Slot machine developer Ernie Moody, who has been credited with changing the landscape of the video poker industry, was inducted into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame Thursday.
The induction took place during the second annual gaming equipment awards program sponsored by Southern California-based research and consulting firm Eliers & Krejcik Gaming.
The event at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas honored gaming equipment manufacturers in nearly two dozen award categories, recognizing some of the top innovations and best performing products in 2019.
Moody created Triple Play Poker and dozens of other patented titles. Triple Play Poker, which developed from a multi-hand poker concept, converted low-earning games into financial powerhouses that are now found on more than 5% of the slot machines installed on casino floors throughout the U.S.
“It’s humbling to realize an idea that I had 20 years ago still persists to this day,” Moody, 71, said last fall when he was inducted into the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame.
“Our games are much different than (typical) slot machines,” Moody said. “Slots might have a life of six-to-12 months. Some of our original video poker games are still being played 20 years later.”
Slot machine developer Joe Kaminkow, chief game designer at Zynga and chief innovation officer at Aristocrat Technologies, and last year’s EKG Hall of Fame inductee, presented Moody with his award.
Moody founded Action Gaming, which operates under VideoPoker.com. He has spent the last two decades inventing and developing slot machine and video poker content that has become commonplace in almost every casino in America.
“When you think about video poker, Ernie Moody is the first person that comes to mind given his substantial contributions to the gaming industry and specifically the video poker segment of the casino floor,” said Eilers & Krejcik Gaming Principal Todd Eilers. “We are very excited and honored to induct Ernie into the EKG Slot Awards Hall of Fame.”
Some 20,000 slot machines across North America utilize Moody’s patents and inventions, which include Five Play Poker, Spin Poker, Super Times Pay Poker, Ultimate X Poker, All-Star Poker, Super-Star Poker and other unique titles.
Moody was operating the Gilpin Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado in the 1990s when he thought about what could be done to give new life to video poker. He took several decks of cards and began formulating theories.
What stuck was an idea where a player could use the same poker hand in multiple rows during one game. For example, one hand of three-of-a-kind gives the player three more chances to hit four-of-a-kind.
“The math was there, and I got a patent for the game,” Moody recalled.
After promoting Triple Play Poker for nearly two years, Moody reached an agreement with IGT to distribute the game in 1997. The game was an instant hit from the start and was a key product in IGT’s portfolio of games for many years with many games still on casino floors today.
Moody was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1948 and attended the University of Colorado. After college, he became a stockbroker and he started several businesses including an ice cream shop, pizza restaurant, and an amusement arcade.
Moody eventually made his way into the gaming industry when he led an investor group that opened the Gilpin Casino in 1991.
(A complete list of the EKG Slot Awards winners will be published in Monday’s Flash newsletter)
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
