One Card Poker (the less is more casino game) | Video Interview
Hi, I'm Mike Shackleford with The Wizard of Odds.
I am at the 2017 Cutting Edge Table Games conferenceat the Paris Casino in Las Vegas, and I'm joined here by Joe Shipman.
Let me introduce Joe a little bit:
Joe and I share a lot in common. We're both freelance gaming mathematicians and we both have thrown our hats into the ring with our own casino games, and this is one of Joe's efforts, it's called One Card Poker.
I knew that a game with this title would eventually come to the market. Poker Texas Hold'em is based on seven cards, and then we had five-card poker games like Let It Ride and Mississippi Stud.
Then, there was, of course, Three Card Poker. It was only a matter of time before somebody thought of One Card Poker.
So may I say a good idea.
[00:00:57] Joe: Thinking of One Card Poker is the easy part. Having a game that works based on it is the hard part.
[00:01:02] Mike: I'm sure a smart man like you could find some good rules to suit the game.
Can you tell me a little bit about it?
[00:01:08] Joe: Yes, this is literally One Card Poker.
In poker, it's draw poker, you get your hand and then if you don't like it, then you can discard some cards and get some new ones.
Here:
there's only one, so you're discarding your whole hand. Your choice is to give up your card and get a new one or stand pat. It's sort of like Casino War, high card wins except that if you don't like your card, you get another chance and, of course, the dealer gets another chance, too.
[00:01:33] Mike: I assume the dealer acts second.
[00:01:35] Joe: The dealer acts second. You go first, you get your card. If you don't want or like it, you get another one.
The dealer has a rule…
…he stands on a nine or higher. If you drew, he stands on a jack or higher if you took a card, and it pays even money and a tie is a real push, a true push not like Casino War.
[00:01:52] Mike: So the dealer goes against every player one at a time as opposed to against the whole table at the same time?
[00:01:57] Joe: In this configuration, yes. It's also possible to do it the other way but for this show, we're showing the dealer playing a separate hand against each player.
[00:02:04] Mike: All right. The dealer has a little bit of a positional advantage.
[00:02:07] Joe: That's right. That's where the house edge comes from. There's also a side bet, a suit bet. If you match the dealer suit with your final card, you pay three to one and that's independent of your main bet.
[00:02:19] Mike: All right. Very clever.
May I play a few hands?
[00:02:21] Joe: Sure. Let's get the dealer over here.
[00:02:23] Dealer: All right. Place your bets, please. We have two bets available on this table. One is the bet against you, against the dealer or the other is the suit bet.
It's an optional bet, cannot exceed the main bet. However, as long as at the very end, your suit matches the dealer's suit, you will get three times your bet.
Here we go.
Everyone will receive their first card. Just like in Blackjack, if you wanted to take a hit, all you have to do is just tap the table. That'll tell me you want to replace your card.
Replace your card?
Six. Buy your six, one card. We're going to finish it off. I have the king. Because you drew, I only had to get nine high. I, obviously, got higher than that. King beats a six and a high card. Unfortunately, we do not have the same suit, so you lose the suit bet. All right.
Next, we have king high. Would like to stay or draw? Player draws. We have to go to a jack now. Dealer place a card. Got two. I will draw once and only once.
Dealer increases to an eight. King is still higher than an eight. Flat bet will win but, unfortunately, again the suit bet, the suits do not match, that bet will lose.
All right place your bets again, please.
There we go. Jack and it's eight. Dealer takes one card, it's a nine. I'll take one more card because I'm still looking for the jack high, and I actually decreased. Jack is better than a six.
Jack high gets paid…
…we lose the suit bet. Miss, you have a four increased to a nine. Player has a two. One more card. Dealer also has a nine.
We will push the main bet where the suit bet will lose because of two different suits. We'll do it one more time. Place your bets, please.
Here we go player has eight.
[00:04:39] Player: What do you recommend?
[00:04:41] Dealer: I recommend of card ranking is eight, it's pretty much in the middle and towards the bottom. I'd say replace those is probably best interest. Player decreases to six. Dealer takes the card.
Now the dealer has beaten player by:
Ace is higher than a six. However, we both now have flush so we'd get paid three times your bet. Nine? Player stays. Dealer has three. Dealer will take another card.
Dealer still remains at three. Your flat bet will get paid because nine is greater than three. Your suit bet will lose.
[00:05:32] Mike: Joe, thank you very much for showing me the game. May I compliment you on a clever idea, and I hope to see it in the casino soon.
[00:05:39] Joe: Thanks very much. We've got a lot of other games in the pipeline.
[00:05:42] Mike: All right. Bye, everyone.