Page 10 - January 2005 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Page 10
January 2005
The Best Available is a Relative Thing by Bob Dancer
I ’ve lived in or near major cities my entire life. One of the advantages to this is that radio stations always come in loud and clear. If my favorite station is 104.5, for example, I tune it to that number and get a strong signal. Let’s call it 98% on the Dancer Fidelity Scale (dfs), because while I invest in decent
audio equipment, it’s not an obsession to have the best. If the station is big enough, I can also hear it at 104.3. It’s a bit fuzzy, but I can make out what’s playing. It rates 85% on the dfs. But as long as 104.5 is
relevant alternative to look at is to draw ve new cards.
To determine the value of ve new cards, however, requires you to examine the more than 1.5 million possible combinations. It is essentially impossible for humans to perform this analysis, but trivially simple for a computer. Since players can’t do this calculation, they
assume it isn’t important. But they’re wrong. It’s critically important.
is information is readily available on good strategy cards. e cards don’t tell you the 1.6 or 1.7 coin gures, but they do tell you that inside straights with no high cards are better than drawing ve new cards in Double Double Bonus, and worse in Jacks or Better.
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
Column: Video Poker with Bob Dancer
available, the fuzziness of 104.3 is simply unacceptable.
But I also take extended car-trips sometimes. Then, the rules on what is acceptable change. As we drive away from where the radio signal originates, the signal gradually gets weaker and weaker. And if mountains or hills are involved, sometimes the signal stops abruptly. If I’m listening to a program I like, I might tolerate a station coming in at 75% on the dfs before I decide to change stations or perhaps turn the radio o . e 85% level of clarity that is totally unacceptable at home would sometimes be gladly tolerated out on the road.
all ve cards away. e value of the inside straight in this game is 1.7 coins. is is the weighted average of the four times we earn 20 coins (that is, one of the four sixes in the deck that will give us a straight) and the 43 times we earn nothing (that is, anything other than a six). Drawing ve new cards is worth more than 1.8 coins in this game, so the best play is to throw everything away.
Compare this with the same hand in the 9/6 Double Double Bonus game. e inside straight is still worth 1.7 coins for exactly the same
is available, anything less than that is no good. But when it’s the best around, you settle for it.
When I teach a Double Double Bonus class and am discussing the 9-8-7-5-2 hand, it’s common for a student to ask something like, “How can you justify going for the inside straight? After all, you only have four cards that give you anything at all, and that isn’t very much. How can this be best?”
is type of question is only looking at half of the problem—namely, what is a particular combination worth. To look at the entire problem requires you to look at the value of every other possible combination as well. In this case, the
“To determine the value of five new cards, however, requires you to examine the more than 1.5 million possible combinations. It is essentially impossible for humans to
perform this analysis, but trivially simple for a computer. Since players can’t do this calculation, they assume it isn’t important. But they’re wrong. It’s critically important.”
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So what does this have to do with video poker? I’m glad you asked. Let’s say we’re playing 9/6 Jacks or Better andaredealt9♠8♦7♣5♠2♥. e only reasonable choices are either to keep the inside straight with no high cards (i.e., 9-8-7-5) or to throw
reason. But in this game, drawing ve new cards is worth only 1.6 coins, so now the best play is to hold the inside straight.
is situation is exactly analogous to the acceptable strength of a radio signal. When a better signal
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