This incident happened in 1999 or 2000. I don’t think I’ve written about it before.
The video poker world in Las Vegas was much different then. Casinos had been giving away money right and left to knowledgeable video poker players for at least five years, and many of us were becoming financially very well off. Oh, for the good old days!
Continue reading Is This a Good Idea?Every fall (except last one because of the pandemic), the world’s largest gaming show meets in Las Vegas for the Global Gaming Expo. All sorts of products directly or indirectly relating to gaming are on display in the exhibit hall, including new slot and video poker games, new table games, new player tracking systems, surveillance products, uniforms, chairs, legal services, architecture firms, etc.
I specialize in video poker and other games of skill. And this always starts with IGT, which still dominates the market for video poker machines.
Continue reading New Video Poker Games at G2ENot long ago, I mentioned in a blogpost that if the only difference between an IGT game and a Scientific Gaming game was that straight flushes paid 250 in the former and 275 in the latter, I’d choose IGT because I like the feel and touch of IGT games better. I received some pushback for that comment. Some players said going for higher EV is ALWAYS the correct play, while some more thoughtful posters said, “Why don’t you explain, Bob, when you’re willing to give up EV for other things?” Today’s post is intended to partially address that.
The most important starting point for many players should be bankroll. Compare 9/6 Jacks or Better (99.54% and a variance of 19.5) with 9/7 Triple Double Bonus (99.58% and a variance of 98.3). Last time I played at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe (pre-pandemic), both games were available on the same 25 cent Hundred Play machine. (Possibly they were only Fifty Play. It was a while ago). The EV is pretty close to the same, but the swings are much higher on the TDB game. Dealt quads on the JoB game earn you $3,125. Dealt quads on TDB range between $6,250 and $100,000. There were promotions in effect that made these games playable to me
Continue reading What’s More Important than EV?I’ve been playing video poker promotions for almost 30 years, and before that exploited blackjack promotions for about five years. I’ve absorbed a lot of “how to do things” over the years that are now second nature to me. When a new promotion comes along, I have enough experience, usually, to get the most out of it.
Recently, though, in another gambling game where they were giving away money, I was really out of my element.
Continue reading It’s Not So EasyA player, “Joe,” wrote a mailbag question to [email protected], and I decided to answer it here rather than on the air.
It seems that this player has found a 99.8% video blackjack game among a bank of machines with much tighter blackjack games and bad video poker pay schedules.
Continue reading How Do You Do This?I participate on the videopoker.com forum. On this forum, there are many recreational players. Some regularly go back and forth between Double Double Bonus (DDB) and Triple Double Bonus (TDB).
The games are not the same at all. To compare them, I had to pick pay schedules. I picked the second-best pay schedule in each case: 9/6 DDB returns 98.98% when played well and 9/6 TDB returns only 98.15%.
Continue reading Comparing 9/6 Double Double Bonus with 9/6 Triple Double BonusPerhaps this is a very old game, but I just saw it for the first time recently. It looked interesting, so I thought I’d analyze it.
I was playing $5 NSU Deuces at Harrah’s Cherokee and had just hit four deuces for a $5,000 jackpot. Always nice, but it’s a once-every-5,356-hands event on average, so it’s not all that rare.
Continue reading A Look at Double Double Bonus Poker PlusI’ve had a relationship with Anthony Curtis for more than 25 years. Mostly it’s a business relationship, but over the years we’ve also become friends of sorts. Not best friends, but friends nonetheless.
I received a telephone call from him at about eight o’clock one Saturday evening recently. I took the call, of course, but this was a surprise. I would definitely not be his first choice on a call like, “Hey, I’ve got an extra ticket to the Raiders game tomorrow. You interested?”
Continue reading Is This a Good Deal?A few weeks ago, I posted a blog about not making an agreement with a player I didn’t know. (Did you notice that that blog was the first time I used an interrobang‽) That reminded me of a time I did make a deal. It wasn’t a deal where I had the advantage, but it was a deal to reduce variance.
It was at the Palms when it was still owned by the Maloofs. Perhaps 2007 or 2008, I’m not sure.
Continue reading One Time I Made a DealAssume you’re playing 9/6 Jacks or Better and you’re still at the stage in your playing career where you need to regularly consult a strategy card. You’re dealt 2♠ 3♥ 4♣ 6♦ 9♠.
Experienced players know you throw all five cards away. But this is not an experienced player we’re talking about. This is a beginner — at least to this game. At least to the ranks of players who play using a computer-generated rule. The unsuited 2346, a 4-card inside straight with no high cards, is held in some games. Such a player might well ask: “Is this particular 4-card inside straight held in this game?”
Continue reading Would This Be a Better Strategy?