Category: Video Poker

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People Don’t Wait

Bob Dancer

I noticed a pattern at the Four Queens in downtown Las Vegas. It probably happens elsewhere too.

The casino sometimes, not always, has monthly promotions. While the details of the promotions vary, most of them follow a pattern.

This is a slot club where slot machines require $5 coin-in to earn a point, video poker machines require $8 to earn that same point, and the loosest video poker games require $16 to get that same point. 

The promotions require you earn a certain number of points during the month — it could be 500, 1,000, 2,000, or even 4,000 — and when you accumulate that many points, you go to the booth, and they give you your reward. The rewards are some combination of free play, comp dollars, and physical gifts.

The loosest video poker games are for 25 cents and $1, and even with the extra coin-in required to earn a point on these machines, they still represent the best value. There are exactly four $1 machines where you can find the loosest game, and probably 200 players during the month want to play their points on these machines for whatever the promotion is this time.

The thing is, for the first 10 days or so of the month, if you come in to play on these machines, usually all four of them are busy. For the last 10 days or so of the month, if you come in to play on these machines, usually you have your choice of any of the four. 

These dates vary, of course, depending on how many points are required this month. If it’s a 4,000-point promotion, meaning $64,000 coin-in on a dollar machine, the machines will pretty much be busy all month long. If it’s a 500-point promotion, the machines will be available more often simply because it doesn’t take nearly so long to satisfy the promotion.

Because of this, I usually wait until the 15th or so to start my play there, assuming I’m going to be in town all month. If I’m going to be gone for a couple of weeks late in the month, I’ll get my play done during graveyard shift in the first week of the month. That’s a less popular time to play, so almost always one or more seats are available at that time any day during the month.

In addition to machine availability, there’s another reason I wait until mid-month to get my play done there. If you do your play on slot machines there instead of video poker machines, not only does it require less play coin-wise, but your mailers tend to be bigger. And play done at either the Four Queens or Binion’s (which is catty-corner across Fremont) count. So, when I’m downtown earlier in the month, I’ll check to see if any slot machines are in positive mode. I do have certain machines I check in both properties. There are a lot of slot hustlers checking machines downtown all the time, so finding a playable machine at any particular time is hit or miss, but I’ll still check.

I never know how many slot points I’ll accumulate. I have rules of thumb for when these machines are worth playing, but they are usually playable only until a certain bonus feature goes off. I’ve had bonuses go off on my very first spin, earning virtually no slot club points, and I’ve had bonuses take a very, very long time to go off. 

If I need 500 points on slots, if I find a good machine and play off my points, it will typically not be a good time to leave the machine. If a machine is of the type that it’s a play if ever the minor bonus is at least 25 spins, I might get on the machine at 27 spins and by the time I’ve played 500 points it’s now up to 33 spins — which is considerably more positive than merely being at 25 spins. (After all, when it goes off, you get eight additional chances for something good to happen.) When this happens, I’ll play considerably more than the minimum points required for the promotion.

The thing is, though, I cannot be the only player who has noticed that the loose machines are usually busy early in the month and usually un-busy later in the month. While out-of-towners need to play while they are in town, locals, generally speaking, should be equally comfortable playing during the last week of the month rather than the first week of the month. 

And yet, I don’t see this happening. I wonder why?

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Why Video Poker for Me?

Bob Dancer

I’ve been playing video poker for 30 years, and by any measure have been quite successful at it. Prior to this gambling game, I tried very hard to become successful at several other gambling games — specifically poker, backgammon, bridge, and blackjack.

I’ve been pondering recently as to why I became successful at this one specific game and not the others. Today I’m going to compare my results at video poker with my non-success at backgammon — which is the gambling game I tried hardest and longest before I gave up.

A factor in winning at any gambling game is one’s intelligence — both IQ and the ability to apply that intelligence to addressing the many aspects of successful gambling. It’s difficult for me to talk about my own intelligence without having some people conclude I’m full of myself and/or others conclude I’m being overly modest. But I’m convinced it’s a big part of the reason for my results in both games.

Video poker is a relatively easy game compared to other gambling games. When I learned the game, I had to create my own strategies, or at least perfect strategies published by others. When I had a strategy, I needed to execute it competently over and over again. Usually this meant memorization, but sometimes I’d bring some sort of “cheat sheet” strategy card, especially if it was going to be a short-term play where it would not make sense to take the time to memorize the game completely.

I needed to evaluate how much a game is worth, and how much the slot club, promotions, and other benefits slots were worth. Of these, probably evaluating and analyzing promotions was the most difficult. Having a working knowledge of probability and statistics helped here.

By the luck of the draw, I “grew up” in video poker right as computerized programs were becoming available to the public. Had I started five years earlier, the problems of creating a strategy and figuring out how much a game is worth would have been beyond my capabilities. Players starting today are able to get a strategy for most video poker games for free from www.wizardofodds.com but casinos aren’t offering as many good opportunities as they used to.

I’m not sure why, but using commercially available software in the 90s, I was able to create and execute accurate video poker strategies better than most other players. I attribute that to intelligence, basic mathematical ability, and the willingness to put in the hours necessary for success. Also, looking at five cards and immediately seeing the various possibilities for straights, flushes, straight flushes, etc., comes easier to me than others. I never appreciated this until I discovered when I was teaching that this is not easy for many players.

Also by the luck of the draw, I grew up with video poker in an era when casinos were giving away the store to video poker players. Not intentionally, of course, but slot directors generally didn’t understand the mathematics of video poker nearly as well as the best players did. All competent video poker players had to do was “Repeat Until Rich,” which is the name of a book (on blackjack success) by Josh Axelrad.

Backgammon, which I played for 20 years from 1974 to 1994, was a totally different situation for me. Computer software wasn’t available yet, and the way to learn the game was to read books and roll out positions over and over again until you understood them. I certainly learned from playing and watching others, but that is a complicated and potentially expensive way to learn.

Backgammon has a zillion different possible positions. Even long-time players regularly come across positions they’ve never studied before. Or maybe it’s the same position, but last time you studied playing a five and a three, and this time the roll is a six and a one. The correct play on most rolls from most positions is fairly obvious to competent players — but some rolls require you to select among different good positions, or perhaps choose the least bad among several not-so-good positions.

No player has studied every position — or even seen every position. During a game, you have to make the best decisions you can. Raw intelligence plays a big part in this, because there are a lot of elements to consider, both offensive and defensive. After a lot of study, I was pretty good at this — but there were many players who were better. I concluded they were brighter than I was.

I did “grow up” in backgammon at a fortunate time. The game was popular in the early 1970s and played by celebrities. The game was played at the Playboy Mansion, and to a young man in his mid-20s at the time, that was pretty interesting. The game was played at discos, and I took dance lessons and obtained a suitable wardrobe to fit in there. For the most part, the players in discos took the game much more casually than I did, and my skills were such that I could clean up in that environment — and meet plenty of ladies who liked being with guys who could dance. What a life!

But that environment ended in the late 1970s. Discos closed and the days of making easy money gambling against non-professional players were over. There were enough better players than I was (including brains, knowledge, and whatever else) that I eventually went bankrupt and had to go get a job.

While I worked my way back into modest backgammon success, I never reached the highest level, no matter how hard I studied.

Today, there are a number of computerized programs available for backgammon players, with the best one called Extreme Gammon (XG.) With the same innate intelligence, players using XG for six months can get as good as I got in 20 years of play.

Today gambling at backgammon is fairly rare. It’s still done, of course, especially while backgammon tournaments are taking place, but today a “PR rating” is generated in tournaments comparing a player’s actual play with the play of XG. A player with a rating of 3.0 (world class) will have a very difficult time getting a game against players with ratings of 10 (intermediate level). Years ago, such matches were possible because nobody knew how good other players were. Today they do.

I know that I could return to that game and get as good as I was 30 years ago, but 30 years ago I was an intermediate player! And there are players who could beat me 30 years ago who’ve been playing and studying continuously since then. They could beat me then and they’ve only gotten better since. I’d have no chance.

Basically, starting over again, at age 77, is not a formula for success. And if I busted my ass for several years and got my average PR rating down to 5 or so, I still couldn’t make enough money to support myself because games against lesser players simply aren’t regularly available.

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Waiting for a Machine — Part I of II

Bob Dancer

I’ve written several times about there being more players who want certain video poker machines at a certain time than there are machines available. Today’s article isn’t about that. It’s about waiting for a slot machine that you believe is positive.

Let’s talk about the hypothetical “Red Bob” machine. I have not searched patents and trademarks to know if any such machine exists, but if so, I haven’t heard of it. If there is such a machine, it’s just a coincidence. I’m making up everything I’m saying about this machine.

The Red Bob machine has three meters: Mini, Minor, and Major. Each of these meters increases when certain symbols appear. When one of these meters goes off, you receive however many free spins are on the meter. The Mini meter goes off most frequently and is the least valuable. The Minor goes off less frequently, but is more valuable because you get additional wild symbols on each spin. And the Major meter goes off still less frequently, but is more valuable still when it does go off because of still more wild symbols.

Assume you’ve collected data and have determined that the Mini meter is a play at 23 spins — meaning that on average, starting from right now, the amount of money you collect when the meter goes off is more than how much you’ll have to pay to get that meter to go off. There is a random element to this, as in most gambling games. Sometimes you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose, but on average, so long as you only play games when the meter is at least 23, you’ll do all right.

Similarly, the Minor meter needs to be 37 to be a play and the Major meter is a play at 45. Just one meter needs to be high enough for it to be a play. For the record, I know of no machines where 23, 37, and 45 are the “strike numbers,” but I know of many games that are generally similar to this.

Assume you come across a Red Bob machine that has meters of Mini 26, Minor 17, and Major 13 and it costs $2 to play each hand. This is a play, because the Mini is at least 23, and we assume you can afford the $2 a hand. The trouble is, somebody is already at the machine.

At this point, I’m going to evaluate the situation. A pro, or semi-pro, will probably be playing the machine like he’s in a slot tournament. That is, he will keep hitting the spin button as fast as he can. He knows that he’s the favorite and the sooner he can get to the Mini meter to go off, the more time he has to make money on other machines. 

Generally speaking, I don’t wait around for a pro to finish. Most likely he’s not going to stop until the Mini meter is hit. And when that happens, the machine is no longer interesting to me because the Minor and Major meters are way too low to be profitable.

But sometimes you’ll find a “regular” player — that is, someone who might not know or care that he’s playing a game returning in excess of 100%. He’s in the casino for enjoyment and knows the casino usually wins. It’s the price he pays for entertainment. This player usually plays relatively slowly, listening to the music and enjoying the sights and sounds of the game.

I then look at the credits. If he has $239.17 in credits, I probably won’t stick around, unless I get some vibe that he’s ready to go (like maybe a wife telling him about dinner.) If he has $12.34 in credits, I’m going to find a nearby chair and wait. After all, running out of money in the machine creates a natural stopping point.

Once seated, I look around and see if anybody else is waiting for the game. They will have seen me evaluate the situation and sit down. Normally, they give me some sort of “evil eye,” or maybe use sign language to indicate that they were there before I was. If I see this, I nod acceptance of reality and move along. There are many reasons I don’t want to be in any sort of fight in a casino.

If I see nobody, then I watch the player to see if he gives up. I’m also alert to other players coming and thinking about moving in on the machine. If I observe this, I give them my own version of the evil eye. Usually that works.

If the player runs out of money in the machine and grudgingly puts in a $20 bill or smaller, I stick around. If he puts in a $100 bill, I figure he’s not going to run out of money.

If he does stand up, I move in fast. I’m usually seated within five seconds after he leaves. Once I’m seated there, I’m in a strong position to be able to keep the machine. If I dawdle, some other player might move in — and even if I was waiting longer, it’s not always simple to enforce my rights without making a scene — which is a situation I don’t want.

Once I’m there, I’ll insert my money and player’s card and keep playing until the Mini goes off. With the numbers presented in the example, it’s unlikely that either the Minor or Major will be high enough to be playable before the Mini goes off. But if the original numbers were 26, 34, 38, even if the Mini goes off quickly, I’ll keep playing until “one or the other” of the other two meters goes off. Even though neither is high enough by itself, the combination is playable — at least in my opinion.

I know that most of my readers are video poker players and don’t care about playing slots — but I felt that this situation was different enough from regular video poker waiting that it would be interesting to many of you. I have more to say about this subject, but I’ll give it a rest for a few weeks.

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Can’t Stop Talking about Rainbow and Emerald Isle

Bobby Vegas: Friends Don’t Let Friends Play Triple-Zero Roulette

Deke, my editor at the Las Vegas Advisor, asked me to expand on the changes in the mailer from Rainbow/Emerald Isle and this is turning into a whole article on why I love Rainbow.

I stay at the Downtown Grand and drive out to Rainbow a LOT. It’s only 15-20 minutes down the freeway and as I have hundreds of dollars in unspent comps and am on a first-name basis with the staff, I love going — sometimes for breakfast, sometimes dinner, great games all the time. The Rainbow’s daily specials, most for $9, are fantastic.

I’m an anti-Strip guy. When I went to the Pinky Ring at Bellagio nightly for a week or more, I was overwhelmed by the traffic, crowds, $18-$20 parking, and the unplayable games.

But way out on funky little Water Street in Old Henderson, I found my intimate and insanely friendly goldmine, baby.

Since the recent Emerald Isle/Rainbow buyout, the first sign of ownership change is they combined the two properties’ monthly mailers. Each had weekly coupons for the Emerald Isle diner and my fave, Triple B at Rainbow. Now the weekly free meal is either/or, one coupon in one combined mailer for both properties and you can go to the diner or Triple B for breakfast at either place or dinner.

To me, it’s not that big a change. I never could use all my offers anyway.

True, some of those came from hitting some super 50x (+5%!) points on video reels 2-3 a.m. or just the 25x midnight-2 a.m. and 4 to 6 a.m. You won’t get super multipliers on 10/7 Double Double Bonus, but
I’ve played a lot of qualifying games at 101% or better.

I also want to give a shout out to locals that their monthly ticket giveaways are awesome! You earn points all month and put the tickets in the barrel; I’ve been there for giveaways and NO ONE SHOWS UP! They often have to call three, four, or more people to find a winner who’s present. And the prizes aren’t shabby — two tickets to Golden Knights games and all sorts of great concerts. I even saw them give away two tickets U2 at Sphere. That’s a $1,200-$1,500 prize. And on Mondays they have easy- peasey gift days, only 200 points.

Other things I like about Water Street in Old Henderson are all the funky cool shops and restaurants. Many of them take your points from Rainbow and Emerald Isle.

The third casino there, the Pass, gives out $10 in free play and there’s a Circa Sports outpost right by the door. While I’m at Rainbow and Emerald Island, it’s easy to place and cash my Circa bets.

So Deke, sorry, but you’ll have to edit me down again. I just can’t say enough about Rainbow and Emerald Island!

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A Story from Treasure Island

Bob Dancer

I became interested in video poker in the early-to-mid 1990s, which turned out to be a very fortunate time to do this. Players were not so knowledgeable as they are today, but neither were slot directors or game manufacturers, which led to casinos offering much juicier games and promotions than are present today.

Treasure Island was built by Steve Wynn and opened in October, 1993. In addition to $1 9-7 Double Bonus progressives, they had ample $5 and $10 9/6 Jacks or Better (99.54%) games, along with one for $2, all with 0.67% cash back. (They might have had some bigger games, but $25 and higher games were so far beyond my comfort zone, I ignored what was there.) You could get RFB (a room, and unlimited food and beverage) for a very modest amount of $15,000 coin-in per day. Plus, they had monthly promotions where they gave away multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars on one Saturday night during the month for which you earned drawing tickets on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday playing a game where the player had the advantage.

It turned out that 9/6 Jacks or Better, along with Full Pay Deuces Wild and 10/7 Double Bonus, were the three games for which I initially worked out strategies that I was ready to publish in 1994. By late 1994, I had built my bankroll up to $20,000 or $30,000 and was ready to tackle this game of video poker. It was just a guess as to whether or not I had enough bankroll, but I figured I had about a 1% edge (including the drawings), and if I could just hold on at the beginning, and avoid expensive habits outside of gambling, I was pretty much guaranteed to increase my bankroll bigtime. I had spent 20 years or so playing backgammon for money and so was used to the swings of gambling.

I soon realized I played a more accurate Jacks or Better strategy than most of the other players. The strategies published by Dan Paymar and Lenny Frome were decent enough, but simplified. Jacks or Better is arguably the easiest game to play 100% accurately so I taught myself to do that.

Treasure Island also gave away tickets to the show Mystere. I don’t remember the exact exchange rate, but it was something like $4,000 coin-in gave you two free tickets daily. I didn’t want to be seen selling the tickets, so I sold them to a few non-players for $50 apiece who then stood in line every night and resold them for $100 or so. I probably did this 100 times (two tickets each time)— adding $10,000 to my bankroll. Eventually the non-players began getting questioned about “Where did you get those tickets?” and I decided it was time to shut down that form of extra revenue.

Shirley came into my life in late 1995, and we both started playing at Treasure Island. The Mirage had largely the same monthly promotions, usually on different weekends than Treasure Island did, so we played there too. The Golden Nugget’s version of this was to give the money away via a slot tournament — perhaps $40,000 cash given away to 200 players each month, which added up to $200 in equity per person. Add this to playing a positive game and RFB — it was a good deal. They had good games at the Rio as well.

Other casinos like Bally’s, Caesars Palace, Desert Inn, and MGM Grand had similar promotions but I largely avoided those in the mid-1990s. Later Venetian, New York New York and others joined as well. One event per weekend was enough. I was writing and teaching, and there were local casinos with good games during the week. Most of the big Strip events had dances on the night they gave away the money, and this was almost as important to us as the money itself. If we started double- and triple-booking promotions, we might earn more money, but it wouldn’t be as much fun.

The Las Vegas casinos competing with each other as to which one could give the players the best deal lasted well after the turn of the millennium. Although players eventually got stronger, so did casino management, with the net effect that not so many players percentagewise were beating the casinos as there used to be. The best players, however, continued to succeed.

It’s fun to think back to the “good old days” periodically, but it’s more useful to think on how to beat casinos today. It is still being done — but not in the same ways we did it a few decades ago. And I suspect the methods we’re using five and ten years from now will be different yet.

I don’t know how long this “ride” will last. For me, at age 77, it’s more difficult for me to keep up than it was 30 years ago so I may need to give up beating the casinos earlier than I would were I younger.

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You’re Leaving Money on the Table

Bob Dancer

Bonnie and I sometimes travel to Harrah’s Cherokee, which is in the Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina. 

Although there are many reasons we go there, one is that we have casino friends, “Jack” and “Jill,” who also play there. I email Jack when Bonnie and I are going to be traveling east, and sometimes they make a trip there at the same time. And when that happens, we share at least one meal at Brio, the Italian restaurant at the casino.

Rather than split the cost of the meal, we each pick up the entire check every other time we do this. All four of us play at the Seven Stars level, so, among other things, each gets five $100 food vouchers a year. Often one of those vouchers is redeemed during our meals together.

This time it was Jack’s turn to pick up the check. I asked him how much of the meal his host was picking up, and Jack said he never asked a host to buy his food.

“You’re leaving money on the table,” I told him. “You and Jill each play $50,000 coin-in per day you’re there and annually you each earn Seven Stars status primarily from your play at this casino. Hosts will consider you valuable to the casino and will be willing to give you something.”

He told me between them they earn $100 worth of Reward Credits a day, sometimes more if there’s a multiplier, and that’s enough to cover much of what they spend on food.

“Okay,” I continued. “I don’t know what kind of benefits your play entitles you to, but let’s say the host is willing to pick up $250 in food for your four-day trip that usually you pay for with Reward Credits. That many Reward Credits can be turned into $125 free play — which essentially means cash. Are you so rich you can’t find a use for another $125?”

The answer was obvious. I had given Jack the name of our host previously. He had spoken to the host over the phone, but never met her and she didn’t know they were at the casino now.

“You’re going to be here tomorrow, and she’ll get in at noon. Why don’t you give her a call and see if she has five minutes to chat. Once she puts faces to names, she can look up your play and figure out what she can do — if anything. It’s possible, I suppose, that she can’t do anything, but I very much doubt that. Even if that turns out to be the case, it will only cost you five minutes to find out. The odds are very good that she’ll be able to do something.” 

Jill commented she would rather get free facials and manicures than free food. Jack thought a bottle of Scotch Whisky would satisfy him more.

“Let your host know that. Your host’s job is to take care of valuable customers. She has guidelines she must follow, but also, she has a lot of flexibility. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

“And sometimes you play at Harrah’s New Orleans too. If you don’t have a host there, get one. Let them know when you’re coming and see if they can offer you anything.”

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Gifts that Aren’t Gifts

Bob Dancer

Casinos reward players for playing. These rewards typically include cash back, free play, rooms, food, show/event tickets, and as many other goodies as a marketing director can imagine. I’ve received gift cards, spa treatments, cruises, shopping sprees, trips, and discounts on a variety of things.

Once you’ve received these rewards, for the most part you can use them as you see fit, including redeem them, ignore them, give them to family and friends, and, sometimes, sell them. If you’ve received a logo jacket, for example, and choose to sell it on eBay, no casino executive will object to this.

If the casino has offered you a hotel room, and you give this room away, again there’s no problem. But if you sell the room, and the casino discovers this, you may well be punished. Each casino has its own way of bringing players into line, but you usually will receive a warning before the casino takes any action.

If you continue selling rooms after the casino tells you that it’s not allowed, the casino will “solve” the problem by not giving you free rooms anymore — and maybe kicking you out altogether.

I can see the casino’s point of view on this. After all, selling rooms is one of their income streams, and if they can sell the room instead of giving it away for free, it helps their bottom line.

I can also see the player’s point of view on this. If a casino “gives” you something, you should be able to do whatever you want with it. It’s hard enough to beat the casino. Adding a few extra bucks from selling something the casino gives you makes it easier to win. Or at least lose less.

While I haven’t sold any comped rooms for several years, if I were to do it again, I’d try to do it in a way that would maximize my chances of being successful at it.

First of all, I wouldn’t go through a host. My host knows my preferences — perhaps one bed, no smoking, high floor, near elevator — whatever. If I all of a sudden I want two beds in a smoking room, the host is going to be asking questions. I could say it’s for my brother-in-law, and that would fly once. But if I tried it several more times, each time with a different set of room requests, the host may get suspicious. While the host is your “friend,” of sorts, the casino signs her paycheck. 

So, after the reservation is made, go though the front desk to make the changes in the “smoking or not” kind of requests. To the front desk, you’re just a name. To your host, you’re quite a bit more than that. Casinos identify you by what kind of games you play, what stakes, what frequency of play, what your win-loss numbers are, and a variety of other things. All this data is part of how your host knows you.

Second, if I get a comped room and sell it to somebody, I’d play some that weekend. It doesn’t have to be a lot. But no play at all waives a red flag. 

Third, I’d be discreet about it. I wouldn’t post an ad that offers discounted rooms to the such-and-such casino. Those ads might well be seen by somebody who works at the casino, and it could lead to it being investigated. Once somebody who works at the casino tries to “buy” such a discounted room, they’d find out that I was behind it — and the cat would be out of the bag. No thanks.

Fourth, I’d spread it around to several casinos if I had potential comped rooms at more than one place. Each time one does this is a risk. Doing it at several casinos rather than just one dilutes that risk a bit.

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THE FACTS ON HITTING A ROYAL FLUSH AT VIDEO POKER

This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.

AC says:

Video poker players will like this article. Many players know the commonly cited statistic that a royal flush occurs about once in 40,000 hands on average. But beyond that, the related numbers are less known. This article by Henry Tamburin puts these numbers all in one place, both the frequency of being dealt X number of cards to the royal flush and the odds of hitting it. One interesting fact within is that it’s almost twice as likely to get a royal on a 5-card redraw than on the initial deal (the redraw comes from a pack of 47 cards that are minus five that won’t complete a royal). There’s also some bonus info at the top of the article regarding how video poker games select and deal the cards that appear on the screen.

This article was written by Henry Tamburin in association with 888Casino.

THE FACTS ON HITTING A ROYAL FLUSH AT VIDEO POKER

Let’s face it. What all video poker players hope (and pray) for is that the next hand will give them a royal flush because that results in an immediate 4,000 coin payoff. But did you ever wonder what the chance that this will happen when you hold, say, four cards to a royal flush? How about holding three cards to a royal? And what is the chance of being dealt a royal flush on the initial deal? I’ve summarized the answers to these questions below and they may surprise you.

Continue reading …

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A Look at Casino Drawings — Part II of II

Bob Dancer

Today we continue our look at casino drawings. If you want to catch up and read last week’s blog, I’ll wait until you come back.

You usually have to plan for a drawing. While it is possible that you’re automatically entered into a drawing and your prizes are sent to you in the mail, the far more typical way is that you need to show up at the casino and activate your tickets at a kiosk. You then need to stick around until the drawing is held and, if you’re lucky enough to be drawn, claim your prize within some relatively short period of time.

This means that if you’re going to compete in one drawing at 7 p.m. on a given night, you can’t be at another drawing as well. So you need to pick and choose where you have the best chance.

It’s not trivial to get to a casino, park, and deal with the crowds in order to win at a drawing. Today, if I don’t have an expected win of at least $250 at a drawing, I won’t be showing up. Your number might be different from mine, but financially it rarely makes sense to show up at a drawing when you only have one ticket in the drum. Yes, it only takes one ticket to win, but that’s looking at “possibilities,” not “probabilities.” I actually look one more layer deep. I look at the probability of being called and the average size win.

In general, the more tickets you have in the drum, the better your chances of winning. If you’re a $5 player, you have a significantly better chance of winning than if you’re a 25¢ or $1 player. If you’re a 5¢ player, five coins at a time, you basically have no chance at all.

It’s usually not a good idea to play a negative game in order to get drawing tickets. Having an expected loss of $1,000 in order to have a 10% chance of winning $500 in a drawing doesn’t make financial sense.

It can make sense to play a negative game if it’s “close.” Playing 99.73% NSU Deuces Wild with a 0.20% slot club is a negative game. A drawing can make up the shortfall. If mailers and comps are given to you in addition to the 0.20% slot club, then this situation was probably slightly positive to start with. 

If you’re going to be at a drawing, and Thursday is a 10x drawing ticket day, make sure you play on Thursday. Ticket multiplier days are a way for a casino to present something worthwhile to players looking for an edge and it doesn’t cost the casino a dime. It actually makes money for the casino because of the extra play generated on that day. The casino has already budgeted the drawing, say $20,000, and it largely doesn’t care which of the players win the money. Drawing ticket multipliers shift the odds from the players who don’t play on that day to those who do.

Don’t win drawings at the same casino too often. This is the “voice of experience” talking and it applies to players who play for relatively large stakes compared to most of the other people in the drawings. At small casinos, where the same people show up for drawings every week, it gets noticed if that one guy seems to win all the time. Players will complain, and when that happens, the casino will come up with a solution that the winning player doesn’t like. So if you win, take a month off or so. 

Read the rules carefully. If it’s the same rules for every drawing, probably most of the kinks have been worked out of them. But if they modify the rules every time, mistakes can be made. Sometimes point multipliers are in effect from 3 a.m. to 2:59 a.m., but ticket multipliers are in effect midnight to midnight. Double dipping might be possible! And they might have a senior’s drawing on Tuesday and a “for everybody” drawing on Friday, and, if you’re old enough, your play can count for both drawings. There might be limits to consider.

It’s possible that for the amount you play, winning a drawing is essentially a zillion to one longshot. If that’s the case, don’t even try. Concentrate on other ways to win in the casino — or in life.

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BE CAREFUL THAT 9/6 VIDEO POKER IS WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.

AC says:

The information in this article is something all beginners need to know. Many start with the knowledge that 9/6 Jacks or Better is the gold standard (it is to some degree, but there are higher-returning schedules) and understand that the 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush are the key numbers. But then they assume that all 9/6 games are good. As pointed out in the article, the 9/6 on a Double Bonus game drops the return to 97.8%, about 1.75% below the JoB return, and other 9/6 variations drop similarly. You have to be sure you’re playing 9/6 JoB (or 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe returning 99.64%, which can be found), or the expected return is likely lower than you think it is. More good advice comes in the warning to look at the entire schedule, even on games labeled “Jacks or Better.” Some, especially on denoms below 25¢, have short-pay royal flushes, e.g., 2,500 coins instead of 4,000. No bueno!

This article was written by Jerry Stich in association with 888Casino.

BE CAREFUL THAT 9/6 VIDEO POKER IS WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

Many video poker players are aware that pay tables vary based on the type of game. Many video poker players know that the pay table for a specific game can also vary. They also know that most pay tables can be identified based on two lines in the pay table. These two lines are the pays for a full house and a flush. They represent the x-for-1 pay amount. For example, if a full house pays 8-for-1 and a flush pays 5-for-1, the pay table is commonly referred to as 8/5.

At one time – years ago – there were very few different video poker games. Jacks or Better was among the earliest video poker games available. Pay tables in the early video poker era tended to be quite generous. Almost all Jacks or Better games paid nine coins (yes, coins. Early games only took coins or tokens) for each coin bet for a full house and six coins for each coin bet for a flush.

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