Video Poker

[AlamoTx]

I play JOB...mostly Full Pay. I completely understand the pay tables and the basic strategy.

What I would really like to hear are some thoughts on strategy. So far, all I've heard from anyone is 'play as much as you can until you hit a large jackpot'. I'm sorry, but I consider that bull----. If I played craps that way, I'd go broke. One thing I've been playing around with is this kind of idea:

Assume that the game returns 98% (nobody plays perfect strategy all the time). That means that in most sessions, you be up at some point. I've been practicing and have found that very often within 10 hands or so, you will be up a few credits. For example, on a $5 machine, the machine will tell you there are 60 credits in the machine when you put $300 into it. So you play a few hands and hit some winners and you look and you see you now have 70 credits. You've maybe played $200 through the machine and you're showing a $50 win. Take the money and cash out. On some occasions, you'll burn through $300 and you quit when that happens. Basically, I've found that over 10 or 15 hands, you'll come very close to breaking even while you're waiting for that 4 of a Kind.

You show a good bit of play through the machine and leave yourself close to even rather than pouring unlimited $ into the machines. The downside to this approach is that you don't always get to play a long time.

Would love to hear other strategies. In craps for example you have people who make 2 or 3 come bets and press; you have 6 and 8 players etc. Would like to see how experienced players attack JOB.

Thanks.

Alamo

[AlamoTx]

I'll have to experiment with that. in other words, if you're on a $5 machine, you start with a 1 unit bet. First hand loses, you go to 2 units; push you stay at 2 units; lose the next hand, go to 3 units. The 3 units wins and you drop back to 1 unit? What do you say about the theory that you should always play max units on any machine and should adjust your bankroll and denomination to do so?

Alamo

[heavy]

I've seen others do that sort of run up. Start with a .25 cent machine. Hit a win on it and cash out and move to a .50 cent machine. Take a win from that to a $1 machine . . . $5 machine . . . $10 machine . . . etc. Requires a lot of good things to happen for you to walk with a win, but it's a way to play.

On any sort of machine I try to limit myself to six decisions without a win. So if I'm playing a $5 machine, put $100 in and play it down to $70 without a hit - move on to a different machine. As you describe, I'm looking for a quick hit and run.

[mssthis1]

I play it the opposite way. I'll put a 20 in a quarter machine. If I lose that I'll play 40 in a 50 cent machine or better yet the same machine if it's multi denom. As soon as I'm to the plus side I drop back to quarters. The only one I play is deuces wild as that's the only one I took the time to learn proper strategy on. I need to learn JOB as it's almost impossible to find a deuces wild game with a good pay table.

[heavy]

It's almost impossible to find ANY machine with a good pay table, and when you DO find one there's usually some local yokel camped out at it 24/7.

[London Shooter]

Vp2free.com is usually bang up to date and tells you where best pay machines are

E.g. In Biloxi at IP they have a bank of 8 full pay JOB on second floor. Mostly empty other than at weekend on my recent trip. Even better they are right next to where cocktail waitresses collect their orders so drink service is great - it's like a double win situation given that combo

[London Shooter]

Also surprisingly in Vegas I am hearing Cromwell has full pay 25c JOB near main entrance plus a lot of other games with good pay tables.

if I want decent beer, a v attractive waitress and a chance to lose 0.5% on average on VP that will be my one stop shop

[mssthis1]

Many thanks for the info London.

[mssthis1]

All this Video poker talk has led me to the conclusion that I need to learn correct strategy on multiple variations of the game.

Does anyone have a software program they recommend? I would prefer one that lets me save the remaining credits when I close it and tells me when I make a mistake.


Thanks in advance.

[acpa]

I use WinPoker from Zamzone.com. Strongly recommend it

Noah

[London Shooter]

I too use WinPoker on my ipad and iphone. It is a fantastic app.

I even take it with me to the casino to double check a tricky hand. I guess that is technically not allowed but I have never had anybody say anything to me. It tells you any mistakes you make and also lets you analyse hands so you can see how much holding each combo gives you in terms of expected %age return from that combination.

MSS - if you know deuces wild than JOB will be no problem. It's a lot more simple to learn.

[mssthis1]

Thank you guys. I tried the Winpoker shareware and liked it. I'll be installing it on my laptop tonight.

[Blackcloud]

UNHH!!BC has had a positive experience over the long run. BC assembled 7 or more ideas from JPs VP book. They work on VPs and muti-liners. On the liners BC starts low and entices the box by going up slightly on certain wins. They are more generous when playing at lower levels, of all denominations. UNHH!! if you play enough you should recognize many win series.