Page 9 - October 2004 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Which is Better? by Bob Dancer
I received an e-mail asking which of two games was the better choice. e reader wrote from the Midwest and wanted to choose between di erent riverboats, but it could have just as easily been from California.
Casino A had 9/6 Jacks or Better with a 0.1% slot club with no multiple points ever. Casino B had 8/5 Bonus Poker with a 0.25% slot club, and he only played there when there were triple points. He said the food comps at Casino A were better, but he wasn’t there for eating. He was there for making money.
He told me he played both games perfectly. is is extremely unlikely. Although 9/6 Jacks or Better is one of the easiest video poker games to memorize, 8/5 Bonus Poker isn’t. I would estimate fewer than one in a thousand 8/5 Bonus Poker players play the game perfectly. But letting that assumption slide, let’s see what we have, assuming perfect play.
player than can be found in many casinos. Which casino is better might well depend on how much better the food is at the casino with the lesser game and how important that is to the player. To some people having a quality meal is extremely important. Others don’t care that much.
What should this particular player do then? e choice is between either not playing, or lowering his expectations about whether or not this game will be pro table. (In similar cases, I always choose not to play.) It would not be terrible should he decide to play anyway because he really enjoys it. After all, people pay to do many pleasurable things. And if gambling is pleasurable, it’s okay to pay for that, too. But I encourage you to be realistic about whether you are playing for pro t or playing for pleasure.
Column: Video Poker With Bob Dancer
Casino A:
9/6 Jacks Slot Club Total
99.54% 00.10% 99.64%
Casino B:
8/5 Bonus
Slot Club 00.75%
e obvious answer, then, is that Casino B is considerably better. For a dollar player who plays 600 hands per hour, Casino A is $8.40 per hour more expensive than Casino B.
e obvious answer is incorrect, however. For this player, it is not the case that Casino B is better. Why not? Because his stated goal is to make money and that means that both casinos are totally unacceptable.
A return of 99.92% is not “close enough.” It is impossible to end up a long-term winner when the casino has any advantage at all.
If the casinos had other promotions, however, it could change things. Perhaps one or both casinos send periodic checks in the mail on the order of
“come in during the rst two weeks of the month and we’ll give you $50 just for showing up.” Or perhaps they have regular drawings and the player has a decent shot at winning something valuable. Either or both of these promotions could make the casino potentially pro table. But without such promotions, the house has the edge.
For most players this would not be an insurmountable problem. Few players demand that
casinos be potentially pro table. (No slot player, for example, has any realistic expectation of being an overall winner. ey hope to win this time, but they
October 2004
Page 9
Total
99.92%
99.17%
“Many players value the gambling experience and count the free meals and rooms as part of the deal. For players like that,
both casinos offer an excellent gamble which is better for the player than can be found in many casinos. Which casino is better might well depend on how much better the food is at the casino with the lesser game and how important that is to the player. To some people, having a quality meal is
extremely important. Others don’t care that much.”
know that in the long run the casino will most likely win from them.) Many players value the gambling experience and count the free meals and rooms as part of the deal. For players like that, both casinos o er an excellent gamble which is better for the
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, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his recent novel, Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer’s products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE