Every new casino game faces a long road to success—even if it’s a great game. For example, for the first two years after it was introduced, the wildly popular Mississippi Stud Poker had just two tables. And Three Card Poker, which today numbers more than 2,000 live tables, was helped by having practically no competition. New games present greater risks to casinos now, since a well-performing game has to be removed to make room for the new one, with no guarantees that will be worthwhile.
Another example is Deuces Joker Wild, developed for Shuffle Master (later acquired by Bally Technologies, which was acquired by Scientific Games).
It was introduced at the Global Gaming Expo in 2015 and displayed again in 2016. Five years after it was created, and two years after it debuted, it’s still hovering at around two dozen live tables. The game would be considered a success if that increases over the next few years to 100-200 tables and holds or expands slowly.
Still another up-and-coming game is DJ Wild Poker, a simple poker variation in which deuces and a joker are wild and can be used as any card. The player makes an ante and blind wager and is dealt five cards face down, as is the dealer. The player must either fold, forfeiting his Ante and Blind, or play 2x his ante. The better hand wins.
The dealer always qualifies. The ante and play pay even money and the blind pushes if the player wins with trips or less and pays per pay table with a straight or better.
Strategically, fold a pair of 3’s or less. Play a pair of 4’s or better, with the one exception being a pair of 4’s with a 3 in the hand, which is folded. The game has a payback of just under 99 percent, which is strong for a game with so little strategy. Only time will tell if DJ Wild Poker has 100 tables in a few years or if it disappears.
If it does succeed, a base table game can lease for $2,000 or more per month per table. That’s $200,000 a month or $2.5 million per year with 100 tables. The per-month lease amount is much lower in the early life of a new casino game. In the earlier stages, the lease per month is far lower. The entire table-games industry is estimated at $200-300 million—so a game with zero tables in casinos is unlikely to earn $5-$10 million a year.
