Video Poker

It seems like everybody likes to talk about strategies for different VP games, but the number one factor is LUCK.

I decided to try VP for about 6 months. and see if you can make any money at. I started by hitting 3 jackpots in one month playing progressives that got high enough to overcome bad pay tables. I hit only one where I played more than 3 hours, the other two I played less than 30 minutes.

I also put in long sessions on trying to hit other jackpots, only to witness 5 people hitting the jackpot by sitting down and playing for couple of hours or less.

The moral of this story is that unless you are lucky enough to sit down at the right machine at the right time you can play forever and not hit the jackpot, without the jackpot you will be a loser no matter what strategy you use or how fast you can play.

The truth is the exact opposite of what you state. While "luck" does affect one's results in the short term, in the long term, luck doesn't matter. And there is no "right" machine or "right" time to play.

The casinos don't depend on luck, nor do they expect it. Somehow, though, they manage to win. The fact is, luck is an illusion.

I don't really expect you to understand this, let alone agree with it. However, the casinos don't believe in luck, while their customers do. Who ends up winning?

Kevin,

You can't say that luck is there for the short term and then say it's an illusion. Well you can and did. Michael Shackleford, aka The Wizard of Odds, says that there is no royal flush cycle. He says that is a myth. His video poker game calculator uses 3.986 trillion hands to develop a strategy. How many players get that many hands played before they're done with video poker? My wife started calling me Mr Royal over twenty years ago and still calls me that to this day. She says I'm "luckier" when I'm drinking. I use the intermediate strategy for 9/6 JoB and play only 9/6 or 8/5 BP. I play far more 9/6 than 8/5 BP. I play less than 300 hands per hour. I've had far more royals than the number of hands played says I should have. My first royal came with less than 500 hands played lifetime at the Regency in Laughlin. I didn't know strategy was even a thing. Would I rather be lucky than play perfect strategy every single hand? You bet! Where are the mathematics that tell you when to press the deal button for a winning hand? I've had six dealt royals and I guarantee that I haven't played 3 1/2 million hands. A person can play perfect strategy and never hit a royal or have a winning session. That's the definition of worst luck ever. A person can play less than perfect strategy and never have a losing session. That's the definition of luckiest. When you push that button and get your cards, there is nothing but luck involved with the result. Good or bad. What you do with the dealt cards is where strategy comes into play.

So, is being lucky a trait?  In other words, are lucky people always lucky, for their entire life?  Or does it depend on what hat you're wearing?  Or does it just come and go?  Does everyone have the same amount of luck when averaged over a lifetime?  And how can you get this luck stuff?

I've been lucky ever since my wife accepted my proposal (begging and pleading) and married me. I can honestly say that I became much luckier after I was married.

A smart gambler knows he will lose in the long run, with very few exceptions. My only goal is to get comps to outweigh the losses. All gamblers go through streaks good and bad, I hit 6 royals in 24 hours once, 3 were together. My wife and I have not hit a royal the last 4 trips to vegas. It is math not luck. Buy the VP  teacher from this site, it pays for itself, practice, practice, practice!

Math can (though not guarantee) extend one's VP bankroll, but does it matter regarding  royal flushes?  I say it does not.  That is luck.  JMHO.

Candy

No. There is no quality, no physical or ethereal force, no warp in the space/time continuum, no mental or physical characteristic that causes a person to experience more favorable outcomes than expected. Luck, as most people would define it, is illusory.

Kevin, I did my own research online, turns out that some people have a prime number of neurons in their hypothalamus, which exerts a constant pressure to move their results to the good tail of the bell curve.

I have been gambling for over 30 years, it is math and it is not an opinion, it is factual.