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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 Next Dancer's Answers column coming on September 4, 2008! |
When You’re Not Sure of the GameI received a too-good-to-refuse offer from the Tropicana Express in Laughlin. In addition, neither Shirley nor I had collected our $99 offer from Harrah’s Laughlin this month. We were going to let these slide because it was “too far for too little,” but with the Trop X offer already justifying a trip, the Harrah’s money was a nice bonus. The best “regular” game at the Trop X at the current time is 8/5 Bonus with triple pay for quad 7s. This is worth 100.045%, and with the 0.167% cash back, the game is worth 100.21% at the $1, $2, and $5 denominations. Plus comps. Certainly not a terrible game, but hardly worth a 90 mile drive from our home to play. Still, I have to play something to justify receiving the offer, and it’s nice to have a positive game when you “have” to play. Two “at least competent” players I recognized, however, were playing another $5 game. I actually don’t know them well enough to evaluate how strong they are, but I’ve seen them both at other promotions I’ve played so I know they aren’t novices. The game was 7/5 Bonus Poker, with the same bonus for 7777, except this was a progressive. The royal was at $25,000 (which adds 0.5% to the base game) and four aces was at $3,200 (which adds another 0.95% to the base game.) I ballparked it at 0.3% to 0.4% stronger than the game I was intending to play. While I know 8/5 Bonus Poker well (with or without the bonus for 7777), I haven’t studied 7/5 Bonus Poker with a progressive --- let alone two progressives. I had my laptop with Video Poker for Winners on it in my room at Harrah’s (perhaps a mile away). It would take me perhaps two hours to study the game so I could play it at a high level, but I didn’t know if the progressives would last two hours, and I was only planning on playing for two hours on this particular day anyway. Shirley and I had other plans for later that night, so playing a lot more wasn’t a comfortable option. I was going to play again the next day, but I figured it was unlikely the aces would survive until then with at least two players going for it. I could easily figure out that I would break aces full in this game, but what about AK765 unsuited? Do I hold AK or A? Does it matter how many cards are suited with the ace? Does it matter how many cards are in the 2-5 range? I just didn’t know. What about with A of one suit and ‘QT’ of another. The higher royal indicates holding the ‘QT’. The bonus on aces lobbies for holding either AQ or maybe even the ace by itself. How do the other cards in the hand affect the decision? I just didn’t know. So with my incomplete knowledge, I assumed this game was worth 0.2% higher than the game I knew almost perfectly. The variance had to be much higher on this game because so much of the value was in the four-aces hand, but this didn’t really enter into my decision. It was “only” a $5 game. For those stakes, and the amount of action I was intending to give the casino, my bankroll was essentially infinite. So what to do? I decided to play 8/5 game, even though it returned less. I put a stronger emphasis on knowing games perfectly than most others do, and knowing I would have to make a lot of guesses as to the correct play didn’t feel real comfortable to me. Still, if the aces returned $4,200 and/or the royal was at $30,000, this would have given me enough of a cushion that I would have lived with my uncertainties and gone for the progressive. Although I am comfortable with my decision, it was close and could have gone the other way. Next time (which will certainly be different in one or more aspects), I may well choose the opposite. So how did the play go? I hit aces right off, “naturally.” I got only $2,000 instead of the $3,200 on the other machine. Oh well. It happens that way sometimes. I’m still comfortable with my decision. 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 More Classic Dancer coming Sunday August 31, 2008. |
