Video Poker

Video poker is my one vice when visiting Las Vegas. There are a few things you need to do to be a successfull video poker player:

-Learn how to play on your computer at home with a good simulator and teaching aid, like VPTUTOR. Follow its recommendations. Another excellent video poker program is Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker. The shareware versions of both these programs will teach you how to play standard draw poker, and will in fact tell you if you are making a mistake and what to do instead. The registered versions allow you to play a variety of other video poker games that you will find in the casino. You'll be throwing (more of) your money away in the casino if you don't first learn how to play at home. And don't think that table poker techniques are directly transferable to video poker. While hand rankings are the same, the playing strategy is quite a bit different.

-Always check the machine pay table. The machines all deal fairly (at least in Nevada), so your odds of getting a particular hand depend only on what you decide to hold. However, the payout is determined by the pay table. Casinos decide how much money they will make by adjusting the payouts for given hands. Generally, the higher denomination machines have the most favorable pay tables. Look around the casino, some machines are playing the exact same game but one might have a better payoff table. Off-strip casinos generally have better pay tables. If you want to be sure to get a good pay table, go to the Reserve Hotel/Casino. All machines are set to full pay (as of Feb 2000), regardless of denomination (from 5 cent to $5 or higher). The Fiesta, Arizona Charlies, the Santa Fe, Sam's Town, Texas, and Boulder Station are also pretty good.

-Always play maximum coins in (usually five). All hands scale their payout by the number of coins in, with the exception of the jackpot hands (such as the Royal Flush), which pays a premium if you have max coins in. If you can't afford to lose a lot of money, play nickels (but make sure and check the pay table).

-Remember, no matter how good you are, <if you play long enough you will eventually have less money than when you started. With the exception of a very few games (such as full-pay Deuces Wild and Double Bonus 4 of a kind which have returns of 100.8 % and 100.2 %, respectively, with PERFECT play), all slots and video pokers pay out less than 100%. For example, full-pay jacks-or-better draw poker pays out about 99.5% for perfect play (you held all the right cards every hand). That means that if you cycle $1,000,000 through a video poker machine, you can expect to go home with $995,000. (You've lost $5,000). Now why would an engineer with a master's degree and knowledge of probability play a game he knows is ultimately a losing game? Well, playing the game is more than just about money. It's a good way to kill a little time, it's fun to watch the other people, and the thrill of getting a good hand provides a momentary thrill that is more memorable than losing over the long term. Doesn't make too much sense, but that's the way it is for me and some other engineers I know!

-Check out some good video poker sites:
--Skip Hughs on Video Poker
--Jeff Lotspiech's Video Poker Page (it also has a good free poker simulator/tutor)
--CasinoCenter's Learn to Play Video Poker
--TK's Video Poker Basics
--ConJelCo's Video Poker Products

-Join the casino slot club. In adddition to any cash-back offers for play, members also receive special offers in the mail such as discounted room rates, free meals, etc. Factoring in these benefits, the frequent casino player might expect a return of near 100% on his casino play. Here are images of the slot clubs I belong to:

Here is my history of notable hands I've won!

Royal Flush at Big Dog's (really a tavern restaurant) on Sahara. It was my second trip to Vegas and I was playing a quarter machine one at a time (big mistake). For my Royal, I won $62.50 on a quarter bet. If I'd had five quarters in, I would have won $1,000! I always play 5 now, but I can't afford quarters, so I try to find nickel machines with good payout tables (The Reserve and the Fiesta are your best bets in this regard).

Four Deuces on a nickel Deuces wild. It's happened twice to me, both times at the Fiesta. Each time, I won $50 for a 25 cent bet (5 nickels, remember, play 5 at a time!)

Four 3's and an Ace on an "Acey-Deucy" machine at the Reserve. This combination payed me $100 for a 25 cent bet.

Two 4-kinds within 10 hands on a nickel "4-kind shock wave" machine at the Reserve. This occurance gave me a $200 jackpot.

Three hands of 4-kind Aces on a Triple Pay nickel machine at the Orleans. On this kind of machine, it deals you an initial poker hand from which you can keep the best cards. Then it repeats these same held cards in two additional hands. The discards are then replaced with new cards from three independent decks (with the held cards removed, of course). You then receive winnings for each of the three hands. I was DELT four Aces, which I held (duh). These four aces were repeated in each of the other two hands. I was playing 4-K Bonus at the time, which pays back 80-to-1 for 4 of a kind Aces. I was playing max coins in, which was 75 cents (1 nickel* 5 coins * 3 hands = 75 cents), so I won $60 for a 75 cent bet. This was exciting, but beware of these machines, your money can go fast as I found out the next night!

My winningest trip to Vegas was in October, 1998. On Saturday, I got a Royal Flush and later 4 deuces on a deuces wild at the Fiesta. I was playing nickels, and these two hands gave me a total of $250 for two 25 cent bets. Then on Monday, I was playing progressive jacks-or-better draw poker at Westward Ho. They were running a special promotion, free baseball caps for 4-kind eights, which I won. I also got a Royal Flush, giving me $270 for a 25 cent bet. This RF was DELT to me. (BTW, when you are delt a jackpot hand, the cards are held automatically, or at least they were on the machine I was playing).

On Febrary 22, 2000, what will probably be my last night in Vegas for quite some time, I was playing nickel double bonus poker at the Barbary Coast. I was playing there because I was staying at the Flamingo Hilton, and nickel video poker is hard to find on the strip!. I put in a five just for old times sake, and hit a royal after about 5 minutes. Again, this was good for $200 on a 25 cent bet!

I've also lost many times. I haven't kept an account!

If you have any notable tales from your video poker playing, or want to tell us about your favorite game or casino, I'd like to hear about it. Just e-mail me!