Review by: Pete Hines
Published: December 3, 1997

Beat the House 2 is the latest gambling simulation game from Interplay. It offers both veterans and newcomers an entertaining way of honing their skills or learning about the different types of games that can be played in your average casino. While it doesn’t cover every single type of game, what it does have should be more than enough to keep you entertained and engrossed for hours on end. BTH 2 features two new games, baccarat and Sklansky’s poker challenge, that were not offered in its predecessor. Also, four new slot machines are included in addition to the previous two.

Essentially, there are two types of games, table and video. The table games are comprised of mini-baccarat, blackjack, roulette, and craps. These are run by “people,” and you interact with them rather than with a machine. Each game has a number of tables that you can play at, with the difference of each being the minimum and maximum amount of money that you can bet in any one game.The other games in BTH 2 are video poker, Sklansky’s poker challenge, and slots. You start the game with a small bankroll in the lobby of the casino, and can move freely from one game to another any time you want. More money can be borrowed from the bank if you run into a little trouble…just be sure to pay it back.

Blackjack is the old standby whereby players are dealt two cards, as is the dealer, and the object is to have a higher total than the dealer without going over 21. If your two-card total is higher than the dealer’s, you win. While it’s entirely up to you whether or not to take a card, the dealer has specific rules as to when he or she must take a card or stand on their total. Roulette is a simple game of chance whereby a small ball is placed on a wheel and then the wheel is spun. The wheel has slots of numbers 1-36, 0, and 00 that are alternatively colored red and black, and players can bet on things like what slot the ball will land in, or what color the slot will be.

Craps is played with two dice and players place a variety of bets on what will happen with each throw. The number and type of bets are pretty varied and the game can get a bit complicated from that standpoint. Baccarat is a rather straightforward game probably made most famous by James Bond in his 007 films. Two cards are dealt to a player and two are dealt to the dealer. As a bettor, your task is to decide which of the two will have the highest point total in their hands, or whether they’ll tie (obviously, you bet before the cards are dealt). Both the player and the dealer have rules as to whether they have to take a card, which is slightly different for each. Points are based on face value of the cards, with the 10 and all face cards having a value of zero.