Video Poker EV SD and other stats

Jack_Black

Well-Known Member
#1
How do figure out the stats for any game? let's say you're playing a 98% return game at $1 because you want to get good comps and add cover to your BJ playing. What would be the expected loss and SD for this game? Is a 98% game worth playing just for the comps?
 

SleightOfHand

Well-Known Member
#2
Jack_Black said:
How do figure out the stats for any game? let's say you're playing a 98% return game at $1 because you want to get good comps and add cover to your BJ playing. What would be the expected loss and SD for this game? Is a 98% game worth playing just for the comps?
To get more accurate figures, you have to know what kind of comps you are getting. vpfree2.com has information on most casinos and the amounts they give you in comps. You then add that to the return of your game and from there calculate your EV. Make sure to include point multipliers and such. As for the SD of the game, WoO has good information on most games.

98% is most likely not good enough to play for comps. Most stores give only a small fraction of a percent in comps, and unless you have a strong point multiplier, its not going to be enough. Another thing to consider is your BR. VP has a very large SD and you need a relatively large bankroll to play even at the quarter level, which may or may not give you the comps you want. Once you find out the EV/SD of the game, you can calculate your RoR/CE of the game to see if it is good enough for you.
 

Machinist

Well-Known Member
#5
Really tough

Really tough to get comps with VP now days, thanks in a large part to BOB Dancer, and the other comp queen that wrote the book on comps. Can't remember her name.
Those two personally destroyed what used to be a good gig years ago.. You can find some stuff yet , but just a former shadow of its self.
Bank roll LOL Good luck Dollars require a minimum of 50,000 to be comfortable. Thats on a 9/6 JB with a good progressive attached and hopefully a little cashback on the card... You can do it on less but i have personally went through 5 Royal flush cycles,meaning 40,000 hands is a cycle, and i went 5 times before i hit a royal.... It happens, not often but it does. Also you have to look at the loss rate per hour, which is attached to the Royal. YOu have to hit a royal to get that percentage of the pay schedule back. So a 1 dollar J/B has a loss rate for the Royal at 100 bucks an hour. Roughly 40 hours of play to hit a royal. You do the math on the loss rate... Now dont hit a royal for 5 cycles and see how your bankroll looks and how you feel..20 grand down and no royal in site, 2 fifths of a 50 G bankroll gone..... Been there not a good feeling the first few times....
Jackblack look for Video BJ, its still out there. With the right pay schedules... Make sure you look at every machine and you will find one. All it takes is one to get all the comps u need..
VP isn't the answer, hell they cut your points in half or worse. Most of the time it's a joke...

Machinist
 

Billy C1

Well-Known Member
#6
Vp ap

Good post Machinist! I've played serious amounts of vp in the last 15 years and easily relate to your remarks.
I'm lucky enough to have one local casino that offers 99.73% NSUD (not so ugly ducks) and another local that offers 99.95% Pick-Em. Card cashback along with other "worked comps" make these slightly positive games that satisfy the addiction while waiting for true AP opportunities (big jackpot progressives).
In my 15 years of play the most lucrative opportunity encountered by me was at the LV Hilton a few years ago. DDB with progressive amount making it something like 105%
Because that advantage is so rare most APs will play until it's hit, they die, fall asleep or run out of money.

BillyC1
 

shadroch

Well-Known Member
#7
For the low rolling VP player in Vegas, Four Queens in a great option.
They offer a few 9/6 25cent JOB games and reward their players with several free nights per month, plus anywhere from $30 to $75 in free play. They also offer both cash and comps for your VP play. I think its around $2 per 100 points. I usually give them about an hour play per night and the offers keep coming. Four hours of .25 cent play or 90 minutes of $1 VP will get you a good bit of food comps, but I just use the ACG BOGOs instead.
Coast Casinos all have one or two days a week that offer 3X-7X points, and decent VP schedules, to boot.
Jean Scott may have ruined VP for a few people, but she opened the doors for thousands, including myself, to enjoy free vacations.
 

Guynoire

Well-Known Member
#8
You can figure out he EV and SD by looking at the frequency distribution of hands for the games you're playing but it really won't tell you much. Video poker is so skewed due to the royal flush that it doesn't approximate to Normal unless you play millions and millions of hands.

The easiest way to figure out what to expect is to run a sim.
 

Billy C1

Well-Known Member
#10
shadroch said:
For the low rolling VP player in Vegas, Four Queens in a great option.
They offer a few 9/6 25cent JOB games and reward their players with several free nights per month, plus anywhere from $30 to $75 in free play. They also offer both cash and comps for your VP play. I think its around $2 per 100 points. I usually give them about an hour play per night and the offers keep coming. Four hours of .25 cent play or 90 minutes of $1 VP will get you a good bit of food comps, but I just use the ACG BOGOs instead.
Coast Casinos all have one or two days a week that offer 3X-7X points, and decent VP schedules, to boot.
Jean Scott may have ruined VP for a few people, but she opened the doors for thousands, including myself, to enjoy free vacations.
An even better value game at Four Queens is the $1 progressive vp that resets at over 100%.
It's just around the corner from main cage when walking towards back of casino (hotel reg., etc.). About 6 or 8 machines in sort of a circle.

BillyC1
 

pieinthesky

Well-Known Member
#11
Downtown VP

As of last summer, the Four Queens's sister property, Binion's, had $.25 full pay deuces wild, which returns over 100.7% with proper play, which is easy to learn. I played there several hours but received no mail. I hear there's a better game (Downtown Deuces) at the El Cortez, but I don't know how to play it.
 
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