Casino Reviews


Video Poker Casino Odds Changing

May 21st, 2017 ernie Posted in Video Poker No Comments »

video poker casino odds changingAre video poker casino odds changing? Do they vary from casino to casino or even from one machine to the other. The answer is yes and players need to pay attention to the payouts to manage their potential to win. The best paying machines have whats called a 9/6 ratio. They pay 9 credits for a 1 credit bet on a full house and 6 credits on a flush. If you are playing a machine that plays less than that, the casino is taking a larger share of the pie. Typically you will find these payouts on a jacks or better machine. Deuces wild and double double bonus poker etc. have different payouts due to the nature of the game. You can still find better paying machines for these as well if you take the time to look around. Any machine that has progressives built in or multipliers typically will not pay the 9/6 ratio.

Video Poker Casino Odds Changing

Depending on the video poker game and the casino you are playing at some of the best machines will have a 98.98% payback. It goes down hill from there, again depending on the casino and game. Some are as low as 95%.

An almost 4% difference in payback can make a big difference, especially if you are a long term player who enjoys the game and the casino atmosphere. These paybacks do not take into account any promos you might receive from the casino such as free drinks, rooms and meals. When you add these items in, again depending on your play, you may even break even.

Casinos in competitive markets such as Atlantic city, Tunica, Biloxi and Las Vegas tend to have better paying machines simply for competitive reasons. Of course there are lots of other ways to compete i.e. the free rooms etc.

Bottom line, before you play, always check the payout structure and look for the elusive 9 / 6 ratio.

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Chances of Hitting a Royal Flush

February 21st, 2017 ernie Posted in Video Poker No Comments »

Chances of hitting a royal flushHitting a royal flush in Video Poker is one of the most exciting things you can do playing the game. Unfortunately the Chances of hitting a royal flush  are quite low. Once in every 40,000 hands on average you will hit a royal flush. The interesting thing is though if you play a lot of video poker you might hit a royal flush several times in one day. After this momentous event you may not hit a royal flush for several months.

Chances of hitting a royal flush

The odds are once in every 40,000 hands over the long term. For the average player to figure out how often he should hit a royal flush, we need to know something about his actual play.

If you play a fast video poker game of 500 hands per hour it will take approximately 80 hours of play to reach 40,000 hands. At four hours per day it would take 20 days to achieve this mark. That means 20 One day trips.

Most people are unaware of how much it takes to achieve 40,000 hands and there’s still no guarantee that you will hit a royal flush in 40,000 hands. Remember that this is the average and you could go as much is 80,000 or 140 thousand hands before hitting a rough flush several times.

If you are a regular video poker player, keep track of the number of hands you play on average per hour and how long you play. This will give you some idea of how often you should expect to hit a royal flush based on the 40,000 hand rule. Remember to keep in mind that it could go much higher than 40,000 hands.

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Do casinos change video poker odds?

January 21st, 2017 ernie Posted in Video Poker No Comments »

Do casinos change video poker odds?The answer to the question, Do casinos change video poker odds?, is no. They cannot manipulate the cards or the chances of drawing specific hands within the game. However there are other ways for the casino to manage the payout and increase the odds of the casino making a profit. It has been long understood that a full house should pay 9 credits for every credit bet and a flush should pay 6 credits. This is referred to as a 9/6 machine. You should be able to find these payouts on a jacks or better video poker game. Casinos will lower these payouts to 8 / 5 credits to improve their revenue stream from video poker. Always look for the higher paying video poker game to improve your overall odds of making money.

Do casinos change video poker odds – Other Games

The same rules apply to deuces wild, double double and bonus poker. Some will pay better than others for specific hands. Double double video poker has larger payouts for harder to get hands such as four of kind, aces etc.

Always case the casino and all of the games to select the one that provides the best payouts. Note that in areas where there is only one casino, you are limited. However in Las Vegas, Tunic, Biloxi and Atlantic city where there are many casinos, there is much more competition. The odds are always better when you are playing with one deck only.

Most video poker machines will use one deck and reshuffle after every hand. This act of reshuffling also plays to the casino. Play with your head and observe the payouts to maximize your chances of winning against the casino.

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Video Poker Jacks or Better

November 7th, 2016 ernie Posted in Video Poker No Comments »

Video Poker Jacks or BetterA reader wrote who was playing Video Poker Jacks or Better,  “if you have two high cards of different suits, the best play is to hold them both. Don’t you mean to hold one and discard the other? If you hold both, you have no chance at a royal flush.”

Video Poker Jacks or Better

Royal flushes are a huge part of the attraction of video poker. That 4,000-coin payoff for a five-coin bet – $1,000 for $1.25 on a quarter machine – can make your day. But there are times it’s more prudent to settle for a chance at smaller pays that keep you going until a higher probability shot at the big one comes.

If you are dealt jack of spades, queen of hearts, 8 of diamonds, 5 of clubs, 3 of clubs, holding one face card will bring a royal an average of just once per 178,365 hands.

Holding both high cards gives you a better shot at low pairs, two pairs and straights. Overall, 38.3% of your draws will bring some return when you hold both high cards. Only 32.5% are paying hands, if you hold just the jack and 32.4% if you hold just the queen.

These payouts change igf you change the game e.g. Double Double Bonus Poker

The bottom line is that per five coins wagered, the average return on 9/6 Jacks or Better is 2.53 coins if you hold queen-jack, 2.36 if you hold just the jack, and 2.33 if just the queen. If your game is 9/6 Double Double Bonus Poker, it’s 2.33 on jack-queen, 2.15 on jack and 2.13 on queen.

There’s an attraction to altering your strategy, but the arithmetic points the way to prudent play.

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Video Poker Strategy

May 21st, 2016 ernie Posted in Video Poker No Comments »

Video Poker StrategyPlayers of video poker machines are always trying to figure out the best video poker strategy. We get questions from various readers on the best approach in various situations. Should they hold a winning hand like the one in the picture or to try for the royal flush. This player has a straight which is paying  hand in all of the various video poker games. It is also one card off of a royal flush. Should he take the straight or go for the royal flush? The answer is a lot more complex than one would first think. What is the best video poker strategy?

Video Poker Strategy

In this particular game of Jacks are Better, a straight pays 20 credits, where as a royal flush pays 4000 credits. A conservative player will always go for the paying hand knowing that a royal flush has a an average of just once per 178,365 hands.  Another player who is more interested in taking a chance and getting a big payoff will go with a shot at the royal flush.

There are many outs in this situation, which could mean it might not be a total loss, if he does not pull the 10 of hearts which would make a royal flush. Here is a list of the possible outs or other winning hands:

  • There are 2 outs for another straight, non royal Flush
  • There are 12 outs for a pair which would only pay 5 credits, but at least there is a possible win
  • And there are 8 outs for a flush which pays 30 credits, not counting the royal flush

With 22 possible wins, going for the Royal Flush is not such a risky bet after all. Although you might not win anything there is still a chance of winning something if the royal flush is not completed. We always go for the royal flush in this situation.

 

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