NEW SLOTS

Money Mania

By IGT

Player excitement is maximized with Money Mania Wide-Area Progressives (WAP) featuring two of IGT’s legendary themes, Pharoah’s Fortune and Cleopatra. Each base game boasts 30 pay lines and two WAP jackpot levels that include the thrill of a fast-awarding second level.

The exciting wheel bonus is triggered when three wheel bonus symbols appear on any reel. The wheel bonus extends across the entire bank of machines, allowing frequent spins that award multipliers, the jackpot bonus, or one of the jackpots. When the jackpot bonus is triggered from the wheel bonus, the player is presented with eight rows of five reels each, with only the first row active. The player starts with three spins, and any time a prize lands in an active row three more spins are triggered. Prizes that land in either active or inactive rows will lock in place for the subsequent spin and when an up arrow lands in an active row, the row above it is activated. When five reels are locked in an active row, the jackpot prize corresponding to that row is awarded. For more information, visit IGT.com. $

Glorious Fortunes

By IGT

Watch for IGT’s new Fu Gui Hao Men Video Slots Splendid Fortunes and Glorious Fortunes progressive games featuring two authentic Asian-inspired art packages that deliver excitement with every spin.

Fu Gui Hao Men is packed with player-favorite features including a mystery jackpot bonus, a unique lock and respin feature, and free games for the ultimate player appeal. The game’s jackpot pick bonus can be mystery triggered if a wild symbol appears on the reels, and depending on the color of the wild trigger, some jackpots can then appear with a 2X multiplier. When both a gold and silver ingot symbol appears on the reels, the ingot bonus is initiated where three initial spins are awarded. The game’s free games bonus is triggered with three scatter symbols and its jackpot pick bonus may also be triggered during free spins with a wild symbol.

Fu Gui Hao Men Splendid Fortunes and Glorious Fortunes are 88 credit cost to cover games. For more information, visit IGT.com. $

Blazin’ Riches Series

By Everi

T

he brand new Blazin’ Riches Series of video slots is a linkable pair of gambler-centric 243 Ways games introducing Gem Pays, Everi’s latest innovation on the popular cash-on-reels gameplay.

Both themes pair easy to learn features that have clear upside with player selectable denominations and bet incentives to support a wide range of bets. Each game has a unique free spin bonus that enhances the Gem Pays feature and delivers heart-pounding excitement.

For more information, visit Everi.com. $

Diamond Power Grand

By Everi

ew stepper titles Diamond Power Grand and Smokin’ Hot Gems Grand from the slot manufacturer Everi are classic nine line, three reel mechanical themes.N The games feature operator configurable max bet (9, 18, 27, 45, 90), player selectable denominations, and linked progressives. Symbol triggered progressives and sub-symbol multiplier symbols will keep players engaged.

For more information, visit Everi.com. $

DEFINING OPTIMUM PLAY

What Does It Mean Anyway?

e’ve mentioned the words “optimum play,” “best strategy,” and “optimal strategy,” in past articles, but what exactly do these phrases mean? W All three expressions are synonymous and can best be defined as “perfect play.” In other words, every play is made based on what the absolute highest expected value will be. Okay, so what is “expected value?” “Expected value,” or simply put “EV,” is the average payback of a particular play. The EV of any chance event is the average of all possible outcomes. It sounds a lot more confusing than it really is. Trust me!

EXAMPLE

Let’s assume you are playing 9/6 Jacks or Better and are dealt: 10♠,J♠,Q♥,K♠,2♠ How many of you out there scratch your heads when faced with this kind of situation? Here you have three possible plays (and many more if you don’t have a clue about video poker)! The first option is to hold for the Flush, the second to hold for the Straight, and the third to hold the suited high cards for the Royal Flush. Now, which play is the optimum play? The answer lies with the play that has the highest EV. Since there are 47 cards remaining (52 cards in a deck minus the 5 dealt cards) then this is a straightforward mathematical equation using the concept of probability. If playing for the Flush, the expected value would be the sum of all possible outcomes multiplied by their respective pay: [ 9/47 X 6 ] + [ 6/47 X 1 ] = 1.28 (9 spades left out of the remaining 47 cards that will complete the Flush, times the value of the Flush, which is 6) plus (6 high cards, a K or J, that can be drawn to make a high pair out of the 47 cards remaining, times the value of the high card win, which is 1.) If playing for the Straight, the expected value is: [ 8/47 X 4 ] + [ 9/47 X 1 ] = 0.87 (8 cards left out of the remaining 47 that will complete the Straight, 4 nines and 4 aces, times the value of the Straight, which is 4) plus (9 high cards that can be drawn to make a high pair out of the 47 cards remaining times the value of the high card win, which is 1.) If playing for the Royal Flush, the expected value is: 1.35 (This is a rather lengthy calculation which we’ll not print here) The correct play is to hold for the Royal Flush because, in the long run, for every dollar you wager on this situation, the expected value proves you will make about $1.35. Stay tuned for more discussions about EV and examples using optimum play in upcoming issues. $