By BBBB
Station Casinos has a seven-month exclusive on the concept in the Las Vegas locals market. According to IGT Marketing VP Ed Rogich, the company has a similar deal in the Midwest with Ameristar Casinos, and will soon roll the concept out on its video poker machines across the country.
Station has bought into the concept in a big way, placing the option on 2,000 IGT video
poker machines spread across its nine Las Vegas properties. While the option is designed for any video poker game-and, according to Rogich, will eventually be offered on video slots as well-the initial rollout at Station involves two specific
games, straight Jacks or Better and Bonus Bonus Poker.
Players will have the option of paying us$ 20 for 75 hands, win or lose, on Double Double Bonus Poker, with hands paying off at the maxcoin rate. Once the “session” is paid for, the player starts with a zero on the credit meter.
The meter will go into the negative with wagers or losses on the first hands, but there is no cost to the player for a negative balance; he still gets the prescribed number of hands, which tick off on a countdown display until no hands remain. Once wins send the meter into the positive, the player can cash out at any time, but he forfeits any remaining hands by cashing out before all the hands in his session are played.
According to the manufacturer, casinos can expect earnings on Guaranteed Play to be similar to those of traditional video poker. Rogich says the new product is especially designed for novice players, who will be guaranteed a set number of hands regardless of how skilled at the game they may be.
English