Page 12 - May 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
A Look at Doubling Up by Bob Dancer
Many video poker machines give you the option of doubling up after every winning hand. For example, let’s assume you are playing some sort of Jacks or Better game for dollars, and your hand ends up with two pair. You receive $10. If you were on a machine with the double-up option activated, you would now get a 50-50 shot at either $20 or $0. If you win, you get another 50-50 shot at $40 or $0.
Some people really like this. Some people don’t. I contend that for most players, doubling up is a sensible bet! Let’s look at when and where it makes sense.
But George does. Since I didn’t understand it either, I just had to ask him why.
“It’s easy logic,” he claimed.“Every time they pay me money for one of these jackpots, I toke them $5. If I double up twice, then three fourths of the time I end up with zero and one fourth of the time I end up with a jackpot four times as big. I end up with the same jackpot money in the long run, but I cut my tokes by 75%!” Makes a lot of sense to me, if you can deal with the swings. When George loses ve of these double ups in a row, he knows he’s thrown away around $8,000 or so. Trust me. When this happens, he goes around talking to himself.
What if the casino you play at doesn’t o er the double-up feature? Go ahead and ask. On most machines there is an on/o toggle and casinos will turn it on for you if you like. Conversely, if it’s on and you wish it o , make that request too. Not every casino will accede to your wishes, but many will. After all, it’s a 50-50 bet and if that will keep a customer happy, why not?
A related point is that if it is sensible to double up once, how about doing it two, three, or however many times? My contention is that once or twice is ne, but more than that is not. It doesn’t matter mathematically, of course, but doubling does add to the volatility of a game and the bankroll required. Doubling 10 times in a row means you will lose this bet 1023 out of 1024 times. Most of us aren’t ready for this kind of uphill slide.
Another point is that I would not double myself into a W2G. If I had a $600 win, I would take it. Why get the government involved needlessly? But for
amounts under $600 or at least $1,200, go ahead if you like.
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 novel, Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer’s products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com.
Many of my readers know that I only play games
But there is also a 1-in-32 chance of losing the next ve double up bets in a row! Over the next several thousand double up bets you make, you’re going to win very close to exactly half of them. But what’s going to happen today? Who knows? You might
where I have the advantage. at all on a 50-50 bet, why would I like it so much? e answer is that I don’t recommend it for me, but I do recommend it for most players.
Why the distinction? Why would I tell you to go do something that I wouldn’t do myself? Sounds like I must have an
ulterior motive.
e reason I recommend
it for most players is that most players are long term losers at video poker. Maybe
Since I have no advantage
On Sunday, May 7th Bob Dancer is bringing his expertise to Southern California, teaching free Jacks or Better seminars at Barona Valley
win. You might lose. Winning players gener-
ally avoid the double up feature. (I’m not referring to whether they are win- ning today. I am referring if they have reason to expect to be ahead over the next 500 hours of play.) It slows the game
Ranch Resort and Casino. The beginner class is from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and the intermediate class is from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Space is limited, so be there an hour early to sign up.
10% of my readers actually study and practice enough so that they can be winners. Most don’t. Most of my readers use the information I present to take them from being a 97% player to being a 99% player. ey now get to play three times as long on the same money and they’re happy.
But being a 99% player is still losing in the long run. So if they can double up (which returns 100%), they nd that they are spending 2⁄3 of their time on a 99% game and 1⁄3 of their time on a 100% game. So for the same four hours of gambling, they lose less. ey now can play for six hours for the same money they used to play for four hours on! is is good!
But even with a 50-50 bet, it is still gambling. It’s fun when the 1-in-32 event of ve wins in a row comes in.
up and lowers their dollars-per-hour win rate. But I did meet one good player (let’s call him George) who actually liked this! You’re not likely to be in the same position as he is, but his reasoning was interesting.
He was playing $5 9/6 Jacks or Better Triple Play at a casino with a player’s club generous enough so that he had a small advantage. On these machines, the double-up feature would only activate when there was a hand pay! at is, if he were dealt four of a kind, he would hold the cards, and earn $1,875 on the hand. Since this is above the $1,200 tax form threshold, this becomes a hand pay. ese are the hands that George would double! Sometimes once. Sometimes twice. Receiving a jackpot this size is very exciting to most players. No way would they want to risk giving it up.
Page 12 May 2006
Video Poker with Bob Dancer