Dear Mark,
In a past column, you
stated that video poker has a return of 99% to the smart player
and can be mathematically one of the best bets in the casino. My
question is this. If I combine my passion for the game, a low house
advantage and jackpots that run more than $1,000, is there any
possibility that I could make a living playing video poker? Ted L.
Assuming, Ted, you were to do all the
right things like finding full-pay (9/6) Jacks or Better machines and
play perfect basic strategy, I would still recommend the following
advice. Don't quit your day job! Even though your expected payback is
more than 99%, actually 99.544%, you must take into
account that those high returns are based on you hitting the royal
flush. And why a royal flush? Because a royal on a full pay (9/6)
Jacks or Better machine accounts for 1.981% of your total return.
Also of note, Ted, plan on playing video poker an average of 60 hours,
with rapid play, before hitting a royal flush. Even a straight flush can
be expected only once every six hours, and four-of-a-kind hands occur
just once an hour. Those hands are significant because they represent
another 5% of a player's return.
What this all means to the video poker
player, Ted, is that the casino has a 10% advantage while you're
waiting for the big payoff. Finally, Ted, your bankroll. It's going to
take you, again on average, a wad of cash about as large as the royal
flush itself to survive long enough to hit it.
Is a Friday paycheck starting to sound
good about now?
Dear Mark,
By reading your column
and listening to your tapes "Hooked on Winning," you've got me trained
to look for the best value on 8/5 progressive video poker machines. What
are the key jackpot figures I'm looking for to at least break even
against the house? Susan, L.
Susan, to be even against the house you
need to find a machine with a progressive jackpot that is larger than
1,750 maximum bets ($440 for $.05 machines, $2,200 for the $.25 machines,
and $8,750 for the $1 slots). Want a mathematical 2% edge? Look
for jackpots of $625 on your nickel, $3,125 on the quarter, and $12,500
on the dollar machines. Tough to find, but do they exist. Good luck.
(When Susan was referring to 8/5, and I,
9/6 in the Q&A above, we meant the payoff for a full house and a flush
with one coin inserted.)
Dear Mark,
How would you go about
identifying a good-paying Deuces Wild video poker machine versus a bad
one? Angela C.
The key to evaluating the potential
return on a "Deuces Wild" machine, Angela, is the payoff on
fours-of-a-kind. If your local casino has little competition, that hand
is paid 20 for 5, rather than 25 for 5. Since fours-of-a-kind occur
frequently, this lower payoff drops the percentage return by well over
6%. Some machines, though, will give you a little extra by
paying more for the full house. But overall, if you're playing on a
machine which pays just 20 for a four-of-a-kind, you're playing less
than a full-pay version of Deuces Wild.
Dear Mark,
Is it important in video
poker to play the full number of coins? Jerry R.
Yes, because if you look at the pay table
closely you will notice a non-symmetrical progression on the royal flush
payline. Your typical royal flush payline looks like this; 250, 500,
750, 1,000, 4,000. Note the jump with the fifth coin inserted. Not playing
that fifth coin, Jerry, will cost you 12% over the long haul.
