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Dancer's Answers We publish a brand-new video poker article from Bob Dancer every Thursday in this section. These columns are called "Dancer's Answers". Click on any of the links below for more Dancer's Answers: Bob Dancer Articles - Main Page Vicksburg Video Poker - May 8, 2008 Vicksburg, MS Video Poker - Part 2 - May 15, 2008 Vicksburg Casino Video Poker - Part 3 - May 22, 2008 Common Deuces Wild Mistakes – Juan or the Other – May 29, 2008 Figuring Out Quick Quads - June 5, 2008 Breaking Full Houses in Quick Quads - June 12, 2008 A Quick Quads Puzzler - June 19, 2008 Let’s Go Scouting - June 26, 2008 When You're Not Sure of the Game - July 3, 2008 Can it be Right to Play Hunches - July 10, 2008 Good Hearted Woman in Love With a Good Timin’ Man - July 17, 2008 One-Way Versus Two-Way Straight Penalties - July 24, 2008 Effectual versus Ineffectual Straight Penalties - July 31, 2008 Unusual Dealt Royals - August 7, 2008 Learning from a Horse Handicapper - August 14, 2008 When Bad Is Good - August 21, 2008 I Live For These Moments - August 28, 2008 Las Vegas Do It Different - September 4, 2008 Figuring the worth when there are Multiple Progressives - September 11, 2008 Which is the Better Play? - September 18, 2008 How Much is Too Much? - September 25, 2008 Evaluating a Promotion - October 2, 2008 Sometimes the Jack, Sometimes Ace-Jack, Never the Ace by Itself - October 9, 2008 Why I Don't Play Poker - October 16, 2008 What is a Royal Flush Cycle? - October 23, 2008 A Logical Puzzler - October 30, 2008 Another Look at Changing Machines - November 6, 2008 Testing Matters - November 13, 2008 Next Dancer's Answers column coming on November 20, 2008! |
Unusual Dealt RoyalsDealt royals come around every 650,000 hands on average, assuming you’re playing with a 52-card deck. I play perhaps 800,000 base hands per year, so I “should” get slightly more than one of these a year. Several years sometimes go by for me with none of these, although in the first six months of 2008 I’ve had three. Go figure.
The last of these royals was “usual.” It was dollar Five Play and as soon as the royal was dealt, the machine automatically held all five cards on all five hands. The machine locked up for a $20,000 hand pay. The first two of these, however, were NOT usual. Both were at least $20,000 in size, and eventually a tax form had to be signed, but neither machine immediately locked up. What could explain this? I’m presenting this as a puzzle for you. I’ll give you a hint. One of these was at a large Las Vegas local casino that you’ve heard of. The other was at a small place that you’ve (probably) not heard of (and I won’t tell you the name here.) Different games, although both were somehow related to Deuces Wild. So what could explain the machines not locking up? If you want to take some time to go and think about this, I don’t mind. I’ll be happy to wait until you’re ready to proceed. Back already? Okay. Let’s go. The first of these was at Green Valley Ranch casino. I was playing $5 NSU Deuces Wild Multi Strike (alas no more) and was dealt a royal flush on the bottom line for $20,000. Very nice! But Multi Strike is a 4-line game where if you win on the first line, you get to play the second. The machine acknowledged 4000 credits and then dealt the second line. I played the second line but didn’t score anything on it. At this time the game was over and the machine locked up. The machine didn’t lock up immediately because the game wasn’t over yet! We’re used to having a game being over when we play a hand, but Multi Strike has different rules. It’s not such a big deal when you hear the answer, but it’s tricky to come up with BEFORE you hear the answer. The second of these royals was at a pub which had 15 games, which is the limit for pubs with a certain type of license. Most of these places have horrendous pay schedules, but there are some that are profitable enough to interest me. (You’ll have to find them for yourself. Publicizing such a location would swamp it with more strong players than they could afford, which will eliminate the game and cost me $50,000 a year in EV. I don’t want that.) The game I was playing was a version of Deuces Bonus on a 10-coin $5 machine that paid 1000-for-1 for a royal flush, which adds up to $50,000. The brand name of the machine is CEI, and I’ve been told that the technology is 25 years old. (I believe it.) When I was dealt the royal flush, the top line on the pay schedule lit up, but it did not hold the five cards. If I wanted the fifty grand, I was going to have to go through the effort of holding the cards for myself. What a pity! I held all five cards (of course!), checked twice to see that the cards remained held, and then pushed the draw button. NOW the machine locked up. We are used to newer machines in casinos. Even in casinos with “old” machines, they are less than ten years old and most of them are IGT machines. Many of us have never played on these older machines. Even though I’ve played on these older machines from time to time, I guess I’d never been dealt a royal on one, nor had anyone ever told me about what happens when a royal is dealt. So I was surprised. Not so surprised that it prevented me from pressing all five buttons, but surprised. Surprised enough that I though it was interesting enough to justify a column. Bob Dancer is America's best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of "how to play better video poker" products, including the software "Video Poker for Winners," Winner's Guides, strategy cards, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels, including Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer's products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com or by telephone at 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.
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Classic Dancer We republish a classic Bob Dancer article every Sunday - often these articles are updated with new insights from Bob Dancer, the master of video poker writing. Video Poker Questions and Answers - May 4, 2008 More Answers to Questions About Video Poker Machines - May 11, 2008 Losing is a Major Part of Winning at Video Poker - May 18, 2008 Video Poker VS Blackjack - May 25, 2008 The Art of Tipping Slot Personnel - Part 1 - June 1, 2008 The Art of Tipping Slot Personnel - Part 2 - June 8, 2008 Putting Your Ducks In a Row - June 15, 2008 Luck and Skill in Video Poker - June 22, 2008 Strategy Adjustments in Video Poker - June 29, 2008 One Coin vs Five Coin - July 6, 2008 Video Poker Progressives - July 13, 2008 High Pairs versus Three Cards to a Rolal in Kings or Better Joker Wild - July 20, 2008 The Double Up Feature - Does It Ever Make Sense? - Part 1 - July 27, 2008 Doubling Up - Does it Ever Make Sense? - Part 2 - August 3, 2008 Did I Quit at the Right Time? - August 10, 2008 Money Management: What Does and Doesn't Work - August 17, 2008 "I'm Playing The Wrong Game" and Other Video Poker Fallacies - August 24, 2008 You Use To Be Such a Cheapskate - August 31, 2008 Is This a Good Promotion? Part 1 - September 7, 2008 Is This a Good Video Poker Promotion? Part 2 - September 14, 2008 More Video Poker Fallacies - September 21, 2008 Not All Proposals Should be Accepted - September 28, 2008 An Opportunity Too Good to Pass Up Part 1 of 2 - October 5, 2008 An Opportunity Too Good to Pass Up Part 2 - October 12, 2008 Predicting Your Future Results at Video Poker - Part 1 of 2 - October 19, 2008 Predicting Future Video Poker Reulsts - Part 2 of 2 - October 26, 2008 Moving Up in Denomination - Part 1 of 2 - November 2, 2008 Moving Up in Video Poker Denomination - Part 2 of 2 - November 9, 2008 A Letter from a Non-Believer - Part 1 of 2 More Classic Dancer coming Sunday November 23, 2008. |
