Advanced Strategy – Page 13 – Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on October 18, 2022August 29, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 13 Comments

Putting Bills Into a Machine

Before playing a video poker machine, I typically load it with $500 or $1,000 in bills or tickets. I do this for a number of reasons:

I keep records of how much I win or lose each day. It’s easier for me to remember round numbers. If I’m playing a $2 game, ($10 a play), it’s common to be up or down several hundred dollars in a session. If I add another hundred-dollar bill as needed, it can be difficult to remember whether it’s four or five of those so far.

For each additional bill, I could record it on my phone (I use the Notes app on my iPhone), but I can keep thousand-dollar increments straight more easily. If I go in for $3,000 or more in a session, I write each $1,000 play as I go.

Posted on October 11, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 9 Comments

Help Me Make Sense of This

I received the following email. It was originally intended for the Gambling with an Edge mailbag, but I felt it was too technical to be discussed over a podcast:

I know video poker has a ton of variance, but I recently endured a hellish series of events on $5 NSU Deuces Wild at a tribal casino.

Posted on October 4, 2022August 29, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 6 Comments

When is a Wild Royal Flush not a Wild Royal Flush?

Using a W for wild card to indicate a deuce, assume you are dealt W W Q♦ J♦ T♦ on a Triple Play version of Deuces Wild. This is not a tough play. You hold all five cards for a wild royal flush. (Other terms for the same hand are royal flush with deuce and dirty royal.) Usually this pays 100 or 125 coins, depending on the pay schedule, and in the specific version you’re playing it returns 100 coins.

Posted on September 27, 2022August 29, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 2 Comments

How Would You Play This One?

I received an email from a player, “Sam,” discussing a promotion that has come and gone, in an unnamed casino in an unnamed state. He wanted to know how I would have analyzed whether or not to play it.

The gist of the promotion was that for two consecutive days, four hours per day, each W-2G received the following free play bonuses:

Posted on September 20, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 1 Comment

An Interesting Hand in 8/5 ACE$ Bonus Poker

The cards in ACE$ Bonus Poker (ABP) are just like the ones in regular Bonus Poker (BP) except there are superimposed yellow letters on four cards: “A” on the ace of clubs, “C” on the ace of diamonds, “E” on the ace of hearts, and “$” on the ace of spades. The order of the suits is alphabetical and contract bridge players will also be familiar with this order.

If you get four aces in ACE$ order, either in positions 1-4 or 2-5, you get paid 4,000 coins instead of 400. I’ve written about this game numerous times and have usually said the only changes you make to regular 8/5 BP strategy to play 8/5 ABP perfectly are to break aces full when the aces are in proper sequence for the bonus.

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Bob Dancer — 7 Comments

Why Aren’t You Still There?

I wrote recently in a two-parter about a trip I took where I ended up quite a bit ahead. Sometime after I got back, Bonnie and I were having dinner with her sister, Robin, and Robin’s husband. Robin asked about the trip.

“Bonnie tells me you did pretty well there.”

Posted on August 30, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 13 Comments

“Doing it Bob Dancer’s Way Can Lead to Bankruptcy”

My son-in-law, or perhaps a more correct term is step-son-in-law, Michael, passed away recently after a long illness. Michael was married to Bonnie’s daughter Joyce. He was more than 20 years older than Joyce, and in fact was a few months older than me.

After a somewhat rocky start, where Joyce and Michael were initially opposed to Bonnie marrying a professional gambler and did their best to sabotage the wedding. Over time we all got to know each other well and became friends.

Posted on August 16, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 10 Comments

Promotion at Molly’s — Part I of II

I received the following email for the Gambling with an Edge mailbag show:

Hi Bob, how do you calculate the edge on this video poker promotion? Molly’s in Vegas offers “lose $20, get $20” but I’m not sure how to calculate the advantage (if any). Also, if you have played this promotion before, do you literally have to put in $20 and lose it all before you get the $20 free play, or can you just lose four hands at $5 a hand to be credited the $20 free play?

Posted on August 9, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 10 Comments

Which is the Better Game?

A gambler friend, Al, and I were on the phone talking about something related to vitamin supplements, and then he said he had a video poker question that he was embarrassed to ask me.

“Go ahead,” I prompted. “If it’s too awkward, I just won’t answer.”

Posted on August 2, 2022August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 2 Comments

My Lucky Shirt — Part 2 of 2

I recommend you get started with this article by reading last week’s post first. I’ll be happy to wait for you while you do that.

On Day 7 of my trip, a Monday, I showed up in my lucky shirt, hoping to take another big bite out of the casino’s assets if the game was still around. If it had been removed, I’d go back to the $5 game for as long as I was there.

Category: Advanced Strategy