Video Poker machine malfunctions
We hit "deal draw" after having played the machine for several if not hundreds of spins. Upon receiving our first five cards, we began to use the "hold/cancel" buttons to save which cards we wanted to save. Immediately, the video poker screen went back to the "games" main screen showing all the games that are available to play, and closing out our hand.
When the attendant came over (both times), we did not recognize what they said was the "deal" hand, but we recognized the "second" hand, which was to us the first hand we saw. The attendant said that we hit "deal/draw" without choosing any cards and that refreshed the screen with (5) brand new cards, and as soon as we hit the "hold" button, the machine believed we wanted to go back out to the main games screen.
It is my contention that when we originally hit "deal/draw", the first set of five cards became immediately buried and the screen we saw was indeed the second five cards. That said, we clearly only hit the "deal/draw" button one time. I believe this to be a true malfunction because since I did not recognize the first (5) cards shown to me by the attendant, and my play would have been obvious had I drawn those cards.
The attendants were both insistent that there was no malfunction.
Any thoughts?
Quote: TheBoneHas anyone every experienced this? This happened to my wife and I both. I shall leave the casino nameless, because the attendant's insisted there was no machine malfunction, and in fact, upon my assistance, refunded me the grand total of $1.25 that I lost on what I believe is a malfunction. Here is what happened to my wife and I:
We hit "deal draw" after having played the machine for several if not hundreds of spins. Upon receiving our first five cards, we began to use the "hold/cancel" buttons to save which cards we wanted to save. Immediately, the video poker screen went back to the "games" main screen showing all the games that are available to play, and closing out our hand.
When the attendant came over (both times), we did not recognize what they said was the "deal" hand, but we recognized the "second" hand, which was to us the first hand we saw. The attendant said that we hit "deal/draw" without choosing any cards and that refreshed the screen with (5) brand new cards, and as soon as we hit the "hold" button, the machine believed we wanted to go back out to the main games screen.
It is my contention that when we originally hit "deal/draw", the first set of five cards became immediately buried and the screen we saw was indeed the second five cards. That said, we clearly only hit the "deal/draw" button one time. I believe this to be a true malfunction because since I did not recognize the first (5) cards shown to me by the attendant, and my play would have been obvious had I drawn those cards.
The attendants were both insistent that there was no malfunction.
Any thoughts?
There was probably no malfunction. Every time I've seen this in the past, what's happened was that the player got confused about whether they were on the "deal" or "draw" step of the hand, probably because, previously, they had a throw-away hand.
Going back to the game selection screen is consistent with hitting the "hold" buttons in between hands (on many machines, eg, Game King).
Basically:
You get a hand. Garbage. You draw all new cards. You now get confused and think that you haven't drawn yet (since you have no held cards). So you go to hold cards, and get dumped back to the game selection screen.
It sounds stupid, but it happens a lot. When you are playing at a decent clip it's easy to lose track.
Quote: GWAEwith out any of us being there it is hard to say for sure but there is one red flag to me. You said it happened to both you and your wife. I have played a few hundred thousand hands and this has never happened. Now I can recall a time or 2 when I hit deal and get dealt garbage and redraw. Then I go to hold a card and it goes back to the main screen. My guess is that you were playing to fast or were talking or something and it was an error on your part and not a machine malfunction. But as I said I wasn't there and it is just a guess.
Right. Usually, when I get rags on the first draw, I really closely analyze the cards, to see if there is an inside straight draw (double double bonus). When the attendant showed me what he said was my first hand, there was an inside straight draw on a rag hand. It didn't occur to me later that somehow the machine buried my original hand. Perhaps it was not a machine malfunction per-se, but the machine somehow felt my first draw as having hit the draw button twice. I have experience machines that the touch screen is so sensitive, it will act upon your finger being just close to the screen. In this case I was using the buttons. Not huge deal, though.
Quote: TheBoneRight. Usually, when I get rags on the first draw, I really closely analyze the cards, to see if there is an inside straight draw (double double bonus). When the attendant showed me what he said was my first hand, there was an inside straight draw on a rag hand. It didn't occur to me later that somehow the machine buried my original hand. Perhaps it was not a machine malfunction per-se, but the machine somehow felt my first draw as having hit the draw button twice. I have experience machines that the touch screen is so sensitive, it will act upon your finger being just close to the screen. In this case I was using the buttons. Not huge deal, though.
It's certainly possible for a button to stick and register multiple presses. I've seen that before. I'd think that you would notice that though, unless you looked away momentarily.
Did the first card of your "draw" hand complete the inside straight draw? If so they might be persuaded to pay you for the straight. I've had this happen with a sticky button before (not quite the same situation but I had an incorrect hold due to a malfunctioning button. They paid me as though I had held what I wanted to hold, with the cards that were dealt, left-to-right. It was not a huge amount but also not insignificant)
Quote: HunterhillI have had many machines run out of paper or the ticket gets stuck in the machine. This is not uncommon.
It also has nothing to do with the game -- it's a separate module.
This is exactly what happens, I have done it before while being distracted.Quote: AxiomOfChoiceThere was probably no malfunction. Every time I've seen this in the past, what's happened was that the player got confused about whether they were on the "deal" or "draw" step of the hand, probably because, previously, they had a throw-away hand.
Going back to the game selection screen is consistent with hitting the "hold" buttons in between hands (on many machines, eg, Game King).
Basically:
You get a hand. Garbage. You draw all new cards. You now get confused and think that you haven't drawn yet (since you have no held cards). So you go to hold cards, and get dumped back to the game selection screen.
It sounds stupid, but it happens a lot. When you are playing at a decent clip it's easy to lose track.
