The Slot Expert's Guide to Winning at Slots and Video Poker

12 March 2001

By John Robison

You can hear me give my slot and video poker tips live on The Good Times Show, hosted by Rudi Schiffer with Frank Scoblete, which is broadcast live from Memphis on WHBQ over the air on 560AM and over the Internet on Yahoo! Broadcast on Saturday morning from 8-10 CT.

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On reality shows like Survivor, The Mole, and The Real World, they interview the participants one-on-one and the participants tell their innermost secrets. It's called a confessional and it's time for me to have my own confessional.

There were a few hands in video poker that I wasn't 100% sure how to play and, rather than pulling out my strategy card and finding out the right play, I made what I thought was the correct play. Each time I got one of those hands, I always thought I should really check my strategy card, but I kept making what I thought was the correct play.

Playing recently, I got another one of those hands and I finally said to myself that I had to check my card to make sure I was playing it correctly.

You probably have already guessed what I discovered. I was playing the hand incorrectly.

The more you play, the more you practice correct plays and the more you practice incorrect plays. Professional athletes continue to work with trainers to break any bad habits they may have picked up. Video poker players can do the same thing by giving their video poker strategy a check-up.

How can you give your strategy a check-up? You can use computer programs that warn you when you play a hand incorrectly. You can keep your strategy card out while you play and check it for the first 20 minutes you play or check it every five or 10 hands. Another way to give your strategy a check-up is to practice with a deck of cards. Deal five cards at a time, figure out how you'd play the hand and check your strategy card.

The goal in giving your strategy a check-up is to reinforce correct plays and fix your incorrect plays.

This week's tip: Give your video poker strategy a check-up.

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

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For more information about slots and video poker, we recommend:

The Slot Expert's Guide to Playing Slots by John Robison
Break the One-Armed Bandits! by Frank Scoblete
Victory at Video Poker and Video Craps, Keno and Blackjack! by Frank Scoblete
Slot Conquest Audio Cassette Tape (60 minutes) with Frank Scoblete
Winning Strategies at Slots & Video Poker! Video tape hosted by Academy Award Winner James Coburn, Written by Frank Scoblete
The Slot Machine Answer Book by John Grochowski
The Video Poker Answer Book by John Grochowski