In terms of number of hands played, or number of dollars played, 9/6 Jacks or Better has been the video poker game I’ve played most in my career. Not so much recently, but certainly over my entire career.
The major things I like about the game are:
a. Return (99.54%). This isn’t high enough to be playable by itself, but several casinos (at least in the past, and still a little bit today) include a package of benefits with playing the game that make it worthwhile
b. Simplicity (it’s arguably the easiest game to play perfectly)
c. Availability in High Limit rooms (at least in the past)
d. Memories (most of my $100,000 and higher jackpots have been on this game)
With that said, if you poll players about whether they would prefer playing 9/6 JoB or 9/6 Double Double Bonus (98.98%), given identical slot club and other benefits, I believe a majority would take DDB — the game that returns 0.56% less.
To me this makes no rational sense. It’s just my opinion, of course, but I believe the reason to play video poker is to make money. I don’t play for the fun of it. I don’t play for the excitement. Voluntarily leaving more than an extra half percent on the table (in the machine or in the casino owner’s pocket, more correctly) is something I would never do.
My beliefs on this matter, which are quite strong, are clearly a minority opinion. In today’s blog, I want to address why this is.
There are millions of players who prefer DDB to JoB and with the vast majority of these I’ve never discussed this matter. Any list of reasons I give can’t hope to be all inclusive. I believe, though, the reasons fit under two main categories:
a. Volatility/Excitement
b. Chance of winning today
Volatility is usually measured by the mathematical term ‘variance.’ The variance of JoB is 19.5, which is about as low as you get in video poker. The variance of DDB is 42.0, which is moderate. This term represents the range of results you get and how far those results vary from the average. In JoB, you get fairly consistent results. (Frequencies of the following hands discussed are approximate.) The royal is exciting, to be sure, but it only comes around once in 40,000 hands. It’s a fairly smooth, downhill ride, with the royal bump coming in only rarely. You do have a 1/9,000 chance for a 250-coin hand and a 1/423 chance for a 125-coin hand, but these don’t really get the blood boiling.
With DDB, the results are much more exciting. There is a slightly worse chance of getting a royal (1/40,800) compared to JoB, but there are several other nice hands possible. There’s a 1/16,000 chance of a 2,000-coin hand, a 1/3,200 chance for an 800-coin hand, a 1/2,600 chance for a 400-coin hand, and a 1/575 chance at a 250-coin hand.
The opposite of excitement is boredom. One lady I know says she’d rather watch paint dry than play JoB. So, for those who say JoB is too boring, I’m including those folks into this category.
The other reason is related, but not the same. A large number of players really care about today’s score — as opposed to an annual score or a lifetime score. To me, today’s score is just a number I write down in my daily log. I prefer plus scores to win, of course, but I know there are going to be plusses and minuses. Whether I’m winning for the year is important to me, but not so much whether I’m ahead today. Again, my view represents a minority opinion. I strongly suspect that the majority of DDB players do not keep good records of how much they’ve won or loss.
The following chart represents the chance of being ahead after a certain number of hands:
| 500 hands | 1,000 hands | 5,000 hands | |
| JoB | 37.22% | 34.57% | 27.86% |
| DDB | 34.07% | 35.52% | 38.82% |
I created these numbers using Video Poker for Winners. If you play fewer than about 800 hands, JoB gives you a better chance of winning a session than DDB does. But for more than that, DDB comes out ahead more frequently. The 5,000-hand column basically represents a long day of single-line play, and the difference is striking.
What isn’t shown on this chart, however, is how big your wins and losses are. The size of the losses in DDB are much larger than the size of losses in JoB. The game does return 0.56% less, after all. But if you look at the frequency of the losses, it’s the other way around!
The discussion presumed that casinos treat the games equally. This is often not the case. At many casinos in the Eldorado (formerly Caesars — formerly Harrah’s) system, you get one Reward Credit per $25 coin-in playing 9/6 JoB and one Reward Credit per $10 coin-in playing DDB. (These numbers vary by individual casino.) Under this system, RCs are cheaper to earn playing DDB than JoB and you earn more RCs per hour of play.
If these were my only two choices and I valued the benefits I received from playing at this casino more than the cost of receiving them, I’d play DDB under these conditions instead of JoB. Not for the reasons listed above, but simply because it’s faster and cheaper to get those benefits playing DDB than it is playing JoB. On the other hand, while I do value the benefits from this system highly enough to fade 9/6 JoB to earn them, playing 9/6 DDB the same amount includes a much too expensive price to pay for those benefits. Just my opinion, of course, and again, it’s a minority opinion.
Bob, the results in the table you present poses the following question:
why would DDB have a higher percent of being ahead after 5000 hands than JoB since JoB has the higher return?
Don’t you really mean the chances of Ddb EVER being ahead during the play of 5000 hands, not being ahead at the conclusion of the 5000 hands. I mean, if you and I are flipping a fair coin, the chance that I’m ahead after 1 flip is 50%. The chance that I’m ahead after 5001 flips(to eliminate ties) is still 50%. However, the chances that you are EVER ahead in the 5001 flips may certainly be different from 50%.
Burt
I like JoB.
If it’s not enough excitement for you play BP or move up denoms.
Burt asked: “why would DDB have a higher percent (sic) of being ahead after 5000 hands than JoB since JoB has the higher return?“
1/ Probabilities does not equal Expected Value; in AP speak: EV trumps Probabilities. For example, a progression player can have 127/128 ways (99.22% chance) to win but blows up on the 128th outcome (on average) so probabilities can be misleading.
2/ BD is looking at the area under the curve where player is positive after X number of hands or 1K or 5K hands where BD asserts DDB has higher probability of player being ahead than vs 9/6 JOB, respectively. It’s the PDFs (probability density function) of DDB vs 9/6 JOB. BD is asserting that after 1K or 5K hands, BBD player is more likely to be ahead based on randomness, respectively.
3/ This phenomenon was explained by Jazbo over 20 years ago. It’s that DDB offers fat quads so it provides huge “kicks” on the right side of the PDF.
Please see this article: http://jazbo.com/videopoker/curves.html
Summary: You need to understand PDFs and compare them to their respective EVs.
In Option Math, DDB has much higher volatility so it makes sense player has greater chance (than 9/6 JOB) to get out of a hole or losing session if player hits two or more fat quads in a short session.
TO BURT: The reason why DDB has a greater chance of making you ahead after 5000 hands is because of the chances of hitting a biggie hand that will recoup the amount that you are behind when you hit it. With JoB, if you are down more than $62.50, nothing but a royal flush will recoup your loss and make you ahead. But DDB has hands other than the RF that will put you ahead.
Let the cards do the talking and not the odds
You left out a huge factor to consider here. I mean, you could definitely have a longer stay playing Double-Double especially if you start off on the downswings of this game. Jacks or better, not so much, and if you do get backed-off you’re looking at not being well ahead prior to backoff.
Maybe I’m belaboring the issue too much, but if I’m playing the JoB for 5000 hands at 5$ per hand and you are playing the DDB the same way, then after 5000 hands I should expect to have 5000x5x.9954 = 24885$ and you should expect to have 5000x5x.9898 = 24745$. Furthermore , This outcome is more likely (higher probability) than any other specific outcome. So, it’s not more likely you will be ahead after 5000 hands, but it very will may be likely you will be ahead at some point during the sequence.
Burt
Jacks-or-Better was probably the first version of videopoker invented back in the 80s when they came up with the hole thing. I spoke with one of the attendants that are working at the El Cortez the other day and that person told me that in the old days when there were only coin-operated machines there were several bugs that needed to be fixed or the casino would lose the house. It even happened that the same hand pay was paid more than once because the smart guys knew how to confuse the floor persons by switching denonimations and thus be paid again. Today this sounds like wild wild west if you think about how technology has changed everything.
Interestingly, these games are hard to find in Europe as most casino visitors prefer pure games of chance. And the few casinos offering certain versions of videopoker have the machines set up in a manner that there is basically no chance to win. Speaking about J-o-B, there is a casino that has an online site offering Jacks-or-Better in the full pay version. I haven’t tried it out as no matter what, 99.54 per cent without points and comps is usually the road to perdition.
From Switzerland
Boris
I still play 9/6 job well with I guess 99.50 accuracy. To me it is a boring game. Perhaps if I could play at 100 dollar level it would be more exciting. You also said your 400k royal occurred early. Yes I hate to admit I go back a few decades. I like 9/6DDB but at higher decimation cold streak I like it less. I am in away lucky to have it in tunica and is best game ther. I don’t mind joker wild with 100 for quads and 25 for full house. Again I think it is the excitement thing. You certainly do not play for profit here.
Yes most of us agree with you. Everything is not based on rational behavior. However we agree but will keep playing as before. It is fun.
Don’t like giving up the two pair in DDB, prefer BP, or even Super Pay BP (6 coins) for short session.