The SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia is offering a new, simplified version of craps called “Props & Hops.” The game, introduced in a soft April launch, was invented by SugarHouse dealer Thomas McCann as a version of the dice game that will appeal to multi-tasking younger players.
Props & Hops, played on a blackjack-style table, eliminates all multi-roll bets in favor of proposition bets and hop bets, which apply only to a single roll of the dice. McCann told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he thought up the game after seeing younger gamblers taking out their smart phones while at the tables. “They don’t have patience like players did in the past,” McCann told the newspaper.
McCann described the idea to his supervisor in late 2011, and the supervisor took it to Rose Cook, SugarHouse vice president of gaming and someone who helped launch a new game for a supervisor when she worked for the Borgata in Atlantic City. Cook advised McCann and the supervisor Mark Grochala, on what they needed to do to get the idea onto the floor as a new game.
McCann and Grochala formed a company called ShftMgr LLC, and the Gaming Control Board approved the new entity as a licensed vendor last June. The board approved temporary regulations for the new game the same month.
So far, the game is popular. “There have been repeat customers, which is a sign they like it,” he told the Inquirer. “It makes a difficult game easier,” added SugarHouse General Manager Wendy Hamilton in comments to the newspaper. “You can learn it in bites.”
SugarHouse will offer the game exclusively until October, after which it will be marketed to other casinos.
