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Mary and Walker

23 July 2017

Every video poker player has favorites, whether they want the 2-for-1 two-pair paybacks on Jacks or Better or Bonus Poker, the wild cards on Deuces Wild or the big four-ace bonuses on Double Double Bonus Poker and many other games.

At pick-and-choose time, Walker had another method.

“We’re regulars at a casino that has an alcove with 50 video poker machines. Early on a Wednesday morning, it was empty. Not a single player. I told Mary (his wife), ‘Know what I’m going to do? I’m going to play one hand on every machine.’

“She gave the old 'what brought on this crackpot scheme?' stare.”

Walker said Mary’s concern was cost, so they set limits. Single-hand dollar games were OK, but multihand games would be quarters, and he’d drop to nickels on Ten Play and pennies on Hundred Play.

“There were no $5 or higher machines where you couldn’t drop down to $1, so that was lucky,” Walker said. “I think Mary would have put her foot down at $5.”

With Walker playing and Mary keeping score, the first 20 machines were uneventful with five high pairs, two two pairs and a straight.

“But then, on a quarter Double Double Bonus three-way progressive, it got a lot better. I held three aces and drew the fourth ace and a 4 kicker. With the progressive, that was $595.75.

“I asked Mary, ‘Do you still think this was a crackpot idea?’ She laughed and said, ‘Of course it is.’”

Soon, they were at a back of Super Times Pay and Ultimate X, betting quarters on Super Times Pay Triple Play and nickels on Ultimate X Ten Play.

“I stuck with Double Double Bonus, and it was on the second Ultimate X that I got my next big hand,” Walker said. “I was dealt three aces again. The draw didn’t improve four of the hands, but on the one line were I had the 4x multiplier, I drew a 2 and the other ace. The 2,000 nickels were multiplied by four, so that was a nice $400 pay plus the 15 nickels each for the threes of a kind on the other nine hands.

“At the bank of eight $1 machines, I said to Mary, ‘We have a big one on quarters and another on nickels. Do we get one on dollars to round it out?’ She said, 'I hope so,' but we didn’t. Just a few high pairs and two pairs.”

To round out the tour, Walker was back on quarter games, first single hand, then multihand once more.

“I didn’t get much on the single-hand, but the last four games were Triple Play/Five Play. Since we were doing well, I went with Five Play and decided to play a different game on each.

“The first one was Jacks or Better. I was dealt a pair of 9s, and got two threes of a kind and three two pairs. Next I did Deuces Wild, and that was our last big hand. I held two deuces and got four 2s on one hand, a wild royal on another and three of a kind on the other three. So that was 1,140 quarters, or $285. I didn’t get anything on the Double Bonus or Double Double Bonus."

At last, it was time for the final reckoning and Mary’s scoresheet.

“The total of my bets was only about $150,” Walker said. “But the payoffs on three of those hands came to almost $1,300.

“That was pretty exciting for me, and Mary had fun, too.”

Look for John Grochowski on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/7lzdt44) and Twitter (@GrochowskiJ).
John Grochowski

John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

> More Books By John Grochowski

John Grochowski
John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

> More Books By John Grochowski