Inventor Bruce Paul hired MCG to review his idea for the new poker sensation 2-11. MCG was tasked with undertaking the quantitative and qualitative analysis and providing an overall opinion on the game. That opinion, and an accompanying article will be published in the nationally syndicated BLUFF! poker magazine. The inventor, Mr. Paul, and his team will be providing an exhibition of 2-11 at the Gaming Life Expo in July. The publication of the article will be in the World Series of Poker edition of the BLUFF! magazine. After a poker night where BLUFF! magazine writer Adam Slutsky and Jamie Gold tried their hand at the revolutionary game, the National League of Poker suggested sponsorship of 2-11.
The game, a fascinating derivation of Omaha Hi-Lo, provides players with an additional choice in determining their best five-card poker hand.
The choice, whether to use two out of their four hole cards or three out of their four hold cards, added an additional element of chance and strategy to the game. Similarly, either two or three community cards could be used and only a given player would know which combination he or she would use. That additional element provided an exponential increase in analytic possibilities. Outcomes were analyzed through the additional viewpoints of the players’ knowledge. Specifically, the choice to use two or three cards, from the players’ perspective, created a variation in optimal game theoretic bluffing strategy. Further, learning curves of players were taken into account in order to assess the time variation in the game playing strategy. Players who were initially estimated to be unfamiliar with the game were treated as if they learned in the evoluation of optimal strategy.
MCG analyzed the various elements of the game and provided an assessment of the feasible outcomes relative to the total outcomes in addition to a differential strategy guide. The changes in strategy were assessed through the game theoretic approach. MCG also used its experience with the gaming industry to provide an opinion on both the feasibility of the implementation of the game and the marketability of the game.
