I have few questions for those that play video poker jacks or better experts.



1. Is it a must to play in any machine that pays 9/6 as oppose to 8/5 or 7/5?


2. I read about about a website about a guy that got interviewed who played video poker for a living. Now this article was kind of old but he mentioned how he made a good amount of money playing it. Mentioned that he made 80k in most years and never had a losing month ever. He would play in those machines where they have high payout like 101-103% and he needed to find those good machines. What I didn't understand was the guy was asked what denomination he played and i assumed he was playing minimum $1 or $5 machines and he said he never did. And all he played was the quarter ones and mostly played the max 5 coins so that is $1.25. He mentioned the reason he didn't play in the dollar and 5 dollar ones was because there is a W2g to it and it gets reported to the IRS for any winnings $1200 or more. What i dont get is since he make 80k a year... isn't he going to report it anyway since he's a professional gambler? What difference does it make whether he has a w2g or not? Wouldn't he make more money playing the dollar machines and 5 dollars ones if he had the bankroll? He did mention the annoying thing about this was that he didn't want so many of these filed because it took like 30 minutes each time and thus it would consume his playing time which did make sense for the 2nd part.

3. I read about this as top mistakes people make when playing video poker. I play $1 a spin at video poker and do it at the $1 machine. So i always go to a 9/6 JoB machine and play 1 credit. I read online that is dumb because you are suppose to play the max credit at a video poker machine. Well they mention its best to play a 25 cent machine and play max 5 credits which is $1.25 and the reason for this is because the payout for the royal flush is 800 as oppose to 250. So if I'm not playing the max credit on a 9/6 JoB... that means i'm not playing on a 99.54%?


4. Do most people avoid playing the dollar machines and just play the quarter machines mainly to avoid having w2gs? I see that if one plays quarter video poker machine at a 9/6 JoB and hits a royal its a payout of 800 so a 5 credit bet of 25 cents of $1.25 is a $999.50 profit. Is this correct?


5. Are there much people that still play video poker for a living? And if so... i assume none of them are in atlantic city and most are in las vegas? I read about that guy who mentioned its easier done in vegas because they have tons of promotions and cashback which makes it very worthwhile.


6. I looked at the payout chart and I see Double Bonus machines offer a 100.1 percent payback when proper strategy is used and Deuces Wild Poker machines offer a 100.76 percent payback when proper strategy is used. I see JoB pays out 99.5% when proper strategy is used. If this is the case... then isn't those 2 other games profitable as it offers at least 100% payout? Why would one even bother playing JoB or the other games if they are less than 100% payout? Is it because the strategy is harder to memorize? I checked online and I see that they have strategy on what to do when playing deuces wild poker. I assume the casino won't say anything if you are playing the machine while having a printout of the strategy card with you correct?

1. There are no "musts". But generally, yes.

2. Surprisingly, not everyone pays all the taxes they owe. Also, surprisingly, not everyone is totally truthful when granting interviews. But receiving a W2G is time-consuming if there is not another playable machine nearby and the slot attendant leaves your jackpot hand on the machine while the paperwork is being done (that is the practice at most places).

3. Correct. You're usually losing an additional ~2% by not playing full-coin vp.

4. No idea what most people do. $1000 - $1.25 = $998.75

5. Not nearly as many as there were just a few years ago. Opportunities pop up occasionally across the US. Of course, the more casinos there are in one locale, the better the chances of a decent opportunity appearing. Really good opportunities do not last long these days as there are far more educated vp players than there were 5-10 years ago.

6. The best paytables are not readily available everywhere at all denominations. Don't forget that the paytable is just the starting point of your total return. Most casinos will not be concerned by a player using a strategy card, but a few will be. If you need a strategy card, you are likely playing too slowly to earn much anyway. You will be far better off learning the correct strategy prior to putting money into a machine rather than having to rely on a chart which may or may not draw unwanted attention.

Tom did a great job answering these questions but I'm afraid he was a little too polite on a couple of answers. (Correct, but too polite)

Yes. Stay the **** away from 7/5 especially. You may find a 9/6 and 7/5 machine next to each other. If you find an 8/5, 8/6, or 9/5 that has a progressive jackpot there is a possibility that it get's +EV but consider that unlikely.

Basically play 9/6 or play elsewhere.

STOP ****ING DOING THAT! Play max credits. End of story. Adjust stakes if necessary ($1, $0.25, $0.05, etc..) but always play max credits.

If you want to waste money, buy hookers and blow. Stop choosing options that reduce your EV.

Good luck!

I might take the hookers and blow advice above.

the way I have been running on VP I might take the hookers and blow option as well.

.

VP just keeps getting worse and worse around here. I have 2 casinos nearby and last month I reported they removed a lot of machines and lowered the paytables. Now the second casino also removed VP machines in order to make room for a self serve drink station and they also have reduced all VP games to under 95%. The best game is now JOB 6/5 which is 95% all other games are under 95%. Unfortunately if I want to play something other than poker 95% VP is still a better option than the 88% slot machines.

With paytables that low, you're better off playing table games like craps or blackjack than quarter video poker from a pure EV perspective. Definitely sad to hear.

This thread along with two other ones motivated me to study up on optimal VP strategy so I could grind up tier credits this past weekend at the RIO. I appreciate all the excellent input and research in this thread. I grinded most of the weekend and was rewarded with a 5-line royal flush 45 seconds before I was leaving in a taxi Sunday morning. Good times...

[IMG][/IMG]

Nice job getting a dealt royal at a 25x higher denomination than I did! Damn me for being cheap...haha, but I'll be staying at the place I hit it (Flamingo) starting Wednesday. Vegasssssssssssssssssssss!

We are going to Cleveland tonight (yes on purpose) and was wondering if anyone in here knows the status of VP there or any Ohio locations for that matter.

oh I just realized that Ohio is in the midwest on vpfree and not the east. It says nothing good so I am assuming that means 8/5 JOB or worse.

VPFree is picky on its reporting. Sometimes they won't bother reporting anything under 99% at casinos. In Vegas though, they point out that Imperial Palace's best machine is 7/5 Bonus (98.01%) for example.

I think VPFree should post the best paytable for any given casino if its reported.

From what I have heard 8/6 JoB (98.39%) exists for quarters or higher:

http://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-t...d-opens-today/

Good luck today!

What 5cent vp game is more profitable? 10 7 DB max 5 coin with cash back from comps or 5cent db with 99.8% payback max 10 coin with cash back from comps. The over 100% payback db machine has a 4000 coin royal and the 99.8% machine has a 8000 coin royal. thanks.

Considering the 2nd machine requires 10 coins for a max bet, the royal being 8000 coins is nothing special.

5 coins = 4000 coin royal
10 coins = 8000 coin royal

both machines pay 800 for 1 on a royal with a max bet.

If your comp rate is higher than 0.7% of coin-in on the machines (very, very unlikely unless you have a huge point multiplier), then the machines would be equivalent because you could get double the coin-in on the lower paying machine and the extra comps would make up the paytable difference of 0.35%.

I was playing DDB today and I was dealt 22224. 800 credits on my 5th or 6th game. 2 games later I was dealt AA22X. I held the AA and was dealt 223, FML!!!!!! I was still up $300 for 90 min session so all was good.

ohh and btw, I am closing in on my 3rd royal cycle without a royal. It will be a true moment of happiness when I finally get one. Maybe I should play a super times or $1's since I am obviously due.

You probably know my answer to the "I'm obviously due" part. lol

Does STP have the same paytable for DDB at your casino for quarters?

If so, you should consider playing STP, the bonus bet is +EV, if you can handle the extra swing. Even though most players don't play only a single hand for max credits, you can set the machine up to do that. And hell, STP is way more fun anyway.

STP has made me become a video poker addict all over again...lol

btw this was a joke. I am sure you know that but I just want to get that out there.

I am not real sure. I will look this weekend. I played it 1 time and lost $40 in under 10 min so I never went back. I thought it looked neat and would give it a shot. The shot was no good.

Yeah, the bonus bet makes the machine significantly more swingy. DDB will behave more like a Triple Double Bonus machine with the bonus bet.

we need to get this thread to a new page because every time I see willing2dies picture it makes me want to punch the screen.

that's how i feel every time i end up in a situation where i'm playing video poker

I need a math person.....I have a argument with someone


On a deuces wild machine (no progressive), if your dealt a wild royal flush with 1 deuce....do you keep the wild royal flush or throw the 1 deuce away??

what is the optimal strategy??

If you have a gutshot draw:

You have 1 out to a natural royal, 3 outs to a wild royal, 8 outs to a flush, and 3 outs to a straight, out of 47 remaining cards.

(1/47)*a + (3/47)*1 + (8/47)*b + (3/47)*c > 1

where these variables represent the ratio of payouts to a Wild Royal.

a = naturalRoyalPayout:wildRoyalPayout.
b = FlushPayout:wildRoyalPayout.
c = StraightPayout:wildRoyalPayout.

If a + 8b + 3c > 44, then draw.

If you have an open-ended draw (KQJT2):

You have 1 out to a natural royal, 3 outs to a wild royal, 1 out to a straight flush, 7 outs to a flush, and 6 outs to a straight, out of 47 remaining cards.

(1/47)*a + (3/47)*1 + (1/47)*b + (7/47)*c + (6/47)*d > 1

where these variables represent the ratio of payouts to a Wild Royal.

a = naturalRoyalPayout:wildRoyalPayout.
b = straightFlushPayout:wildRoyalPayout.
c = FlushPayout:wildRoyalPayout.
d = StraightPayout:wildRoyalPayout.

If a + b + 7c + 6d > 44, then draw.

EDIT: I just filled in the numbers for a full pay machine (100.76%), and I only get 33.4 even with the straight flush draw. So the answer is never draw. But if you ARE on a progressive, you can use the 2 formulas above to compute optimal draw strategy.

thanks........I was wrong, my friend was right....*sigh*