Page 8 - Jackpot Magazine South ~ May, 2022

PLAY TO WIN
Answers to some FAQ on video poker play
“Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died.” — Comic Steven Wright
In the April issue of Jackpot!, we looked at some mistakes video poker players make. As best-selling author and gaming expert Henry Tamburin wrote, the more mistakes you make, the more money you will lose. The author of many best-selling books on gambling, including Blackjack: Take the Money and Run, Tamburin said he noticed that many players had started playing video poker because it was possible for average players to have an advantage over the casino when they played.
In a past column for Jackpot!, Tamburin addressed some of the most frequently asked questions about video poker, including how many coins should be played, the best way to learn strategy and is a video poker machine the same
as a slot machine. Let’s look at what Tamburin said.
Is playing a video poker machine the same as playing a slot machine?
Nope. When you play a slot machine, it’s pure luck because you have no idea what the machine has been programmed to return to players. With video poker, all the information you need to determine the theoretical return of a machine is advertised right in front of you — namely, the pay table. Based on the pay table and probability, mathematicians have developed accurate playing strategies that allow players to achieve the theoretical returns. In short, a player can win more money in the long run than playing the slots.
How are cards dealt in a video poker machine?
A software program known as a random number generator (RNG) randomly shuffles a deck of 52 cards (53 for Joker Poker).
This shuffling goes on
continuously, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.
At the precise moment
that a player hits the
“deal” button, the RNG will stop shuffling and display the five cards at the top of the deck. Then it keeps shuffling the remaining 47 cards (or 48 for Joker Poker) until a player decides which cards to hold.
When the player hits the deal button for the replacement cards (i.e., the draw), at that precise moment, the shuffling stops again and the discarded cards are replaced
with the cards on the top of the 47 deck of cards. That completes the player’s hand.
After the hand is completed and the software displays the amount won (if any), the
RNG goes back to shuffling the 52 cards for the next
hand.
The RNG is tested and
highly regulated to ensure that every card in the deck has the same probability of being selected (just like selecting a card from a shuffled deck of plastic cards). This ensures a fair game for
players.
Should you bet one coin or more than one coin when you play video poker?
If you can afford it, you should bet the maximum coins on every hand to get the maximum return from the game, especially if you are playing with a monetary edge (i.e., includes the return on the game plus cash back, bounce back and the value of comps). The reason you get the maximum return by betting max coins is because of the bonus payout per coin wagered for a royal flush.
Is there such a thing as a “hot” or “cold” video poker machine?
No, at least not mathematically. It’s true
that streaks occur when you play video poker (good and bad) but they can’t be predicted because the random
number generator that is dealing the cards is unpredictable.
Remember this fact: There is no way to predict a “random number” because “random” means unpredictable.
What do the numbers 9/6 and 8/5 mean in front of the name of a video poker game?
These numbers represent the single-coin payoff, usually for the full house and flush. For example, 9/6 Jacks or Better means the payout for the full house is 9 times your bet, and for the flush, it is 6 times your bet. A 9/6 Jacks or Better (JOB) game has an expected return (ER) of 99.54 percent if every hand is played accurately. An 8/5 JOB game has an ER of only 97.30 percent. This number designation is also used for other video poker games (e.g., 10/7 and 9/6 Double Bonus, 8/5 and 7/5 Bonus poker, etc.)
What’s the best way to learn a video poker playing strategy?
In my opinion, the easiest and quickest way is to practice playing video poker on your home computer using a video poker software program. You can play any number of video poker games with this software and when you make a playing mistake, the software will alert you and show you the correct play.
The software will keep track of your playing accuracy while you practice. You want to keep practicing at home until your playing accuracy is consistently more than 99 percent.
Do you have a question on the best way to play to win? Email jackpotmagazine@gmail.com.
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8 JACKPOT! MAGAZINE • May 2022
THE SOUTH’S LARGEST GUIDE TO GAMING & FUN • www.jackpotmagazine.com