Page 12 - August 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bob Dancer: Video Poker
SDealing With Distractions
ome time ago, Shirley was spending the weekend in Arizona, helping her mother with an open house. at Friday evening I decided to go play video poker at the Golden Nugget—partly because it was double points and partly because I was in the mood
for some Chicken Scallopini at their Zax restaurant beforehand. (Both the promotion and the restaurant are long gone. Of the two, the double points was far more important. If it had been single points only, and hence the casino had an advantage, my desire to win would far outstrip my desire for good food.) I took the novel I was reading at the time and asked the hostess for a
“table for one, no smoking, under a light.”
Attherestaurantthatnightweretwolargeparties, including one that was quite noisy. After quickly verifying that I knew
none of the diners, I
somewhere in your vicinity. Cocktail waitresses are often selected for their distract-ability, not to mention the potency of
the drinks themselves. Winners need to be able to put these things out of their mind and
concentrate.
Video poker is a form
of applied mathematics. Each machine has a predetermined optimal return, which can be evaluated (by computer) by using only the information found on the pay schedule. Every hand is a problem, and (except for very few ties) there is only one correct answer to each of these problems. Most of the hands in video poker are quite simple. Which is why many people think it is such an easy and enjoyable game.
In 9/6 Jacks or Better, as in every other video poker game, several times an hour you will see
ordered my dinner and read my book. After 30 pages and an enjoyable meal, I signed the comp, left a tip and stopped by the hostess station to say goodbye and grab a toothpick. e hostess commented that she couldn’t understand how I could possibly read. “I need perfect quiet in order to read. And tonight was so noisy,” she said.
e noise hadn’t bothered me at all. For whatever reason, I am able to concentrate on what I am doing and shut out extraneous events. I haven’t really considered this before, but I expect that this is one factor in video poker success.
“Video poker is a form of applied mathematics. Each machine has a predetermined optimal return, which can be evaluated (by computer) by using only the information
T♠ 8♠ and A♠ Q♦ K♣ T♦ 8♦ is not trivial. Both hands have a choice between an inside straight draw and a straight ush draw. For some players it is always a guess. For other players, they play so fast that they don’t even see both choices. Other players think it doesn’t matter much. Still others believe that luck is much more important than skill.
Winning players know there is a di erence. at going for the straight ush is appropriate on the second hand but not the rst. And they are able to focus on the problem in the casino — which is a lot di erent than focusing on the same problem in a quiet living room.
Perhaps it is a good idea to practice when the TV and the radio are both blaring loudly, and your home is either too hot or too cold for your optimal comfort. If you can do well during practice in that environment, you should be ready to do well in a casino too.
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.
Casinos are noisy
places. Both intentionally
and unintentionally so. Machines come with built-in sound e ects. Somebody is always hitting a jackpot
hands requiring thought, even for the best of players. Distinguishing between hands such as A♥ Q♠ J♦
found on the pay schedule. Every hand is a problem, and (except for very few ties) there is only one correct answer to each of these problems. Most of the hands in video poker are quite simple. Which is why many people think it is such an
easy and enjoyable game.”
Page 12
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
August 2006
Video Poker with Bob Dancer