Ask The Slot Expert

Dear John,

On my last stay in Vegas, my wife and I started getting into the video poker play. I looked for 9/6 Jacks or Better. Unfortunately the best I found was 8/5. It was fun, but I definitely would like to hone in on some basic strategies to improve my odds.

Any advice or suggestions for material would be appreciated.

Congratulations on giving video poker a try. It's the best game on the slot floor because you can tell a machine's long-term payback with skilled play just by looking at its paytable.

And congratulations on looking for 9/6 Jacks machines. Unfortunately, not every casino has them.

An 8/5 Jacks machine pays back about 97.5%. And it takes about 100,000 hands for the differences in paytables between 9/6 Jacks and 8/5 Jacks to have a greater effect on your results than randomness. And at a house edge of 2.5%, you're bucking about the same edge as the average blackjack player. You're better off trying to find 9/6 Jacks or another high-paying paytable, but 8/5 Jacks isn't the worst bet in the casino.

Frank Scoblete's Victory at Video Poker has detailed strategies for different video poker games. Another good book is Lenny Frome's Winning Strategies for Video Poker. I also recommend strategy cards from Dan Paymar (www.vegasplayer.com/vpinfo/video-poker.html) and Bob Dancer (www.greatstuff4gamblers.com), and Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker software (www.greatstuff4gamblers.com) for practicing on your Windows computer.

Here is a generic Jacks or Better strategy you can use. Start at the top and work your way down the list. Hold the cards indicated or follow the instruction on the first line that applies to your hand.

• Break everything but a straight flush for a 4-card royal flush.
• Hold a pat hand.
• 4-card straight flush (outside and inside).
• 3-card royal flush.
• 4-card flush.
• 4-card straight (inside and outside).
• Pair of low cards.
• 3-card straight flush (if double inside, must have at least one high card).
• 2-card royal flush (but not ace-ten).
• 3 unsuited high cards (if one is an ace, hold only the other two cards).
• 2 unsuited high cards.
• 1 high card.
• 3-card double inside straight flush with no high cards.
• Draw 5 new cards.

For Jacks or Better, a high card is a jack, queen, king, or ace. All other cards are low cards.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos!
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@home.com.

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