Page 15 - June 2004 • Southern California Gaming Guide

redraws. With the chance to add multiplier values to traditional poker hand payouts, this game is sure to bring a lot of excitement. e big payo in Big Split comes when both hands win. e
payouts are multiplied and the player is rewarded with a big win! Can Video Poker get much better?
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Bob Dancer, America’s Video Poker Expert, On Learning the Games
There are many video poker games out there. No one is good at every one. On a personal basis, I have four that I play at a professional level, and can get up to speed on three or four others rather quickly because I have studied them in the not- so-distant past. But I had to learn each one “one at a time,” as does everyone else. You cannot reasonably expect to wake up one day and be proficient at video poker. Although some people are far more of a natural than others and can play
“reasonably okay” rather quickly, “reasonably okay” usually gives up at least a full percent to the house that isn’t necessary. For a 3-hour a week quarter player, giving up an extra percent to the house costs about $1,000 per year. Dollar players would lose four times as much. Most people are willing to go through some effort in order to have an extra thousand bucks or more. Are you?
So how do you go about learning a game? It depends on how serious you are. A number of authors (including me) produce strategy cards for several games. These are very useful learning tools and, when used properly, will guide you to playing most hands correctly. For many people, this is enough.
But strategy cards don’t tell you why. In Jacks or Better, no strategy card explains why you hold Q-J from A♥ Q♠ J♦ 7♦ 5♠ but K-Q-J from K♥ Q♠ J♦ 7♦ 5♠. I know from experience in my classes that this isn’t an obvious distinction to many beginning players. Or even though from A♦ A♣ 3♦ 4♦ 5♦ in Double Bonus or even Double Double Bonus, every strategy card tells you the diamonds are a better play than the aces, unless you have the hand specifically pointed out to you, you are very likely to hold the aces without seriously considering the diamonds. Or in Double Double Bonus, why from A♥ K♠J♣ 8♥ 6♠ you hold just the A, but from A♥ Q♠ J♣ 8♥ 6♠ you hold the Q-J.
So for players who want to understand the games, I strongly recommend the Winner’s Guide series by Liam W. Daily and myself, available at www.bobdancer.com, among other places. These guides are about 100 pages each and cover a number of games, from Jacks or Better, Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, to two different versions of Deuces Wild, to Pick’Em Poker. The Winner’s Guides each have four strategy levels, from Beginner to Advanced, so you can go as far as you want.
There are video poker games in Southern California where the knowledgeable player has the advantage, when you include the slot club and other promotions. But this is only true for players who have mastered the games. And if mastery of the games is your destination, the Winner’s Guides are your vehicle to get there.
June 2004 Page 15