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Gaming Guru
Don't quit your day job5 May 2000
Dear Mark, Assuming, Ted, you were to do all the right things like finding full-pay (9/6) Jacks or Better machines and play perfect basic strategy, I would still recommend the following advice. Don't quit your day job! Even though your expected payback is more than 99%, actually 99.544%, you must take into account that those high returns are based on you hitting the royal flush. And why a royal flush? Because a royal on a full pay (9/6) Jacks or Better machine accounts for 1.981% of your total return. Also of note, Ted, plan on playing video poker an average of 60 hours, with rapid play, before hitting a royal flush. Even a straight flush can be expected only once every six hours, and four-of-a-kind hands occur just once an hour. Those hands are significant because they represent another 5% of a player's return. What this all means to the video poker player, Ted, is that the casino has a 10% advantage while you're waiting for the big payoff. Finally, Ted, your bankroll. It's going to take you, again on average, a wad of cash about as large as the royal flush itself to survive long enough to hit it. Is a Friday paycheck starting to sound good about now?
Dear Mark, Susan, to be even against the house you need to find a machine with a progressive jackpot that is larger than 1,750 maximum bets ($440 for $.05 machines, $2,200 for the $.25 machines, and $8,750 for the $1 slots). Want a mathematical 2% edge? Look for jackpots of $625 on your nickel, $3,125 on the quarter, and $12,500 on the dollar machines. Tough to find, but do they exist. Good luck. (When Susan was referring to 8/5, and I, 9/6 in the Q&A above, we meant the payoff for a full house and a flush with one coin inserted.)
Dear Mark, The key to evaluating the potential return on a "Deuces Wild" machine, Angela, is the payoff on fours-of-a-kind. If your local casino has little competition, that hand is paid 20 for 5, rather than 25 for 5. Since fours-of-a-kind occur frequently, this lower payoff drops the percentage return by well over 6%. Some machines, though, will give you a little extra by paying more for the full house. But overall, if you're playing on a machine which pays just 20 for a four-of-a-kind, you're playing less than a full-pay version of Deuces Wild.
Dear Mark, Yes, because if you look at the pay table closely you will notice a non-symmetrical progression on the royal flush payline. Your typical royal flush payline looks like this; 250, 500, 750, 1,000, 4,000. Note the jump with the fifth coin inserted. Not playing that fifth coin, Jerry, will cost you 12% over the long haul. Recent Articles
Mark Pilarski |
Mark Pilarski |