Page 6 - September 2002 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Which One Is More Valuable? Iby Bob Dancer
n each of the combinations below, decide which one, if either, is better. Sometimes one of the two combinations will be quite a bit better than the other. Sometimes they will be tied. But in no case will one be only slightly better than the other. In other words, there are no close calls here and good players need to understand these distinctions cold!
Column: Video Poker with Bob Dancer
Usually I teach that pay schedules matter a lot. And they do! But in today’s quiz they are not important. When considering Jacks or Better in today’s quiz, how much you get for ushes and full houses is largely irrelevant. When considering Deuces Wild, you need to know that 3-of-a-kind returns even money (and that Two Pair and all single pairs return nothing), but the exact value you receive for ushes, 4-of-a-kinds, straight ushes, etc. is irrelevant, as long as these values are somewhat close to normal.
In each case, consider the value of the combinations “before the draw.”
A3: Q-J is much better than J-T in Jacks or Better. Q-J has two high cards and J-T only has one. This is by far the dominant fact. The fact that you can get more straights and straight ushes from J-T than you can from Q-J is not close to being strong enough to compensate for the extra high card.
A4: 3-4-5 is quite a bit stronger than 2-3-4. 3-4-5 is truly open-ended, and can be part of three different straight ushes: 7-high, 6-high and 5-high. 2-3-4 is too close to the bottom of the deck and can only be part of two different straight ushes: 6-high and 5-high.
A5: Q-J is identical in value to Q-T in Deuces Wild. Any straight, straight ush or royal ush containing Q-J also must contain the T, and any of these nice hands containing Q-T must also include the J. The distinguishing factor between this problem and Q3 above is that in Deuces Wild, there are no such things as “high cards”. No pair of cards gives you your money back in Deuces Wild.
A6: W-W-6-7 is more valuable than W-W-5-6 (“W” stands for wild card, in this case, a deuce). The reason for this is how much room there is to move before the combination runs into the deuce. From W-W-6-7, there are 8 perfect cards giving you a straight ush. Speci cally three cards on top (the 8, 9,and T), three cards on the bottom (3, 4, and 5) and the other two deuces. From W-W-5-6, there are only 7 perfect cards. There are still three perfect cards on top and two deuces, but now there are only two cards on the bottom (the 3 and the 4).
A7: W-W-5-7hasexactlythesamevalueasW-W-5-6inDeucesWild.Weshowed in the last example that there were 7 perfect cards to complete the straight ush from W-W-5-6. From W-W-5-7, you’ll notice two cards on top (the 8 and the 9), one in the middle (the 6), two on the bottom (the 3 and the 4) and the remaining two deuces. This also adds up to 7 perfect cards. In any game where holding W-W-5-6 is correct (which would be games where the amount you receive for a ush and the amount you receive for a one-coin straight ush add up to 12 or higher), holding W-W-5-7 would also be correct. In any game where holding W-W-5-7 would not be correct (which would be games where the amounts you receive for a one-coin ush and straight ush add up to 11 or less), you would also not hold W-W-5-6 .
“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.
A1: J-J is worth exactly the same as A-A in Jacks or Better. They both give you your money back. Three jacks pays as much as three aces and four of one pays the same as four of the other. In various “Bonus” games, where four aces pay quite a bit more than four jacks, A-A would be worth more than J-J. People who play bonus games, and are used to A-A being worth more than J-J, sometimes forget to adjust their thinking when they are not playing the bonus game.
A2: J is worth more than A. Either one is equally likely to pair up, become four of a kind or a royal. But in terms of straights and straight ushes, J is quite a bit better. Other than the royal, the A can only be part of an A-2-3-4-5 straight ush. The J can be part of a K-Q-J-T-9, Q-J-T-9-8 or J-T-9-8-7 straight ush (“T” stands for “ten”). The same goes for straights, although you can add the A-K-Q-J-T straight to both.
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