Page 8 - April 2004 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Page 8
April 2004
Can Normal People Grasp This? by Bob Dancer
It was late on a ursday night a few years ago. I was nishing up an advanced 10/7 Double Bonus (where the full house returns 10 for 1 and the ush returns 7 for 1) class at the Reserve casino (which now is called the Fiesta Henderson), and Joan walks in. Now this was ne. My classes are free and
everybody is welcome. But Joan bit o more than she wanted to chew.
able to correct the errors you are making, you are going to have to identify them. Without somebody or something you
can trust saying “Don’t do that — do this instead,” you have no chance to learn to play better. Practice without correction will merely make it so you make your mistakes faster. A computer provides very inexpensive information instantly.
e “Winner’s Guide” series by Liam W. Daily and me teaches this game, and several others, at four di erent levels from Beginner to Advanced. It takes you through the games step by step so that most “normal people” can get reasonably pro cient at any game, should they be
willing to study and to practice.
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 Winner’s Guides, 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.
Column: Video Poker With Bob Dancer
e example below works perfectly well for both 10/7, which returns over 100% and is thus usually not found in Mississippi, and 9/7, which may be found at several casinos in Mississippi. I was explaining why for dollar players with Q♣ T♣ A♥ 9♥ 3♥ the best play, by 11⁄2¢, was to hold the clubs, and with Q♣ T♣ A♥ 7♥ 3♥, the best play, by over 3¢, was to hold the hearts. It will not surprise you to hear that the explanation is a bit complicated. But at the end of two hours of classes, most of the class followed the explanation easily enough. As this was Joan’s rst exposure to a game she knew little about, it was overwhelming. When I talked about double straight interference, and the class nodded their heads like that explained everything, to Joan I might have well have been speaking Greek.
She raised her hand. She asked if normal people were expected to grasp this. ere was some snickering, but
in truth it was a very good question. Had I asked the class if anybody else was experiencing information overload at the moment, I suspect several people would have raised their hands.
Video poker is a mathematically precise game. Less than 20% of the people who try, have the raw talent to play it well without a lot of practice. And of those, less than
5% are willing to put in the e ort necessary to succeed. Multiplying this out, less than 1% of players play well. What should the other 99% do? Go bowling?
ere are degrees, of course, of playing well. 9/7 Double Bonus played accurately returns 99.11%, and there are probably less than
10% of players who play at a 99% or higher level. But probably about 40% of players play this game at 98.5% or higher. (Don’t press me too hard. I’m making up these gures, based upon watching players.)
For most players, life is too short to become pro cient at Double Bonus. Even many pros don’t want to take the time to learn. ey never play the game unless there is a wonderful promotion associated with it — like double pay for four 7s, or maybe triple points. For these people, speed is more important than accuracy. ey argue that if they “waste” 10 seconds of time trying to save a half cent they have given up a nickel’s worth of equity because they will get to play two fewer hands, so why bother? It’s hard to argue with this logic. But I’ll give it a try.
When you learn correct strategy, playing accurately is just as fast as playing inaccurately. I am surprised at how many players do not play
hours a year—and frequently at Triple Play, which triples the cost of the errors. Investing some time and energy in playing better would easily save these players thousands of dollars a year.
So how do you learn to play better?
Reading is a good step — one that
are taking now — although this article is an introduction, at best. ere is a lot of good information about video poker being published these days — from a variety of authors. But the most important learning device is a computer program. It is probably impossible to learn to play Double Bonus accurately without a computer to help you.
Why? Because Double Bonus strategy cards are either very complicated or very simpli ed. You will make mistakes trying to follow the charts, even if you are looking right at them. Before you are going to be
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December 1, 2003