Gaming supplier AGS announced that its Buster Blackjack side bet has doubled its footprint in the field during Q1 of 2016, gaining more than 250 additional placements for a total of more than 500 placements in approximately 90 casinos across the U.S., establishing the game as one of the fastest-growing side bets in the world.
Recent installations include Las Vegas Strip properties including Caesar’s Palace, the Venetian and Excalibur, as well as Graton Resort & Casino in Northern California and Gila River Casino in Arizona.
“AGS acquired Buster Blackjack in September 2015, and in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016 we’ve already doubled the game’s install base,” said John Hemberger, vice president of table products for AGS. “Thanks to its easy-to-understand game play, payout simplicity, and the excitement it adds to any standard blackjack table, we’ve seen an explosion in the game’s popularity, which has translated into exceptional performance for our casino partners.”
Easily added to existing blackjack games and side bets, Buster Blackjack is an optional post-game side bet that lets players win odds-based payouts when a dealer busts. The amount of cards in the dealer’s busted hand determines the payout the player receives. The more cards in the dealer’s busted hand, the more payout players receive for the Buster bet. Its simple game play lets dealers easily explain the bet to players, and it doesn’t interfere with or slow down the game since all bets are quickly resolved with all players losing or getting paid equal amounts.
“It’s been less than two years since we created AGS’ table games division, and we’re thrilled to already have more than 1,000 table products in the field,” Hemberger added. “The growth of our table games business, and especially Buster Blackjack, is a testament to the strength and diversity of our growing product catalog and casino operator’s increasing appetite for greater product and vendor variety.”
