If you’re a computer programmer working on a video poker game, the hand A♠ Q♥ T♥ 8♠ 3♥ is equivalent to A♦ Q♣ T♣ 8♦ 3♣, but both of those are different from A♣ Q♥ T♥ 8♠ 3♥. Can you see why?
The ranks of the cards are the same and in all three hands QT3 is suited. In the first two hands, the ace and eight are suited with each other. In the third hand, the ace and eight are unsuited.
To 99% of all players, 99% of the time, that distinction is irrelevant. It could possibly be important, for example, in a Double Bonus game where there is a progressive on four aces. At reset, you hold QT on this hand. If the progressive on four aces is high enough, you just hold the ace. How high the progressive has to be will be different if there are 12 cards still in the pack unsuited with the ace than if there are “only” 11.
With that kind of thinking in mind, assuming you are playing 9/6 Jacks or Better, do you see any difference between A♦ Q♣ T♣ 8♦ 3♣ and A♠ Q♥ T♥ 7♠ 3♥?
For anyone who would hold just the ace on either of these hands, you’re a hopeless Jacks or Better player. Holding the ace can be correct in certain other games, but not Jacks or Better.
The Basic Strategy play on both hands is to hold the QT. It’s the second-best play in both cases, but AQ is better. The fact that AQ is better than QT in these two hands is because the 3 is suited with the QT. This is known as a flush penalty and is generally only of concern to advanced players. Many players have enough trouble just learning the basic plays without dwelling on the fine points. What makes the hands different is that in the first hand, the 5-coin dollar player is making a nickel mistake versus a 2-cent mistake in the second.
The difference in the size of the mistakes is due to the 8 interfering with the straight possibilities of QT and the 7 not doing so. Why is this important? Well, it’s not if you’re playing the game with a 4,000-coin royal. But if you’re playing a progressive, holding QT is correct in the first hand when the royal is at 4,685 and above, while in the second hand, holding QT is correct at 4,365 and above.
So, for whom is this kind of analysis important? Frankly, only to a pretty small self-selected group. Some pros learn these things — many don’t. A few recreational players become competent in these distinctions — although it may never be cost-effective for them.
Some of us just plain like studying things. This has been one of my “secrets to success.” The more I know about how and why things work the way they do, the easier it is for me to learn and memorize strategies.
If you think my secret is worthless to you, that’s your right. But in general, the more people study these things, the better their results turn out to be. Whether it makes sense dollars-and-cents-wise if you put a value on your time is debatable. But if it gives you pleasure to gain insight into these games, why the heck not do it?
Thanks for another informative example of why I am an occasional recreational amateur player and not an AP. Looking at the examples and thought processes required to be any good makes my head hurt. I like sitting at a 9/6 jacks machine and losing slower using basic strategy while I smoke a cigar, annoy people I don’t know and do not care. Now, where is the drink girl?
Outstanding article, I have personally been enjoying columns from this year a bit more than the past few years because of more in-depth analysis of the game.
I think most players who reasonably want to play well rely on memorizing strategy charts and going top to bottom on each hand, so they will be able to pick up subtle differences with the suits on the game variants they play.
There are those players that believe 9/6 Double Double Bonus will return 98.98% no matter how they play, not considering it requires optimal play on every hand which takes considerable effort to prepare.
Though the majority of the article is about distinguishing suits, the release of the specialty game Color Match Royals last year is an exception where the color of the suit does matter and shortcuts cannot be taken. I am not sure if IGT or VideoPoker.com will expand on this game concept; I hope not as it will be a tougher game to master if the casinos mainly offer these type of games to play.
I had to go re-look. Although I know the correct play in JoB, I had thought AQ offsuit was ranked higher than QT suited on the BS chart. Basically I learned it this way… hold AQ over QTs unless there is no flush penalty. Which ever way works long as it’s played right.
I’ve only gone this deep in learning my basic strategy in games that are inherently positive. And yes, I know that games such as 9/6 JOB can be positive under the right circumstances. But there is such a thing as diminishing returns. If I spend lots of time learning how to get from 99.48% to 99.54%, well, that’s like working out strenuously to be able to jump between two rooftops that are twenty feet apart. I find I can only jump 19 feet, 6 inches. However, if I really knock myself out, I find that I can jump 19 feet, 7 inches. Were my efforts worthwhile? Even if now, on the rare occasions that there’s a stiff tailwind, I might be able to make it to the other side?
I guess I’d rather spend my time, of which so little is allotted to us on this mortal orb, in some way other than finding how many penalty cards can dance on the head of a pin. I also strongly suspect that that time could produce a greater monetary return if it were used to search dumpsters for deposit bottles.
To: Gary Mantey:
That was funny! (And I do the exact same thing myself.)
Was that you I was sitting next to at Main Street Station couple years ago at the 9/6 machines at the Boar’s Head Bar? If so, your cigar was awful.
I used to smoke White Owl New Yorkers, but they don’t make them any more. Very mild.
Sorry, not me. Mine are hand rolled, Courvoisier infused, long leaf Dominican filler with a Maduro wrapper. I can refer you to the person in Florida who does the wrapping if you like.
I am able to play 9/6 Jacks or Better perfectly with all the exceptions, and I was able to come up with adjustments for progressives with the help of your software and I had those numbers on my cheat sheet. Anyone that plays video poker on a regular basis should be capable of understanding those distinctions even if they don’t have the exact numbers memorized, I don’t have very much of the progressive strategy memorized because I mainly play in AC and I don’t think they have it anywhere anymore – they used to have it at Bally’s until maybe 5 or 6 years ago. My opinion is if it’s something you are playing on a fairly frequent basis, you should play it perfectly. Even if it’s a 0.0001% difference, I’d rather keep that 0.0001% than give it to the casino, it’s a matter of principle.
It is probably a lot easier for me because I have a math background, but I just think that a lot of players aren’t very bright. I don’t understand why someone would sit at the multi-game machine next to me and play 98.98% DDB when at the same machine you can play 99.54% JOB. What makes it worse is that I think that most of the people at these machines know this.
You don’t even need to be good at math to know that 99.54% is a lot better than 98.98%, from what I understand the 9/6 JOB strategy is a lot easier, and while in theory it shouldn’t matter, the DDB game is generating a lot more W-2G income being reported to the IRS, not to mention having to tip the slot attendant.
My downfall is when I go to Las Vegas where there are other more profitable games. I only go once every year or two at most, so in that case I might agree that the effort I would need to put in isn’t worth the extra EV to me. I did once put some effort into learning some 100%+ games, but I had to play a lot slower and for smaller amounts (and also much less comps), and I wasn’t enjoying myself as much, so I decided to stick to what I knew, while trying to take advantage of the promotions and probably getting around 100% EV anyway. It is probably different now that the Palms was taken over, but I used to get 0.25% cash back and 0.25% in gift cards in their weekly promotions, plus good deals on the buffet.