Poker Writer
America’s Cardroom (ACR) is jumping on the crash game trend and introducing the Crash Joker game to their site.
ACR’s promotional statement on their site for the new game reads as follows:
Introducing Crash Joker, the pulse-pounding new game where split-second decisions can lead to colossal wins. Watch your prize multiply as each card is revealed, but be quick to cash out before the Joker appears, or risk losing it all!
Crash Joker is a poker-themed twist on the crash game genre, using cards instead of the usual airplane or rocket ship themes. With each card dealt, the multiplier increases by about 9%. The player’s potential win is multiplied by the coefficient on display. The player can cash out at any time.
Each new card risks one of the four jokers landing, which is the game’s “crash” condition, forfeiting all winnings. So the key is deciding when to cash out, whether the additional multipliers are worth the risk of getting a jack and destroying all progress.
Poker Mechanics Add an Unusual Bonus Feature
Aside from the theme, where Crash Joker differs from most other games in the genre is that it includes a bonus round. The face value of the cards doesn’t matter to the main game’s multiplier, but the bonus feature is where poker mechanics come into play a little.
If the most recent cards off the deck form four of a kind or a straight flush, that triggers the Vault Break bonus round. Only players who have not yet cashed out can participate, adding an extra incentive to stay in the game compared to a typical crash game. It even adds a little strategy, as the expectation value of staying in for the next card increases if the recent cards have bonus round potential.
The vault break allows one roll for random prizes per $1 in their initial bet.
The vault break also adds a bit of a social element to the game. When players win a prize, 10% “spills over” to the other players. The extra winnings are shared equally between all participants, so everyone is cheering together for a big prize.
New Addition For a Poker Site
Crash Joker is exclusively available on ACR, and it’s unusual to see a crash game attached to a poker site in this way. Until recently, it was a genre most closely associated with cryptocasinos, having originated with a game called Moneypot, invented by a Canadian Bitcoin enthusiast.
More recently, the idea has started to make its way into the conventional online casino space, and even regulated markets. DraftKings was the first US-facing operator to develop a bespoke crash game for its users, straightforwardly called Rocket.
ACR will be hoping to capitalize on this new trend. There’s certainly a lot of overlap between the crypto and poker communities, and even some crypto-based poker sites like CoinPoker, so the concept might already be familiar to many of ACR’s users.
ACR stormer UBPOKER had a lot of positive things to say about the new game:
“Crash Joker is so much fun! Simple concept, insanely fun execution. The game’s energy is infectious, and I love how every round surprises me. Great game to jump into solo or with friends to see if you can strike the same cash out. A must-play for anyone who loves fast-paced, entertaining games that provide a big sweat for a huge multiplier.”
