Page 8 - November 2004 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Choosing the Right Machine by Bob Dancer
I was playing at a major Las Vegas Strip casino during a giveaway event — that is, invited play- ers play all weekend to earn drawing tickets and on Saturday night, money is given away to people whose tickets are drawn. I was playing 9/6 Jacks or Better — the most lucrative game
that this casino o ers. is game returns 99.5% with perfect play. Although the cashback o ered at this casino was slightly over .3% (which makes the game worth 99.8%—which is way too little to be attractive), I gured the giveaway added another .4% or so. is made the game 100.2%, which made it barely playable.
by looking in the rear-view mirror. Winning players choose a machine based on how much the machine returns, how well they play that machine, how much the slot club returns, and whatever other casino promotion is going on.
Andy plays for higher stakes than the rest of us do, but the principles are the same whether you play for 1¢ or $100 per coin or anywhere in between. If you want to win, choose the game that pays the most, learn to play it well and then play it exclusively. And how do you choose the game that pays the most? Various publications (like this one), may tell you the better games and how to play them. And computer software (I know it seems self-serving to mention Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker again and again, but it is far and away the best video poker computer software) tells you quickly how much that each game returns. And once you nd the best game, the software allows you to practice until you can play very close to perfectly.
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
Another player that I knew casually was playing nearby. On the stakes he enjoyed, he had the choice between three machines: 9/6 Jacks, 9/6 Double Double Bonus (returning 99.0% with perfect play), and 8/5 Jacks with a progressive currently at about 4,600 coins (returning a dismal 97.6% with perfect play.)
e percentages given above would be for a good player. “Andy” isn’t such a player. He probably lets the casino have a full percentage point more than he has to simply because he doesn’t play well—and he plays all three games the same, even though they each have di erent strategies.
Andy kept switching back and forth between the 9/6 Double Double and the 8/5 Jacks progressive.
While he was waiting for some kind of service from an attendant, he came over and chatted brie y. I asked him why he was avoiding the 9/6 Jacks machine and he responded, “Last time that machine really ate me up.”
And then he went back to play.
I was tempted to say, “And your point is...?” I can understand having a machine teaching you
who the boss is. Been there. Done that. Every player periodically has a gambling experience where he or she loses far more than usual. For
“Winning players choose a machine based on how much
the machine returns, how well they play that machine, how much the slot
club returns, and whatever other casino promotion is
going on.”
whatever reason, the machine is cold, cold, cold and you lose, lose, lose. It is no fun whatsoever, but it is part of the game. If you can’t stand those sessions, give up gambling.
But what I do not understand is the pseudo-logical connection that says: “I lost big on that machine last
time so I will play a machine that is theoretically inferior by 2% this time.
at will help me win.”
is makes absolutely no sense
to me. Yes, the 9/6 Jacks machine cleaned his clock last time. But it is the available machine that returns the highest, and so it is the machine Andy should play. is assumes, of course, that winning money is
Andy’s goal.
Choosing a video poker machine
based on what happened last time is not something that winning players do any more than intelligent drivers choose when to turn the car solely
Page 8 NOVEMBER 2004
Column: Video Poker with Bob Dancer