GamingTips

So I heard this on the radio, and thought I should share it.  If anyone else is a member of Gamblers Bonus, it’s a pretty good deal.  If you call 866.CASH.CAL, you are entered for a chance to win up to $1,000 in points.  And you win something every day.  The last three days I have won 1500 points each day ($1.50), which is not much, but it is something.  The main drawback is that you have to log in to gambler’s bonus by midnight the day you get the award text in order to get your prize.

A lot of people get very confused when gambling, when, for instance, they hear that a specific game or machine has a certain payout, and they don’t get it.  Here’s a couple of reasons that happens.

First, payouts and holds are averages, they are not the guaranteed outcome in any one session.  Just like it is possible for you to win despite the house advantage, it is possible for the house to win more than expected.

Second, holds and payouts are based on perfect strategic play.  If you are not playing perfect strategy, you can expect the hold to be higher.  Even slight variations can have large effects on the odds.

Finally, the hold is not the percentage of money brought to a table that a casino keeps.  It is based off of the amount of money gambled.   This may seem like a small difference, but it adds up.  Let’s use an easy example.

If your are playing a $1 slot, and you start with $10, with a hold of say 10% (just to make it easy), you think the casino should only win  $10, leaving you with ninety.  But, let’s say you pull the lever with your first dollar, and you win $2.  You now have already played $1, and have $12 on the machine.  By the time you have gone through the money you have, you will actually have played $13, not $10.  If you continue to go up and down (as you usually do) it is quite possible that you will have played twice as much, or more, as what you brought to the table.  The hold is based 0ff of the total amount played, not the original bankroll of the player.

So, when looking at payouts and holds, players need to take into account natural, random variation; their skill level; and the true meaning of the payout and hold.

A word of warning for inexperienced machine gamblers.  Often, people looking to just kill some time look for the lowest denomination machines to play.  They’ll go for the pennies or the nickels, thinking that they’ll spend less money over more time.

Well, when you take into account my last post, that’s not always true, especially with the penny slots.  Yes, the minimum bet may be one cent, but the max bet is often 10 or 20, and you can play up to 25 or 50 lines.  So, let’s go with the worst case scenario.  You bet 20 cents each on 50 lines.  You just bet $10.  Meanwhile, most quarter machines are either 3 coin (slot) or 5 coin (poker) max bets, and are often single line or single play machines.

So make sure you don’t automatically go for the lower denomination machine.  Look at what the max bet is, and then you’ll know which machine is actually the cheapest machine for you.

A mistake that a lot of novice gamblers make when playing slots or video poker is playing the minimum bet.  For instance, if they want to play 25 cents a hand, or 25 cents a pull, they look for a quarter machine.  This is almost always a mistake, and here’s why.

A huge part of the “helpful” odds of machine-based games is bonuses and progressives.  And both bonuses and progressives usually require a max bet.  Although it is a rare occurance, people do get the three jackpots on slot machines and the royal flush in video poker.  When that finally happens to you, do you want the moment to be dampened by the knowledge that had you played two more credits, you would have won $1000, or even $12000?  Probably not.

This does not mean you have to spend a lot of money.  It just means you need to look for a different denomination machine, or with today’s technology, even just change the settings on the machine you are at.  Usually, each denomination’s max bet is pretty close to the next denomination up.  For instance, quarters and nickels often have five coin max bets.  That means that in order to take advantage of bonuses and progressive jackpots, you need to play $1.25 or 25 cents respectively.

A lot of people (including myself) are tempted when they first see video blackjack to play.  If you’re a table games kind of person, why not play blackjack at the local bar, right?

Wrong!  Video blackjack has terrible odds, and tricks you so you don’t see this.

Whenever anything pays “X for Y, it means that if you collect the full X, they keep your original bet of Y.  So it’s really not a X to Y payout.  It’s an (X-Y) to Y payout.  For instance, if a bet pays 5 for 1, it pays 5, but they keep 1, so it’s really a 4:1 payout.

Video blackjack machines pay 2 for 1 on a blackjack.  So they really pay 1:1, just like on any other winning hand.  This is one of the major advantages at a real blackjack table, taken away.

Another thing which allows players at live BJ to get an edge is that they can double on any hand.  With video blackjack, most machines limit doubling to 10 and 11; 9, 10, and 11; or 8, 9 10, and 11.

So video blackjack is not a good game.

That being said, this applies to the video blackjack you find on the bar, sharing machines with keno and video poker.

Some casinos now have computerized versions of table games, which follow the same rules as the live games.  I know I’ve played an electronic game of blackjack at the Venetian, and I’m sure other casinos have the same.  These are fine, as long as you a) double check the payouts and rules, b) don’t mind a faster paced game, and c) won’t miss the social interaction of the dealer and other players.

Double bonus video poker is a variety of video poker where four of a kinds pay out with bonuses.  It is among the better paying video poker games, especially if you can find a “full pay” machine, which is 10/7.  I have yet to see a full pay Double Bonus game, but it is still a fun game, and is actually the game that I usually play when I play video poker.  Below is the strategy guide.  Remember, look at the list and see which option for how to play the hand is the highest, then play it that way.

Four of a kind; royal flush; straight flush

Four to a Royal

3 A’s

Flush; straight; or full house

3 of a kind (not A’s)

4 to an inside straight

2 pair

Pair of J’s or better

4 to a flush

3 to a royal

4 to an outside straight

Any pair

AKQJ unsuited

3 to a straight flush, if there are no gaps, or if the number of gaps is equal to or less than the number of J’s or better

4 to an inside straight, with 3 face cards

Q,J suited

3 to a flush  with 2 face cards

2 suited face cards

4 to an inside straight with 2 face cards

3 to a straight flush, if the number of gaps is one higher than the number of face cards

4 to an inside straight with a face card

J,10 suited

QJ unsuited

3 to a flush with a face card

Q,10 suited

3 to a straight flush, where there are two gaps and no face cards

K,Q; or Q,J unsuited

Ace

K,10 suited

J; K; or Q

Four to an inside straight (no face cards)

3 to a flush (no face cards)

If you don’t have at least the three to a flush, don’t held anything and draw again.  Have fun, and good luck!

This is another strategy for Jacks or Better, which, although slightly more complicated to follow, also increases your odds slightly.  For the purposes of this table, a face card is J, Q, K, or A.  The hands are listed in order of best to worst, so if you can hold two or more of these options, choose the one highest on the list.

Four of a kind; straight flush; or royal

Four to a royal

Three of a kind; straight; flush; or full house

Four to a straight flush

Two pair

Pair of face cards

Three to a royal flush

Four to a flush

Any pair

Four to an outside straight

Three to a straight flush draw, if: the number of cards you are missing for the straight flush is less than or equal to the number of face cards

AKQJ unsuited

Two suited face cards

Four to an inside straight with 3 face cards

Three to a straight flush if: the number of gaps is only one more than the number of face cards; Three to a straight flush with an A low; 2, 3, 4 suited

K,Q,J unsuited

Q,J unsuited

J,T suited

K,Q suited; or K, J suited

Q,T suited

A,K unsuited; A,Q unsuited; or A,J unsuited

K, T suited

Any face card

Three to a straight flush (if it does not fit into a higher hand possibility)

Discard everything

Jacks or Better is the most common, if not the most popular, version of video poker.  It is also the basis for most of the variations on the game.  So I figured a good place to start with video poker strategy would be with this game.  The strategy guide below is relatively easy to follow, but there are some more complicated (and higher paying) strategies that we’ll get to later.  The way this works is that I’ve ranked below all of the possible hands/ways to play them, in order of best to worst.  That is, if you have a hand which could be, for instance, either a pair or 4 to a flush, you look at the list below, and see which is higher, and hold those cards.  Let me know if you have any questions!

Four of a kind; straight flush; or a royal

Four to a royal

Three of a kind; straight; flush; or full house

Four to a straight flush

Two pair

Pair of Jacks or better
3 to a royal

4 to a flush

Pair of tens or lower

4 to an outside straight (four connected cards,excluding AKQJ or A234)

2 suited face cards

3 to a straight flush

2 unsuited face cards (hold the lowest two if you have more than two)

Suited 10/J; suited 10/Q; or suited 10/K

One jack or better

If you have none of these hands, you should discard the entire hand.  Hopefully this is helpful.  Let me know!

Instead of strictly how to, I’m going to take  a moment to post on why I think that learning to play video poker is a worthwhile investment for any gambler.  First, if you live in Nevada, the machines are everywhere.  Not that it’s good to play them everywhere, but, if you don’t like the hustle and bustle of the busy casinos, you can go to the locals bar down the street and play.  Or the grocery store.  Or the gas station.

Even if you don’t live in Nevada, if you plan on visiting us, consider learning how to play.  Waiting for your flight home?  Waiting for a friend at the airport?  We’ve got video poker machines there for you too.

Also, although not at the airport, the gas station, or the grocery store, video poker is a great way to kill time and get free drinks.  I always play if I’m out to eat at a bar and waiting for my food, or if i’m meeting friends and I’m waiting for them.

Also, although it is illegal to play them for cash prizes, video poker machines themselves are present in a lot of states for entertainment purposes, or for prizes like food/drink certificates.

Finally, video poker is relatively easy to learn, and to play.  That means you can play it with your friends and still carry on a conversation, or watch the big game.  It’s not like some other games which require your constant attention.

Video poker looks like, and, in fact, often shares machines with, slots, but is far different.  For one thing, it requires skill.  For another, it is more active and engaging.

Video poker offers a variety of games, but all are based on five card draw.  The player is dealt five cards, chooses which to hold and which to draw, and is then paid based on the resulting five card hand, according to the pay table available on the machine.

A lot of the skill in video poker is actually in choosing the machines.  Even machines which look similar to, and carry the same brand, as others, may not pay the same.  Although I won’t go into too much detail here, it is easy enough to find listings of what is considered “full pay” for all of the different variations.  As an example, 9/6 Jacks or Betters is considered full pay.  That means that for a full house, the machine pays 9 credits, and for a flush it pays 6.   When selecting machines and games, you should know the “full pay” payouts for the variation you want to play, and find a machine that is at, or very close to, those payouts.  For most variations, “full pay” games bring you within 1% for the house advantage, which is pretty good.

The other nice thing about video poker is the machines are often located at, or even in, the bar.  If you are playing, your drinks are usually free, and you don’t need to wait for a cocktail waitress like when you play slots or table games.  This is a very nice way to pass some time, and out here in Nevada, these machines can be found everywhere from casinos to local bars, to 7-11 and the grocery store.