Video Poker

person1125

Well-Known Member
#1
I don't play much video poker, but have thought about giving it a try. I know that wizardofodds.com has a fair amount of info and incite into VP, but I was wondering what you guys think. If you were or are going to play whats the biggest factor for you? Should I be looking at multi-draw or single draw? Or should I be looking more at the pay out charts compared to other factors? I would think payout would be one of the deciding factors - if you can get a $1 machine payoff 500:1 on a royal or one that pays off 800:1 on the same royal wouldn't I be better off with the better pay off? OR is there a lot more to proper VP play?
 

KenSmith

Administrator
Staff member
#2
1) Learn to look for appropriate paytables.
2) Practice the strategy for the exact paytable you'll be hitting.
3) Research the cashback and promo opportunities available where you'll be playing.
4) Buckle your seatbelt. It's a bumpy ride.

There are still video poker opportunities in many parts of the country, and in most casino areas there are regulars pounding away at them. Befriending the smart locals will help your bottom line, as they can tell you what amount of play generates the best bounceback cash coupons, which casinos offer point multipliers on which days, etc.

If you really have interest, I'll plug the all-in-one package here:
http://www.videopokervictory.com

Just be well aware before you begin that video poker is a high variance game, and it's psychologically much tougher than blackjack. Most VP sessions are losers, and then occasionally you hit a royal to even out the books. That can wear you down after a while.
 

person1125

Well-Known Member
#3
Thanks for the info Ken.

I went and played some tonight and can really see a difference in pay tables when I looked through the different games. I ended up playing I think it was called Double Double Bonus Poker. Needed Jacks or better to be paid and the 4 of a kinds paid different. 3 through K paid one amount, 2's and A's a different amount while A's with a 2,3,4 I believe paid even different. I noticed other games you had to have a 3 of a kind just to get paid back what you bet. I can see where VP is a nice side game to play to blackjack - I played with $15 at a $.25 machine for a while. I can see where you said it would be bumpy ride - I think I was dealt 3 of a kind about 3 times and just couldn't get that 4 of a kind. Oh well.
 

Sonny

Well-Known Member
#5
asiafever said:
Does anyone knows how many hands it takes to overcome 1/2/3 standard deviations in video poker (at a game like full pay JoB)?
I have no idea, but you might find that info on Bob Dancer's website. He knows a lot about variance and RoR for video poker.

-Sonny-
 

KenSmith

Administrator
Staff member
#7
asiafever said:
Does anyone knows how many hands it takes to overcome 1/2/3 standard deviations in video poker (at a game like full pay JoB)?
First, you'll need to have a situation where your EV is positive. With 9/6 Jacks, you'll need cashback of 0.5% or more. Then we can talk about calculating "N0", the number of hands at which the average profit is equal to one standard deviation.

The values of N0 vary WIDELY between types of video poker game. For Full Pay Deuces, with a return of 100.76%, N0 is 446,000 with no cashback. With 0.3% cashback, that drops to 230,000 hands. That's about the best case scenario though.

For a game that is widely played by APs in Vegas, let's look at 10/7 Double Bonus, with a return of 100.17%. For this game, the "long-run" is much longer than for FPDW. With no cashback, N0 is a staggering 9,496,000 hands. Even with 0.5% cashback, N0 is still 625,000.
 
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