Page 7 - March 2003 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Sequential Royals Provide Big
Paydays by Bob Dancer
Asequential royal ush includes all ve cards in order. One-way sequentials may be left to right (i.e., A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠ T♠) or right to left (i.e., T♦ J♦ Q♦ K♦ A♦). Two-way sequentials include both of the above.
Each casino has its own name for these events. Whatever they are called, the two important things to consider are a) how much do they pay? and b) are they one-way or two-way?
On average, one out of every 120 royals will be a left-to-right sequential, and one
out of 120 will be a right-to-left sequential. Obviously, if both ways count, these happen
two out of 120 times, which equates to one out of 60 times. If you assume a royal is, on average, a once-in-70-hours event, then you can assume a sequential is a once-in-4200-hours event. That is, if you played forty hours a week, you’d hit a sequential about once every two years. Most of us, of course, have never hit a sequential, and likely never will. I’ve never hit one on a single-line machine, but have hit several in
F i v e
Play, Ten Play, or Hundred Play mode.
How do you gure how much a sequential bonus is worth? Assume you are playing for quarters. The
regular royal pays $1,000, and the two-way sequen- tial pays $12,500. (This number varies. But if you learn to gure out this one, guring out the others is a piece of cake.) My working assumption is that this adds 0.4% to the payout.
Usually, casinos place their sequential bonuses on games where the additional 0.4% doesn’t compete with the best games
in the house. For
games are identical, except that the rst game pays $12,500 for any sequential and the second game pays $25,000 for a left-to-right sequential. If taxes were no concern at all, which of these games pays more?
It sounds like they are identical. One pays twice as much half as often as the other. But they are not the same. To see this, assume you hit two sequentials (you lucky dog!). Assume you hit both a left-to-right and a right-to-left sequential. At the rst casino, you’ll receive $12,500 for each game, for a total of $25,000.
the A♣ will convert this into a sequential, and sequentials pay a whole bunch, it’s better to ditch the deuce, cross your ngers, and go for it. To be sure, most of the time you have thrown away 125 coins ($31.25). Sometimes you’ll draw another deuce for a “no harm no foul” result, and sometimes you end up with a straight, ush, or straight ush— which return less than the wild royal, but more than nothing. But one glorious time in 47, you’ll connect big time.
The strategy changes for two-card draws and three-card draws are sometimes published. For example, from A♥ K♥ A♣ A♠ T♥ it is right to keep the A-K-T if there is a sequential bonus, and A-A-A otherwise. Most players, however, just take the sequential as it comes. If they fall into it, won- derful, but they are not willing to learn an extra set of strategy rules in order to go for it.
That’s it for this month. Until next time, go out and hit a royal. While you’re at it, make it a sequential royal.
Bob Dancer is America’s best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of “how to play better video poker” products, including reports, strategy cards, videos, and the award-winning computer software, Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker, and a brand-new book Million Dollar Video Poker. Dancer’s products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com.
At the second casino, you’ll receive $25,000 for the left- to-righter, and $1,000 for the other one, for a total of $26,000. Receiving $26,000 is better than $25,000, so the games are not equivalent.
If you are going to play on machines offering a sequential bonus, how should
you vary your play? For example, in Deuces Wild with a sequential bonus, assume you are dealt 2-(wild) K♣ Q♣ J♣ T♣. For almost every pay schedule, holding all ve cards is the best deal. (You can check Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker to see if this is the correct play on the version of Deuces Wild you play.) But since drawing
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
“The best rule of thumb is that if a game offers a sequential, and youdon’tknowwhetherornot you have the edge, assume you don’t. Go play another game.”
example, a casino
might offer 9/6 Jacks
or Better (99.5%
with perfect play)
without a sequential,
or 8/5 Jacks (97.30%
without a sequential
and 97.7% with).
Given this choice, I’d go with the higher return. The best rule of thumb is that if a game offers a sequential, and you don’t know whether or not you have the edge, assume you don’t. Go play another game.
Here’s a puzzle for you. Assume you had the choice between two quarter games. The schedules for the
March 2003 Page 7
Column: Video Poker with Bob Dancer