Page 20 - July 2002 • Southern California Gaming Guide

THE SAN DIEGO GAMING GUIDE
Aces are Special—Sort Of Dby Bob Dancer
ouble Bonus is a game that returns 800 for four aces, 400 for four 2s, 3s or 4s, and 250 for other quads. The return on the game is affected by how much you receive for full houses and ushes. The best two versions of the game receive 7 for a ush—and today’s column refers to such a game.
Consider the following hands while playing 7-for-a- ush Double Bonus for dollars:
Column: Video Poker with Bob Dancer
Page 20
July 2002
In each hand, the best play is to hold the three diamonds. This looks very strange. No seat-of-the- pants player would consider such a play. In Jacks or Better, the best play in each hand is A-J - - - but in Double Bonus this play is inferior
by almost 6¢. Indeed, many Double Bonus players would hold the A by itself, but this is worth even less than A-J.
The big reason why three-card ushes are worth so much more in 7-for-a- ush Double Bonus is because ushes receive “7” rather than the “6” they receive in 9-6 Jacks or Better. Because ushes are worth almost 17% more in Double Bonus, it is intu- itively obvious that we should try for ushes more aggressively while playing this game. Drawing two diamonds to ll in either A-7-4 or J-7-4 is a 1-in-24 shot whether you are playing Jacks or Better, Double Bonus, or any other 52-card game with no wild cards, but a 1-in-24 shot at getting $35 (i.e., the return when playing for dollars while you are betting max coins at this game) is worth about 21¢ more than a 1-in-24 shot at getting $30.
Now for a hypothetical question. Assume that I’m the Video Poker God, and I give you the choice of starting from either of the hands shown above. I will force you to hold the three diamonds because
I know what’s good for you (I know because I’m presumed to be the Video Poker God. Not a major god, to be sure, but hey, being any kind of god is not bad on a resume.) You may not like this minor
god forcing you to make the right play, but keep trying and you’ll get over it. The question is: Which hand would
you choose?
When I pose this
question in my classes (taught Tuesday evenings at the Castaways, if you ever get to Vegas mid-week), many students opt for the rst hand. They reason that they would rather hold an A than a J because four aces are worth so much more than four jacks. They seem very surprised when I tell them the two hands are worth exactly the same amount.
It is true that four aces are worth over three times as much as four jacks. But three aces are worth exactly the same as three jacks, and a pair of aces is worth exactly the same as a pair of jacks. And when you start by holding A-7-3, it is impossible to get four of a kind, because you are only drawing two more cards.
Aces are special if you can get four of them. But as soon as it is impossible to get four of them, they are worth exactly the same amount as any other high card.
Beginning video poker players tend to fall in love with aces—especially in games such as Double Bonus or Double Double Bonus where four aces pay so much. Part of this is misunderstanding that live poker and video poker are very different games. In live poker, where you have to beat the other players in the game, an A is always a better card than a J. In video poker, where all you have to do is to make a particular hand to get paid, often an A is noth- ing special. When you include the possibility of getting straights and straight ushes, in many games aces are worth less than
That’s it for this month. Until next time, go out and hit a royal ush.
Bob Dancer” is the nom de plume of the top video poker writer in the country. In addition to playing video poker, frequently in high- roller rooms across the country, he writes about what he does. He has a monthly video poker column in Casino Player, and is the video poker editor for Strictly Slots.
the other high cards, not more.