![]() Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! Recent Articles
|
Gaming Guru
The secret to video poker25 August 2000
Dear Mark, Stop kicking yourself, Patricia, but you did mess up. When playing video poker, all experts will discard certain cards to optimize the "expected value" (win potential) of their hands. Herein lies the secret to winning at video poker — or another way of saying it, playing perfect basic strategy.
So what do I mean by "expected value"?
Expected value is the average value of all the wins attainable (after
the discards are replaced), assuming that the optimum cards are retained
and each unique possible draw occurs. In your case, the Expected Value
of a 4-Card Royal was 19 and straight is just a 4. My only solution at this time, Patricia, is to tell you that every hand you are dealt has some value and potential of winning money, with the expected value predetermined accurately by past computer studies. Hopefully by summer's end I'll be bringing those computer studies to a four-color, laminated chart form, which will identify each of those 35 combinations. I'll make sure you, and all the readers of this column, know when it's available.
Dear Mark, Arnold, didn't you answer your own question when you stated "I am worried about wiring $20,000 out of the country to some guy I've never met except for 3 minutes on the telephone?" I think you summed up your potential risk quite well. Besides, as a syndicated columnist, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to dole out illegal advice on how to best beat the Interstate Wire Act. Finally, I've mentioned this once before in a previous column, but I can't advise anyone to wire money thousands of miles away to an unregulated, uncontrolled, and probably illegal enterprise, give them a credit card and Social Security number, and hope everything is square. Sorry, Arnold, no vote of confidence here. Recent Articles
Mark Pilarski |
Mark Pilarski |