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Sometimes I Prefer Unfair Games

A recent thread on the vpFREE bulletin board began with a complaint that the kiosk games at an unnamed casino were unfair. Seems that when the poster was prompted to choose among five or so different icons, he always received something like 3,000 points valued at $3. After he made his choice, the prizes behind the other icons were displayed, showing that prizes up to 500,000 points were available.

He played enough to correctly come to the conclusion that the game was rigged and he had no chance for the bigger prizes. He was questioning the legality and fairness of having kiosk games like this. Continue reading Sometimes I Prefer Unfair Games

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Analyzing 3-Card Royal Flush Draws

There are 10 different 3-card royal flush draws: AKQ, AKJ, AKT, AQJ, AQT, AJT, KQJ, KQT, KJT, and QJT. For today’s discussion, we are looking at these combinations in games without wild cards where you get your money back for a pair of jacks, queens, kings, or aces.

These 3-card royals are not all equal in value. There are some combinations that are always superior to other combinations regardless of the pay schedule. There are others where “it depends.” Continue reading Analyzing 3-Card Royal Flush Draws

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Booting Players the Suncoast Way — Part 1 of 2

I haven’t played a lot at Suncoast Casino in the northwest Las Vegas valley — mainly for geographic reasons. While I was with Shirley, we lived near Green Valley Ranch Casino which was perhaps 20-25 miles away from Suncoast. For me to go to Suncoast, I had to pass up dozens of other casinos on my drive there. It was very rare for Suncoast to have such a spectacular offer that I would have driven past all of those other casinos — at least a few of which usually had better offers — spending all of that time and gas to get to Suncoast. Continue reading Booting Players the Suncoast Way — Part 1 of 2

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Big Things and Little Things

I’m writing this from somewhere in the middle of the Sargasso Sea. Before today I didn’t even know where the Sargasso Sea was. Although I’m sure many of my readers know well that the Sargasso Sea is an area of the North Atlantic Ocean just to the east of the United States in the mid-Atlantic region, this was one of many geographic facts that I simply didn’t know. So as I write this, I’m cruising aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line Breakaway headed back to New York City after spending three lovely days in Bermuda. I discovered I’m in the Sargasso Sea by glancing at the televised “Where are we now?” screen in my stateroom. The same information was surely available to me on the southbound leg of the trip, of course, but I didn’t take the time to look at it. Continue reading Big Things and Little Things

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I’d Be Ashamed If I Were You!

On most Fridays and Saturdays, there is a drawing at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. Entries in these drawings are based on your play beginning at 8:00 p.m. on the preceding Saturday. I try to compete in the drawings at least one week a month — sometimes two. I often play very little for two or three weeks and then very heavily for one or two weeks. This maximizes my chances to collect something from the drawings while still giving me free time for other activities on some Fridays and Saturdays. Continue reading I’d Be Ashamed If I Were You!

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Why Don’t Straight Flushes Pay More?

Straight flushes, which consist of five consecutive cards in the same suit, excluding the ‘AKQJT’ royal flush, are tough to get. In Jacks or Better (also called Draw Poker), straight flushes happen every 9,000 hands or so and are paid 250 coins. Compare that to 4-of-a-kinds, which happen every 430 hands or so and are paid 125 coins. In that game, straight flushes are paid twice as much, but are 22 times as hard to get. Doesn’t seem fair.
Continue reading Why Don’t Straight Flushes Pay More?

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Using 9/6 Jacks or Better Strategy to Play 8/5 Bonus Poker

A friend of mine, Terry, usually plays 9/6 Jacks or Better (JoB). There is one casino, however, where 8/5 Bonus Poker (BP) is the best game. He wants to know what changes he should make to his JoB strategy in order to play BP.

First of all, Terry doesn’t HAVE to make any changes. JoB strategy works pretty well on BP. Rounding off to three decimal places, perfect BP returns 99.167% and BP using JoB strategy returns 99.158%. Is that difference big enough to make strategic adjustments? You’ll have to answer that for yourself. Continue reading Using 9/6 Jacks or Better Strategy to Play 8/5 Bonus Poker

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A Royal Flush Penalty

I am probably far more aware of (some might say obsessed with) penalty cards than most players. I’ve written about straight penalties, flush penalties, low straight penalties, low straight kicker penalties, straight flush penalties, and high card penalties, as well as specific card penalties such as a ‘9 penalty.’ There are also some situations where two or three penalties must occur at the same time before the strategy is affected. Continue reading A Royal Flush Penalty