus rounds is to receive 7 FREE games with a super paytable. The full houses on 9/6 JOB pays 90 during the bonus round and then I got 3x for it and was awarded 270 coins for a full house. During your normal play, your credits slowly get drained during regular play, but you can make it up during the bonus rounds, (if they come quick enough), especially if you hit a good hand during the bonus round. I think there is probably on "optimal" pace of play where you can just maybe play at a speed right at 3x, if you play a bit slower your multiplier drops to DBL pays on the screen at 2x then. If you pick your play up and play really fast for like 3-4 hands in a row, you multiplier jumps back up to 3x then. Some hands just take longer to play, if you start getting dealt 4 to flush or a pat straight, or full house or 2 pair, it just takes longer to hold more cards and push more buttons, but I really didn't have a problem keeping up with it, but it is tiring and more work then just sitting down and playing a regular VP game. I know I could not play it much longer then what I did for like 4 hours nonstop.
Like everyone else, I think playing fast and making the very common mistake of not seeing low pairs and throwing them away and then you notice that right away after you hit the DRAW button, that you did it, and well after it's gone, it's gone, you don't take the time to dwell on it, you just keep right on going then. It's a crazy game, but I think maybe it's worth playing, if you find a good paytable on it, but at the pace that I was playing I figured during your play you are playing over 2500+ hands an hour for sure, and was just wondering if it's all worth it. All I know is that I have sore wrists today.... lol There are 2 bonus rounds where you can actually take a break and pause during your play before the bonus rounds start, because you have to initially start the bonus rounds by pressing the DEAL button. I've already been dealt 4 to the royal during the bonus round like 12 times already, so hopefully if you connect on one of them, payday will occur. During that bonus round and if all machines are being played at 7 coins max, EVERY player is dealt 4 to the royal, all at the same time, it's pretty fun to see that, although it can be a completely different hand from your neighbor sitting next to you, you each get a 4 card hand to the royal to try and complete. If you make a straight flush, flush, straight or jacks or better hand out of it, you still at least win something during the bonus round and your pays are multiplied by your multiplier then.
I still don't know if the amount of mistakes or errors that you make trying to achieve the 3x multiplier pace, outweighs the difference in just playing slower and making less mistakes but then playing fast enough to get the 2x multiplier to stay out. I guess this game really, and finally rewards a FAST and ACCURATE VP player.
-Len
···
-----Original Message-----
From: len_jz
Sent: Sep 18, 2009 11:40 PM
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: WMS Big Event video poker
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Pamela" <pdasarese@...> wrote:
> > Has anyone else played this crazy game yet or know the payback return ?
> >
> > -Len
> >
>
Would you care to share where you played this game? I have never seen it, but it sounds like it could be fun.Thanks,
Pam