Question of the Day — 29 Nov 2022

[Editor's Note: Penalty cards is a subject that's near and dear to Bob Dancer's heart. So we treated him to this question and he responded in kind.]

A penalty card is one whose presence negatively affects the value of other holds in the hands.

As a simple example, consider the following two hands in 9/6 Jacks or Better:

a.     A Q T 9 4

b.     A Q T 9 4

To many players, the hands look identical, but expert players hold Q T in the first hand and A Q in the second. The difference is that in the first hand, the 4 is unsuited with the Q T and in the second the 4 is the same suit at the Q T.

The 4 in this case is called a “flush penalty,” and lowers the chances of Q T turning into a flush just enough to change the play. For a five-coin dollar player, holding the hearts in the first hand is worth 5.85¢ more than holding AQ. In the second hand, AQ is superior by 2.23¢.

The 9 in the hand is a straight penalty to the Q T. in this particular hand, it does not affect which is the better play, but it does affect “by how much.” Had the 9 in the hand been a 7, the differences in the plays would have been 6.07¢ and 2.25¢ respectively. The difference between a 9 and a 7 doesn’t affect the value of AQ, but it does affect the value of Q T.

There are a variety of types of penalty cards, and each game has its own collection. There are frequently more than one penalty card in the same hand. The best (basically, the only) description of penalty cards for the common games is found in the Dancer/Daily Winner’s Guide series along our strategy cards. We basically had to invent the terminology as we went along.

What should players do about penalty cards? Well, that depends on how serious the player is. For a casual player, penalty cards are a waste of time. It’s time-consuming to learn about them and keep them straight and, relatively speaking, aren’t worth much.

For me, I attempt to play perfectly and learning penalty cards is part of the deal. I’m positive that knowing penalty cards has earned me several hundred thousand dollars over the years, but I’ve played for high stakes for almost three decades. Good games aren’t nearly as plentiful as they used to be.

Were I a new player, I would buy and study the Winner’s Guides. I’m not going to take up a hobby casually.