CARDCO
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Competition Heats Up For The Ever-Expanding
Slot Machine Markets Across The U.S. And Around The World
September 1994 * Casino Journal * By Frank Legato
CARDCO
The Timing Is Right
When Cardco, Inc. of Huntington Beach, Calif.,
arrived on the scene a few years ago touting a new kind of video poker,
there was no way to know that the family-owned company had latched onto
a concept now being copied by the biggest slot manufacturers in the industry.
Jim Bridgeman formed Cardco in his garage during the late 1980s, wanting to
design video poker machines that would be interesting to the dedicated
poker player. Using expertise he developed from a distinguished
career in aeronautics, he designed a line of poker machines featuring
skill-based poker games such as "Texas Hold-Em" and "Seven Card Stud".
He incorporated touch-screen technology into multi-game machines,
offering the player the option of choosing among several games at the
touch of a button.
Now, Bally and IGT, among others, are coming out with their own versions
of touch-screen, multi-game machines. Bally recently became the first
manufacturer to receive full Nevada licensing for the multi-game
units.
Success In The Show Me State
Cardco, although it has yet to receive full licensing in Nevada, has
staged a coup of timing in one of the emerging jurisdictions. When
Missouri's courts ruled that standard, reel-spinning slots violated
the State Constitution's ban on games of chance, it left the state's
gaming trade open only to slot manufacturers who produced games base
on skill. Cardco was an obvious choice.
According to Cardco spokesperson Stephanie Bridgeman, the St. Joe
Frontier Riverboat in St. Joseph, Mo., has named the company's
"Wild Surprise" machine as the unit which generates the highest
on-board handle. The machine features seven games in one unit, which
can be operated either by button or by using the touch-screen feature.
Games incorporated in the unit include "Seven-Card Stud," "Texas
Hold-Em," "Bonus Poker," "Jacks or Better," "Deuces Wild," and
"Wild Surprise."
"Wild Surprise" is a patented draw poker game that conceals the wild
card for a hand until the last card is turned over. So a player could
have a dog hand, and end up with a reprieve at the last minute.
By the same token, the player can find out at the end of a hand that he
has discarded a wild card. The mystery is what makes the game fun.
Another one of the popular features of the game is that if a player
gets a pair of Aces or better, he gets his bet back.
Cardco has placed 75 machines on the St. Joe. "It's a small boat, but
R.W. Grace (the operator) is probably going to do more boats if they
like this one," says Bridgeman.
While Cardco is working on getting its Nevada license, the firm continues
to test the waters in emerging casino jurisdictions. "We got our
Minnesota license, and we'll start selling games there very
shortly," says Bridgeman. "Grand Casinos has sponsored our Cardco
'Seven-In-One Casino' game."
In Nevada, although Cardco itself is not licensed, the company's
machines are distributed by J & T Manufacturing, which is
licensed, and puts the machines together for the company. "A lot
of people in Vegas are playing our 'Texas Hold-Em game," says
Bridgeman. "We have them at Binion's, the Four Queens, the El Cortez,
and elsewhere."
Bridgeman notes that Cardco poker machines "play 25 percent faster
than other draw poker machines." Se says a big reason for this is
a program of features built in to speed up the games. For example,
if a player has a possible straight, the machine recognizes it
and asks the player if he wants to try for the straight. If the
player wants to try, a touch of a button discards the proper
cards. Another feature speeding up play is the "auto-hold," which
permits the player to touch a button to draw the cards most likely
to result in a hit, based on mathematical percentages. "It speeds up
the game for people who just want to play the odds," Bridgeman says.
But the most obvious indicator that Cardco has "arrived" is that
the big guys are copying their ideas. So whether or not features
like multi-game choices and touch-screen technology catch on in
Nevada, Cardco has certainly proven it can play with the
cream of the Industry.
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