We’ve all heard of counting cards at blackjack. This is nothing like that.
While I enjoy it, I find playing video poker for hours on end to be tedious. To combat this, I count hands to keep my mind in the game.
If I’m playing Jacks or Better, I count “quad scares,” which is the number of cards I draw that didn’t fill in a four-of-a-kind. Say I’m dealt 4 4 5 4 2. (No need to fill in the suits as flushes aren’t relevant here.) On the deal, when I drew the 2, it could have been the case 4, so that increases my count by one. After holding the three fours, if I draw two more blanks that increases my score by two more.
Straight flush scares count as two. If I were dealt 4♠ 5♠ 6♠ 7♠ K♦, I’d add four to my count because when the K was dealt, it could have been either the 3♠ or the 8♠, either of which would have completed the straight flush. Yes, I know a straight flush scare is not a quad scare, but this is the way I do it.
I count royal scares as being worth 10. This is way less than it should be, based on the value of the hand, but it’s what I use.
On a game such as Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, or a variety of other games where quad 2s, 3s, and 4s pay a premium and quad aces pay a bigger premium, I weight the scares for 2s, 3s, and 4s as being worth two each and ace scares being worth three each. In games with kickers, sometimes I’ll count kicker scares as well.
In Deuces Wild, I count straight flush scares as being worth one, five-of-a-kind scares as being worth two, wild royal scares as being worth three, four deuce scares as being worth five, and royal scares as being worth 10.
At the South Point, sometimes I play Five Play Jacks or Better Multi Strike. I don’t count scares on this game, but completed quad, straight flushes, and royal flushes. When these happen on the 1x line, they are worth one, two, and ten, respectively. On the 2x line, these values are doubled. On the 4x line I multiply by four, and on the top line I multiply by eight.
If I’m playing Triple Play or Five Play, I usually keep the same system. If I’m playing Ten Play, Fifty Play, or Hundred Play, I’ll just keep track of completed hands rather than scares.
It’s been awhile since I’ve played Joker Wild, Super Double Bonus, Deuces Wild Double Bonus, or other games not mentioned above. But when I do, I’ll change my counting system to account for the relevant hands.
Does it matter at the end of the day whether my count ended up 107 or 216? Absolutely not. How serious is it if I lose track of my count? It’s not serious at all. I just make a guess and keep going.
While the count number itself is worthless, I find this process of counting keeps my head in the game and keeps my mind from wandering. And that, as they say, is priceless.
If you think this will work for you, you’re welcome to adopt my system. If you don’t think it would be helpful, it doesn’t bother me if you don’t use it.
This appears to be the most effective way to mess up the joker game when you have to calculate the number of gaps in a dealt hand while holding the middle card.
A more enjoyable way to perform similar counting is to imagine you’re playing baccarat. Here, the first three cards are the banker’s hand, and the last two cards are the player’s hand, and you count the number of ties. For example, if you’re dealt KAAK2, the banker’s hand (KAA) equals 2, while the player’s hand (K2) also equals 2, so you increase your count by 1.