Question of the Day - 14 January 2022

Many years ago--playing .25 FPDW at the Something Somewhere, a young lady playing next to me was dealt AKQJ3 of hearts...and squealed in delight. A flush!! She proceeded to hold all five cards, but before she could press the DRAW button, I blurted out, "Jesus, NO!" She started and looked at me, wide-eyed. I explained to her why it might be a good idea to toss the 3 and go for the royal rather than keep the 10 coins she had earned for her flush. It took some convincing, but she eventually reluctantly discarded the heart 3--and draw a small spade. She looked at me like I had run over her pet poodle. I got out of there before her boyfriend Grunk, ex-pro linebacker, showed up.

Since then, I never offer advice.

I remember being at a Vp class at South Point. During break a non student approach Ed Bob and told him how he won big on a hunch bet and said his training was nonsense. Bob just smiled and walked away. Most players don’t realize the strategy shows you how to lose less money. This makes you a winner in the long run. Most vp players hope for a royal like a jackpot on a slot machine. Im happy when I get two pair in job. I’ve seen people drop a pair of high cards for a three card royal. If they ask I’ll automatically recommend Bobs website and of course LVA. It’s always great to run into another Dancer follower. I just received my well secured shipment of five Dancer strategy cards. I can’t find his software anywhere. Is it still available? The older I get the more I need it. It’s like going to the gym.

You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. “I’m not paying for software, I know what I’m doing. These machines are fixed!” As they pour c notes into a 8 6 double trouble paper shredder. 

As some of you know, I don't enjoy the tedium of VP, but I will play it to kill time waiting for a live poker seat.  I prefer deuces wild (any version) and play at a professional level which means I play fast and accurate.

A couple stopped behind me while playing and after a few moments asked me to slow down as they couldn't follow my play.  So I stopped, dealt one hand, and asked how they would play it. They were surprised to see me discard and draw opposite of what they chose and win a big payout.

The man of the couple simply said "come on Hon, this one doesn't want to teach us either".

I called after him and said "you didn't offer to pay for lessons".

They kept walking.

If you look around you can find it but I can't find anything definitive that says it works on Windows 10+. The last version I had I used on an old laptop with windows XP.

I was playing at the bar of our local casino when a lady sitting next to me was dealt a pair of aces and another pair.  I noticed she was playing Double Double.  I watched her hold the two pairs, but stopped her before she hit the deal button.  I told her to only hold only the Aces and explained why.  She did as I said and she was dealt the other two Aces and a kicker.  She was so excited and thanked me.  It doesn't always work this way, but it's fun when it does.

Rick I just can’t find it for purchase.

Great advice!  I would also like to add on to be careful, because as you know, the best strategy doesn't always work.  I'm always concerned that someone asking my advice about card play may blame me for a loss if the strategy does not work.

It is called minding your own business   What if he holds A10 and you say hold ace. He holds both and hit royal. Who is the dummy? You??  I never do it unless asked. I have seen them holding 10 A and getting Royal. 

don't give gambling advice like you know what is the right way to gamble or  a sure way to win . there is no such thing.   Most people gamble for entertainment. let them have fun unless they ask for advice. then give the all the info you want.  this is also true for any kind of advice .

At least not on their web site. They've gone to a subscription model for $49.95/yr or $6.95/mo. I liked it when you could buy the software for a fixed price, but like other software companies, they figured they could make out better with forced repeat business. If you look around, you might be able to find an old copy of Video Poker for Winners still available for sale, but whether their activation servers are still working is another question.

nope, a lot of people don't care, they're playing a mix of alchohol, intuition and superstition.  I've had that discussion but not while playing

I understand that if someone asks for advice, give them the best advice you can. I would say "the book says you should do this" rather than acting like an expert. This way you are less likely to be the target of blame. Besides, if everybody played efficiently, the pay tables would shrink even more. Think of it like this. Their poor play is paying for that extra credit on a flush or full house. 

My wife recently was dealt AQJT diamonds and K clubs on JoB. She wanted to keep the straight. I told her to drop the king. She caught the K diamonds for the royal. One of the few times my advice ever worked.

I was walking through a casino in AZ one time and saw a woman playing VP drew a pair of jacks. she kept one jack and i started to give advice to keep the pair. She hit deal button and drew a royal flush.  She looked at me and asked if i wanted something.  i said never mind and walked away

I'm that guy who will occasionally keep a flush even though I need one card for the Royal. But that's when I'm having a particularly bad session and I'm down to just a couple of bets left and I'm trying to extend my play. At those times I take the "bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" approach. If I get my coinage back up, I return to playing by the book. The Royals I have hit have never been with needing only one card, usually I keep two and get the three I need.

Long ago, when I first played Deuces Wild in Las Vegas, a kind man next to me patiently explained how I should play... I was exceedingly grateful and have played VP for 40 years since!

While on a recent trip to Vegas I ventured into the Virgin casino. I like VP but profess not to be an expert or play at that level...I play for the free drinks. Anyway I am at the bar and get dealt AK4TJ diamonds...I had already made up my mind that I was going to discard the 4 and go for the Q but I asked the bartender if I should go for the RF. He suggested it was the best option. I hit the draw button and up popped the Q....Gave him a $20 tip and grabbed a Corona to go. My point is that IMHO most players who play at VP machines at a bar top are probably not concerned too much if they win or lose as long as they are getting good conversation and being plied with "free" drinks for their play..Thats a win-win in my book...

ESPECIALLY if I saw 88 and Ace being held, I'd say (or think) "Go with your gut." Maybe she's going with table strategy; would one hope for more 8s but also back it up hoping for another Ace or two? I don't play live poker, which is probably obvious by me asking that.

Everybody has a "gut" story.  Held this instead of that and got a royal. 

I was once dealt AKQJ of Hearts and Ace of Diamonds on DDB.  I don't know to this day the perfect strategy on that one.  I considered holding just the two Aces, but tossed the Ace of Diamonds and fortunately filled in the with 10H for the Royal.  Luck, that's all IMHO.  But the kind you remember.  

Once was dealt AAA99, something like that, on DB.  I said to hubby "I'm holding the Aces and hoping."  A nosy lady literally screamed "No, hold your Full House.  Never throw away a Full House!!!"  I smirked to myself as the fourth Ace turned up.  Might not have been right, but was lucky.

Candy

This is similar to being asked the "right play" by other players at a blackjack table. Any reasonably offered answer should probably be prefaced by " the math / strategy chart says..", which is applicable for both VP and BJ play. Even that assumes a lot, including that the individual being asked is skilled/ knows the right play to begin with. In the majority of situations, I don't think it's a good idea to offer advice involving other players money. "Go with your gut" is a decent response *l*. Asking Bob Dancer about VP plays is a tad different than asking an average Joe in a casino.  

If I remember correctly there is a Win 10 software for VP that is programmable.
That means you could input any strategy you want and train yourself to play it 100% accurately.
Or just test out any strategy you devised.
It handled other games as well craps, blackjack,and any card game.

A little searching could bring it up for sale, try a search terms like VP, Poker, or Texas Hold'em training or teaching.

I don't care how my neighbor is playing, conversation or no conversation. Good play, rotten play... it's their money. Under no circumstance would I want anyone to comment on my play. If I had made a mistake, that's on me. If my machine neighbor makes a mistake, that's on them.

https://www.videopoker.com/store/vpw/    I use it daily for practice, can't tell you how many times I watch youtubers make mistakes and I know already what to do.  I have VP 6.0 and use VP for winners in my windows 10. Their customer service always gives me free updates on my original purchase.

Fellow LVAer's.  I just dont give advice to others unless they ask for it.  My closest casino is national harbor and while playing DB VP, the guy sitting next to me asked if you hold all five cards(he had a full house) and click the draw button to pay out.  I told them that's the way you do it.  However just like the golf course I don't give advice as I don't know any better then the players do.  I am however as polite as I can be to people.  Seems to always work.  

Dave

Maybe she already knew perfect strategy . . .

There's a 3rd option; we're not limited to just choosing between giving advice and not giving it. We can ask the other person if they want it. If he/she says "Yes", then go ahead. If they say "No", then don't. People think the weirdest things, things that we "in the know" folks never would. One time, an old lady sitting on my left stopped playing for a moment, turned to me and said, "I'm sure glad this machine knows what it's doing, because I sure don't." That's strangers. But what about friends? I used to rendezvous in Laughlin with a married couple, the guy being the VP player. I once watched him play the one game we both played, and whenever he was dealt 2 pair including AA, he only held AA, which was the wrong hold. I told him so. He was very slightly miffed, because he was one of the millions of "Ace addicts"; whenever he got dealt a pair of aces, he always held only them, in order to go for 4 Aces and the big payout. He didn't care that he lost EV by not holding 2 pair.

One factor that I haven't seen mentioned yet is: How badly is the player playing? I once saw a lady playing Deuces Wild and she was holding a single "high" card on every hand possible (if there was nothing obviously better to hold, like a pair). She didn't realize that, in DW, there is no such thing as a high card because there's no such thing as a high pair, so there was no point in holding a single Ace or Face card. She was so far off good strategy that I think it would be cruel to NOT say something.  ALSO: Understand that many people do not notice what is obvious to us. Here's the sad, serious side to a humorous event. Two expert players were playing side-by-side when one of them got the "ducks" while playing Deuces Wild: 2222 + a royal card. A cocktail waitress came by and saw the screen and said with delight, "You got a wild royal! Great!" Their ability to see and assess what is in front of them is simply less than our ability. Many players suffer a lot because of this handicap.

Hell no, those types allow casinos to keep paytables somewhat playable...if everyone played perfect DDB would be 6/5...or 5/4