How Do the Casinos Determine Advantage Players at Video Poker?

When playing video poker, how is one determined to be an advantage player? Is it the machines they play, the hours they play, or the amount of jackpots won? What triggers the We Don’t Want Your Business Anymore?

[Editor's Note: This question, by its very nature, had to be answered by Bob Dancer, who needs no introduction when it comes to video poker advantage play.]

The short answer is “all of the above.” And the definition varies by casino.

Slot directors usually know which of their machines are loosest. The players who play them the longest hours are, at least, under suspicion of being knowledgeable.

The speed of players is also a tipoff. Players who log 1,000 hands per hour or more are pretty rare and most of the ones that do know what they're doing.

The bottom line for most casinos, however, is the net score of the player. Players who win significantly over time are typically most vulnerable to being excluded by management.

Winning a lot of drawings can also get you in trouble. If you do this, the casino may eliminate you, because it's upset about the money you're winning or concerned that other players complain about the same guy winning all the time. The result to you is the same. If the casino deems this a problem, they'll take some action that you’re guaranteed not to like.

Some casinos sweat all players, so even expert quarter players get restricted. Other casinos don’t care about such stakes.

My best advice is that if you get “way ahead,” take some time off. Stay away from that casino for six months or so. Those who get way ahead and keep pounding are asking for the casino to retaliate.

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stlcccc Jun-01-2019

LOSING VIDEO POKER

QOD SUGGESTION.  When playing JOB video poker with perfect strategy; how far down will you go before moving to a different machine.

Jackie Jul-11-2019

@stlcccc

Your question told me that you either don't have enough bankroll for the machine you are playing or your play is not perfect.  Perfect play minimizes your loses and an adequate bankroll keeps you playing until you hit a Royal. How far down you will go never figures into it at any time.

stlcccc Jul-11-2019

losing

Maybe, I should rephrase.  Ever gone ten or fifteen pulls without even hitting one pair?

Kevin Lewis Jul-11-2019

Doesn't enter into it

Moving from one 9/6 JOB to another 9/6 JOB machine has no effect on your results. You could lose 147,933 hands on Machine A and the next hand could be a royal--or the next hand you play on Machine B, which you move to, could be a royal. It matters not.
From the point of view of the recreational player, if you're playing a losing game (however well), moving slightly decreases your losses in that while you're moving, you're not playing. For that same reason, someone playing a winning game should be reluctant to move.
Of course, there are always situations like when the player next to you is chain-smoking stinkarettes and smells like s pile of burning tires, and you move in order to not commit homicide.

O2bnVegas Jul-11-2019

"stinkarettes"

Love it, Kev!

stlcccc, I'm no AP, but when it would take back to back Royals to catch up, I've stayed too long and I'm moving.

I recall Jean Scott said there is no reason to change VP machines ever.  But how well capitalized she was, and you are, is important; how long you need your bankroll to last for that day.

The mindset of "I've put so much in this machine I can't afford to leave it" is pretty much insanity, IMO.

Fifteen pulls without even a pair is brutal, but it isn't a drop dead certainty (is anything?) at that point (again, depending on your bankroll).  Twice that?  That machine isn't doing it FOR ME and I'm moving.  Though I admit I move as far, far away as possible, at least for a while.  LOL.

[email protected] Jul-11-2019

Moving

I pretty much never change machines during a session, since as others have pointed out, it makes no difference in the probability of getting a given hand on the next deal.  Usually I plan to play for a certain amount of time, say 2 hours, and play the same machine throughout, win, lose, or draw.  Sometimes I play for a specific session bankroll, in which I'll play until that bankroll is gone, or until I feel like stopping.  The only reason I'd ever move is either an obnoxious neighbor or for a mechanical reason such as an uncomfortable chair or sticky keys.  But as many have pointed out, as long as you play the same game, like 9/6 Jacks, it's really just one long session for all the years you end up playing.

Anthony de Jesus Jul-11-2019

Here's a little math exercise

Figure out how many hands you have to play to be more than 50% to have a streak of at least ten hands in a row without even a pair.

Thomas R Jul-11-2019

Inadvertently Horked?

I will sometimes move to the machine next to me if lose half my session stake.  My thought is that machines like anything else are fallible.  maybe gamma rays.  The casino wouldn't be liable as they didn't actively hork the machine in the player-negative direction.  alternately, the hork could be player-positive.  if I hit a royal early, and have time to kill, I stay on that machine.  I know it's either working fine or the horked integrated circuits are helping me :)

Question of the Day - 11 July 2019

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