A Winning System Part 3 - "Video Poker - Optimum Play"
In A Winning System Part 1, I gave you an overall view of three products to help make you a winner at the casino. Last time I reviewed “The Frugal Gambler” by Jean Scott to help you learn about comps. This time I will review Dan Paymar’s Video Poker - Optimum Play” a book that will teach you the basics of Video Poker.
Video Poker, like Blackjack can be one of the best games you can play in the casino. If you play properly, some Video Poker machines actually offer over 100% payback. It can also be one of the worst games if you play by hunch instead of using the proper basic strategy, derived from the mathematics of the game.
There are many variations of video poker games. Each game has its own pay schedule. Unlike slot machines you can determine the payback percentage of a video poker machine by reading the pay schedule on the machine. The most common Video Poker game is Jacks or Better (JB). The maximum payback for a full pay JB machine is 99.54%. Although this game does not have a positive return, this is the game you should learn first. It is the most popular and the one that you will most likely find in all locations. If you combine it with good slot club benefits or other promotions you can come out ahead. By learning Jacks or Better first you will have a strong foundation when you move on to other games. If your favorite casino offers full pay Deuces Wild, you will want to learn that game with its 100.7 payback.
In order to win at video poker you will need to know more than just how to play the game. In his book “Video Poker - Optimum Play”, Dan Paymar shows you how to read the pay schedules of the machines in order to choose the ones with the highest payback potential. He discusses bankroll considerations you will need to determine your chances of hitting a jackpot. Other chapters will show you how to evaluate the contribution of comps and promotions to the games total payback. The risk of ruin and volatility of the games are also covered.
Finally Dan shows you playing strategies for Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Joker Poker using his “Optimum Playing Strategies” “Percision play” simplifies some of the situations that occur very infrequently and where the expected value of computer- perfect play and the recommended play is very small.
Dan defines Optimum play this way. “Many writers say "optimum play" when they really mean "perfect play." In truth, except for a few of the simpler games, video poker is too complex for perfect play to be practical for most players. By perfect play, I mean that every play would be for the absolute highest expected value.
In many cases, two or more possible ways of playing a hand have such close expected values that the discards affect the decision. Moreover, many video poker games are so complex that no matter how many details are included in playing rules or how many notes are attached to a hand rank table, it is nearly always possible to find yet another exception where a marginal decision has not been covered. So just how perfect is it desirable to make a playing strategy? In other words, just what is optimum play?
In my opinion, truly optimum play is that which maximizes your average long-term expected hourly win rate without overplaying your bankroll. I feel that this should be the goal of all serious players.” Video Poker - Optimum play offers well -rounded practical information about Video Poker for the novice as well as the more experienced player.
The next step is to apply your new Video Poke knowledge by playing the game at home on your computer before risking you hard earned money at the casino. You can do this with "Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker" software by Zamzow, which I will review in Part 4 of this series.
Until next time, remember:
"Luck comes and goes...Knowledge stays forever."
A Winning System Part 1
A Winning System Part 2
A Winning System Part 4