Page 8 - August 2002 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Why I Prefer Video Poker to Slots by Bob Dancer
Video poker machines are not at all the same as slot machines. For the most part, the two machines attract a totally different set of players from each other—players who gamble for very different reasons. Let’s compare gambling on a machine to traveling in a car across the country. The video poker players are the ones who really prefer to drive. The slot players are the ones who prefer to let
somebody else do the driving. I’m a driver.
The best video poker players are bright. Not necessarily genius, but at least average intelligence or higher. Every hand may be played
in 32 different ways—one of which is uniquely best. To play this game well, you have to be good at making decisions. Indecisive people (who hate to make decisions) or people without much brainpower (who can’t make the correct decisions in complicated matters) will not do well at video poker.
Column: Video Poker with Bob Dancer
Video poker machines have much higher returns than do slot machines—at least if you choose them carefully. Every jurisdiction is different, but the aver- age return on slot machines is less than 94% in most casinos, and most places have at least some video poker returning 99% or higher. What this means is that a video poker player who carefully selected his machine, could play, on average, ve to ten times as long as a slot player on a given gambling budget.
With slot machines, it usually is not possible to tell by looking whether the machine returns 90%, 92%, 94%, 96% or 98%. It’s a blind guess. In video poker, this is not true. The knowledgeable player can learn the code to identify the better machines. Take “Bonus Poker” for example. When 1-coin full houses return 8 and 1-coin ushes return 5 (known as 8-5 Bonus Poker), the game returns 99.2% with perfect play. The 7-5 version returns 98.0%. The 6-5 version returns 96.9%. Once you know the code, you can tell at a glance which is which. Often you’ll nd all three versions in the same casino. By check- ing each machine, it is easy to identify which is the smarter play. I like being able to do this.
The returns in the previous paragraph are not average amounts. They are when you play perfectly. If you don’t know how to play, your personal return can easily be a percent or three less than those num- bers. But with a little bit of study, most people can get fairly close to perfect.
Study won’t help you with slot machines. A drunk monkey can play slots as well as a sober Einstein. But with video poker, it is possible to practice on a
computer. The best computer programs allow you to play any video poker game (i.e., Deuces Wild, Joker Poker, Double Double Bonus Poker, etc.) and set the program to duplicate whatever pay schedule is found at your favorite casino. By copying down pay sched- ules and going home to analyze them, you’ll quickly
“With slot clubs and casino promotions, there are video poker games in most jurisdictions that return very close to 100% — and sometimes over. I like this. I am interested in making money when I gamble.”
know which one pays the most.
Computer programs do much more than tell you
how much a game returns when played perfectly. They also correct your play of any hand. If you are dealt A♥ A♣ 2♣ 4♣ 5♣, for example, most Double Double Bonus Poker players quickly grab the aces. This is the wrong play—and by a large amount. Holding the clubs and going for the straight ush is worth over $2 more to the dollar player—the exact amount depends on how much you get for a ush which can vary from machine to machine. If the
computer program corrects you a few times, you’ll learn the right way to play. I like the fact that I can study at home until I can get pretty good.
With slot clubs and casino promotions, there are video poker games in most jurisdictions that return very close to 100%—and sometimes over. I like this. I am interested in making money when I gamble. There are people who believe that it isn’t whether you win or lose that matters, but whether or not you have fun. If you believe this nonsense, play slots. If you think winning is important, learn video poker.
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.
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Page 8
AUGUST 2002
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