Mr. Lucky

13 November 2012

By Jerry Stickman

Dear Jerry Stickman,

I recently visited Mohegan Sun where I play a lot of video poker. While playing Double Double poker with 10 quarters in I hit four aces with a kicker while holding a single ace. What are the odds of that happening?

Secondly. once a decision is made to hold a certain card of cards are the draw cards locked in so that it doesn't matter when I hit the draw button or are they randomly generated when I do hit the draw button?

Lastly, do the hands that you are dealt change when the betting denomination changes? Specifically, if I go from playing five quarters to ten quarters do the hands change?

I look forward to receiving your reply.

Regards,
Ludi


Dear Ludi,

It is great to hear from you about your very lucky hand. You didn’t mention if you discarded one or more kickers while saving the single ace so I will give you several numbers. Assuming a random game, the odds against drawing to Quad aces with a kicker while holding a single ace are:

59,455 to 1 if you did not discard any kickers
64,860 to 1 if you discarded one kicker
71,346 to 1 if you discarded two kickers
95,128 to 1 if you discarded three kickers.

No matter what the situation, you definitely beat some tall odds. For reference, the odds against drawing a royal flush when saving a single ace are 178,365 to 1.

In response to your second question, the random number generator is constantly running. The cards to be displayed are determined each time at the instant you hit the draw button. They are not “locked in.”

The hands are determined when you hit the button, so the answer to your third question is yes and no. Your timing will be different if you change machine denominations so the hands dealt will be different. However, you still have the same odds for completing hands regardless of the denomination.

May all your wins be swift and large and all your losses slow and tiny.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack, video poker and advantage slot machine play. You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanGTC@aol.com