Page 33 - August 2007 • Southern California Gaming Guide

August 2007 Media Picks
So You Think You Can Play Video Poker?
BIob Dancer’s Video Poker for Winners Software reviewed by Borris Bienn
am by no means a professional gambler; however, I pride myself in being far better educated than the casual casino player, especially when it comes to playing video poker. I know how to analyze a pay table, and I know which games to choose. I hear people selecting a game by
saying “ is one looks like fun—I think I’ll give it a try,” and I enjoy a private, superior smirk, knowing that they’re making a rookie mistake of putting real money in a game they don’t know how to play, while I, on the other hand, have learned the strategies so that I can expect the maximum return on my entertainment dollar when I play.
Now, I’ve never assumed that I played perfectly. I know I make the occasional mistake, but when it comes to Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild, I’ve always been a bit smug that my play was well above average.
en I sat down with Bob Dancer’s Video Poker for Winners software and had my smug smirk wiped right o my face.
Video Poker for Winners lets you test and improve your skill on almost every conceivable Video Poker slot on the market today. Variations include the Game King single hand games, the multi-hand variations (Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play, Fifty Play and Hundred Play), Spin Poker, Super Times Pay, and even Multi-Strike Poker. Within each module you can choose your game, the variations and the pay table (and the return), allowing you to practice on the exact slots you play at your favorite casino.
Once you’ve selected your game, you can also select your Training Style (perfect play or strategy), and the level of di culty of the hands (Beginner, Intermediate,
Advanced or Mixed). You can also choose how you want your errors reported to you. If you’re just learning the game, you can select “Auto Hold” where the correct cards are automatically selected for you; more experienced players will probably prefer the
“Warn” setting where you’re alerted if you’ve made a less then optimal play—either a “major” error or a “minor” error—and then given the opportunity to try
again or to have the computer reveal the correct play for you.
I started with the most basic game—a single hand 9/6 Jacks or Better (which is always my rst choice when I go to the casino). I quickly discovered that I’m not nearly as good at this game as I thought I was. Oh, I did very well with the “Beginning” and even the “Intermediate” settings, but when it came to the
“Advanced” hands, I was de nitely getting a lesson in humility.
For me, the biggest challenge (and one of the best features) is the “Test” mode. Here, you can really evaluate your skills. You can start at any level, and once you’ve correctly played 40 hands in a row, you’ll automatically move up to the next skill level. is is not nearly as easy as it sounds, and playing 39 hands correctly and making one stupid mistake on the 40th hand, which sends you right back to the drawing board is exactly as devastating to one’s ego as it sounds.
My Deuces Wild play, never as strong as my Jacks or Better, had even more room for improvement, so that’s where I spent the rest of my time. I was doing extremely well playing the “Advanced” mode of 25¢ Hundred Play Deuces Wild....in fact, at one point, I was up over $16,000. But lest I (or you) get too excited, it’s essential to realize that the games in Video Poker for Winners are not real world games. Each level of di culty has a limited number of carefully-selected
My only quibble with Video Poker for Winners is that it doesn’t really o er basic strategy. If you don’t already understand the basic rules and strategies of a speci c game, it’s di cult to gure them out here. While you can analyze each hand and see the di erent payouts and odds, that’s not always what I wanted. Sometimes, I just longed for a simple explanation as to why holding the suited K-10 was correct in one hand, and holding the suited K-J was wrong in the next hand.
If you’re new to Video Poker, my advice is to start with Bob Dancer’s strategy cards so you can learn the basic strategies of the games you want to play, and then use Video Poker for Winners to re ne your actual play and uncover your blind spots. (Personally, I tend to overlook 4-card inside straights, and when I do see them, I tend to also overlook that there may be a
3-card straight ush that would be the correct play.) And if you’re serious about Video Poker, you’ll nd Video Poker for Winners an invaluable resource. Not only will it improve your Video Poker play, but it will
also help you to maximize your casino experience. You can calculate bankroll requirements—both short term and long term, factor in players club bene ts and paybacks, check expected value, and much more. If you have ever had dreams about becoming a professional Video Poker player, this software will help you develop the skills and knowledge you’ll need. And if you’d just like to kick your play up to the next level, it will help
you do that, too.
After spending only a few hours with Video Poker
for Winners, I know that I’m a much better (and much more humble) video poker player.
Download a free three-day trial of Bob Dancer’s Video Poker for Winners, or purchase it for only $49.95,
at http://www.VideoPokerforWinners.com.
Borris Bienn plays video poker in California and Gulf Coast casinos.
Video Poker for Winners gives you immediate feedback when you’ve made an error, indicating the correct play, the potential loss due to the error, and how the other choices stack up.
hands that will keep showing up again and again with far more regularity than they will in the real world. Trust me. I’ve never had 25 dealt straight ush hands in a 30-minute session in the real world, but it’s a common (if pro table) occurrence in this game (teaching that the correct play is always to keep the pat straight ush instead of holding the 4-card royal).
August 2007 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Page 33
Southern California Gaming Guide Media Picks