Now the first part of the creation has been complete. The idea has come to fruition, the table has been created and now the pair of inventors need only to figure out how to market it in order to get on the floor and in front of casino operators.

The hopes of the duo was that casino operators would benefit from its efficient size and high turnover rate in comparison to the actual dice game craps.

The new game was marketed as “a new look at an old favorite.” Where 324 cards were supplied as a deck that represented all the possible roles of two dice.

In order to separate their game from other casino games that mimic the game of craps, Christian took out a patent for what he called “Die Cards,” that more accurately represented each face of a die. Another difference from the traditional casino game of craps would be that only the dealer has the opportunity to “roll the dice.”

“We actually think having the dealer pull the cards is a plus,” Chappell said. “If a player craps out and everybody at the table loses their money, the shooter gets the blame. But if the dealer turns the card, it’s that darn casino that made you lose.”

Christian’s partner, Chappell show has area of expertise in the field of public relations and marketing. Chappell came to Christian with a strong resume supporting 17 years as the director of media relations at the University of California, Riverside. Also included was a work that Chappell completed in Las Vegas since 2002 he was the director of community relations at KNPR public radio. Now 62, Chappell retired from the business in March of 2007.

In order to better market these casino games Chappell used his weekends from 2004 in 2005 to observe craps players at the casinos to see what sort of behaviors they exhibited.

Michael Christian and partner Jack Chappell have created a new game that they have been trying intently to get to the Las Vegas casino floor. The idea was simple in their drive was clearly there to provide an opportunity for a game that would have otherwise been banned from the casinos in California.

Their journey started in 2004 while on a hunting trip in the Colorado Rockies. On their travels the two begin to discuss how to play games like craps postcards instead of dice.

In the year 2000 Christian got the idea while researching a casino in Lake Elsinore, California. In these casinos in California the owner/operator is not allowed to play games of chance or allow gambling with dice. In an attempt to avoid this pesky law, Christian decided that cards would replace the dice and create a similar experience.

The idea for the game was very simple. By using the number cards one through six, standard deck one could easily replace the dice up the same numbers. In order to bring this game to the casinos Christian paired up with Chappelle at a charity event in 2003.

While the two enjoyed their hunting trip to continue to expand on their newest idea for casino game entitled “Play Craps.”

The team of inventors had not spent a lot of time in the casinos nor have they ever participated in creating a new casino game. Christian’s background consisted of being a homebuilder whose expertise supplied in steel building. Through this expertise Christian built the original game on a steel base table which ended up being too cumbersome for travel purposes.

Eventually Christian and Chappell sought out the services of a Las Vegas casino equipment designer to give them a better idea on how to professionally and properly construct a gaming table for their needs. With an investment of $4000 their idea for a diceless craps table began to unfold.

Illinois has recently seen an interest in lawmakers that could potentially benefit the gaming industry. Riverboat gambling has been a part of the culture in this state for many years, however it is not made its way toward any land-based facility. Currently slot machine gambling is up in the air instead of none I put recent changes by Gov. Pat Quinn could eventually lead to the legalization of slot machines within the Illinois boundaries.

International Game Technology, Bally Technologies and Illinois-based WMS Industries are three of the big casino industry companies that are anxiously awaiting the answer from the governor concerning this topic.

With the governor’s approval these three companies can see the increase in revenue based on the utilization of these casino games.

The Illinois legislature recently passed a $29 billion public works bill that would be funded by the raising of taxes and fees assessed the legalization of the video gambling throughout the state.

The approval of this legislation would legalize gambling at slot machines at bars and taverns in specific locations. Each of these locations would not be allowed to exceed five video gambling machines.

According to Joe Greff, I gaming analyst for J.P. Morgan, by passing this bill over 15,400 locations would be able to utilize the video gambling machines. At up to five machines per location the estimated increase in slot machines would be over 77,000.

“We think the real market size for video gaming devices at these pubs is somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000,” Greff said.

“We believe it could be the strongest opportunity for IGT, given that it participates more actively in the video poker market,” Oppenheimer gaming analyst David Katz told investors. “IGT has historically been the strongest provider in the U.S. of video poker. Bally and WMS have offered video poker with limited success thus far.”

“It supports our view that the weakness in the economy will continue to drive gaming expansion in the U.S.,” Katz said.

According to a press release on the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa recently, “A Morris County woman broke the world record for the longest craps roll in gaming history Saturday night at a time of four hours and 18 minutes at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.”

“Patricia Demauro, of Denville, bought into a game for $100 on a table adjacent to Borgata’s Poker Room at roughly 8:13pm, and quickly amassed a crowd of supporters, comprised of Borgata associates and customers, who cheered her on. When she eventually sevened out at approximately 12:31 a.m., after 154 rolls of the dice, she was greeted by Borgata with a champagne toast and applause from her new fans.”

Casino security began to question her methods of play as the difficulty of her level equates to bowling a perfect game repeatedly. Demauro told sources at this was only her second time gambling at the game of craps.

“This was only my second time playing the game of craps, so this was very exciting for me to be a part of history,’ DeMauro told the Borgata staff. ‘I’ve visited Borgata many times … and I always have a lot of fun at the games and we enjoy the ambiance.”
Onlookers also got involved in the excitement. “I was just wandering around and I saw a crowd of people around 10:30,” Timothy Jenkins told Casino Gambling Web, “so I started to watch, and it was amazing. I didn’t stop watching until she was done several hours later.”

“…The previous record for longest craps roll was held by Stanley Fujitake of Honolulu, Hawaii, at 3 hours and 6 minutes, and took place on May 28, 1989, at The California Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which is also owned by Boyd Gaming Corporation…”

Casino officials would not disclose how much money Demauro had made within her for our 18 minute stint at the table, and neither would the proud grandmother. She told the press at the time of her winning that her plans of spending the money were to take her daughter and grandkids to Disney World in Florida.

Virtue Fusion Ltd. recently just signed an online deal with Virgin.com. This alliance will produce the relaunch of virgin’s bingo game this time using the popular provider of online bingo and gambling software virtue fusion.

Bodog online casinos has recently announced an exclusive deal with online gaming operator Haydock. The deal was completed by March of 2009 and inspired the May 18 release of Bodog88.com. The purpose of this online casino is to draw in the Asian market gamblers.

Bodog was launched in 1994 by Calvin Ayre and has now become a respected name in online casino gambling. The company is based out of Antigua, a small Caribbean nation, and they pride themselves on traditional values such as honesty, responsibility and hard work.

Ian Dunning, the Managing Director of Bodog88.com said: “It’s has always been a pleasure to work with Entertasia and the MACOM group in general, the transition from 9play into Bodog88 was smooth and easy, their professionalism is one of the rarest in the industry, and I am fully confident in a long term win-win corporation.”

Jason Chan, the CEO of Entertasia said: “We are proud to be able to work with such an energetic group, and we look forward to working with them globally in phase 2 after the success in Asia.”

“The Bodog brand is known worldwide for entertainment and a truly unique online experience – the Bodog culture is very different from anything currently offered in the Asian market today so we feel we have a competitive advantage as a lifestyle brand,” said Dunning.

Bodog is no stranger to the online world. The Bodog entertainment company has expanded beyond only serving online casinos, it also offers an international record label; a publishing enterprise (with a Graphic Novel ‘Ayre Force’ and blog, Bodog Beat); and an international television production company (Bodog TV), which has produced reality television series such as Bodog Fight and Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker.

With the expansion in all these fields Bodog still remains a top name in the world of online casino gambling. The company is best known for its live dealer casino and sports book which is leading the industry with running ball matches.

MGM’s plan for expansion has now stretched out across the globe. Through these new opportunities MGM is attempting to bring the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas casinos to other parts of the world. According to an article on the Wall Street Journal: “For years, big hotel companies have fought to gain entry to the lucrative Las Vegas Strip. Now, MGM Mirage, one of the Strip’s biggest gambling houses, is making a grand entrance into the hotel industry, with plans to export the Strip’s glitz to such sites as Cairo and Vietnam.”

The MGM Mirage company has already marketed itself with a variety of hotels for casino gambling within the United States, however the current plan appears to include a casino less hotel.

“An MGM Mirage executive says the company has signed eight hotel-management deals with developers and is in discussions with 10 more about opening hotels under the banners of its iconic Vegas properties, including the Bellagio and the MGM Grand, across Asia and the Middle East. In most cases, the properties will be marketed as luxury hotels and won’t include casinos.”

The MGM Mirage company will try to duplicate its Bellagio hotel which draws in many customers not only for casino gambling for the spectacle that lies outside.

“So far, the signed agreements include a Bellagio — the hotel-casino known for its dancing fountains and scenes with George Clooney and Brad Pitt in the “Ocean’s Eleven” movie series — in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh and in Dubai.”

“There are also deals for MGM Grand properties in Cairo, Vietnam and Tianjin, China. Some locations will also include Skylofts, an ultraluxury boutique hotel brand within MGM Grand.”

Although misfortune seemed to be playing into the hands of SGS, a stroke of good luck was on its way. After being rejected by numerous casinos Harrah’s entertainment promised George at the 20 minute interview. The meeting lasted 2 1/2 hours in Harrah’s Casino would launch their 90 day trial.

“We couldn’t believe it,” Stephanie said. “The Control Board told us we were the first small company to have our game field-tested on the Strip. We finally started to think that we had made it.”

The trial began at the flamingo Casino however it was cut short due to the fact that it was generating low revenue. The Golden Nugget also gave them a shot at it, but again withdrew before the 90 day trial was up.

At the Global Gaming Expo in 2005 the casino game two cards high was amongst the competitors for casinos. Of the vendors that day there was a Korean casino company that showed interest but was never heard from again.

In 2008, the company called. “One day, out of the blue, the Korean company called,” Stephanie said. “They said they were about to open a new casino and they wanted our game.”

Chang’s partnership became crucial to history and background. On July 7 of that year, Two Cards High launched at the Paradise Walker-Hill Casino. The casino not only guaranteed in the 90 day trial, they then followed up with a one-year contract. This contract paid out approximately $1000 a month to SGS.

The projected amount of bets in one year were anticipated at $500,000. After just three months of play Two Cards High had already exceeded that amount. The launch of this new casino game had taken center stage by beating out popular games such as Let It Ride, Caribbean Stud and Casino War.

The time that Sung and George spent a Las Vegas casinos as dealers gave them good networking capabilities in order to find out how to get to the next level. One of the most important steps to the casino is defined mathematical proof of the casino’s potential hold percentage.

Other factors that go into the legwork include acquiring patents and trademarks and hiring an expert to guide them through the entire process. Once they’re casino game idea had been fleshed out they projected that it would take $60,000 in order to bring the game to real casino.

George and Stephanie use their savings account and Chang acquired alone and in 2004 S.G.S Gaming LLC (for Stephanie, George and Sung) was born.

When dealing with casino games you also must consider not only how fun the game is to play but how the gambling percentages will play out. SGS then hired a patent attorney, on a petition, I gaming attorney and a gaming equipment supplier.

Plus the labels have been completed their next step was to try to go door-to-door in order to court a casino that allow them a 90 day trial run in a real-life casino. This process is necessary to gain approval for the state gaming control Board and the Nevada gaming commission.

According to Mark Clayton, a former member of the state gaming control Board is very little judgment of the game and its success, “By the time it gets to the casino floor for the trial run, most of the work is done.”

Creating a casino game was the easy part, making it through all the hoops and hurdles then became the difficult part for the group. Stephanie’s real estate work was cut back, George was laid off from the Golden Nugget, and one of the oddest situations involve their attorney.

“We got a letter from the patent office telling us there was something wrong with one of our applications,” George recalled. “So I called our attorney. The people who answered the phone said he had died three months ago.”

Many people take for granted the difficult challenges of getting from a concept of the new boardgame to the real-life play in a casino. The poker games, blackjack, hold ‘em and roulette are all casino games that we feel very familiar with. The reality is new card games are infected every day, it’s just a matter of finding people that are willing to play in a venue willing to host it.

Such was the case with new inventors and entrepreneurs in Las Vegas. George and Stephanie Boutsifakos and Sung Chang began their adventure from their own homes in an attempt to bring their new game “Two Cards High” to the casino floor.

First began as an idea. Both George and Sung had been dealers at the Golden Nugget. George had always been trying to come up with new inventions, but this time he felt he was onto something. Some also had again that he was interested in showing however the two inventors were still suspicious of each other. They discussed the idea of collaborating, then in a final showdown, George stated, “It finally came down to, ‘If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine,’?”

The two casino games were very similar in play with a simple difference of numbers. George’s game included the numbers 10, 20 or 30 whereas Sung’s numbers were 11, 21 and 31. Both of these casino games five cards and a player had to win 3/5 cards dealt. After much deliberation they decided to go with George’s game as they felt that the round her numbers would be easier for patrons doing the math.

Stephanie remained optimistic and supportive about the game. “When I saw it, I thought, ‘George is right, players would like this.’ Players can get burned out just playing blackjack,” she said. “I don’t know if I would play it, but it’s a good game.”