Video Poker Strategy Calculator

I'd proud to announce the first free video poker strategy calculator, created by our own JB.

As far as I know, before now only three people have created automated video poker strategy makers:

1. TomSki -- creator of Video Poker Strategy Master software.
2. ? -- Whoever helped with Frugal Video Poker.
3. ? -- Whoever helped with Video Poker for Winners.

Usually video poker strategies have to be created by hand with a lot of trial and error. It is not easy getting a computer to concisely create a strategy based on the 2.6 million possible starting hands. It is like the Mount Everest of video poker programming. So, my congratulations to JB for this accomplishment.

So, video poker players, please give it a test drive and let us know what you think.

I like it, a lot.

I've used the strategy guides at VPgenius, but JB's calculator looks more thorough.

I made a (much simpler and less accurate) strategy calculator for one project, but mine was useful to me because I was making hundreds of paytable adjustments to find a decent strategy for a very complex game.

Very cool. I assume JB considered defaulting the paytable to single coin instead of 5 coins. I can understand why 5 coins was set as the default, but it is unusual for me to see and adjust the table X5, especially when the machines are typically referred to with their single coin payouts (e.g., "9/6 JoB"). At the end of the day, it is better for it to default to 5 coin.

Quote: Ayecarumba

Very cool. I assume JB considered defaulting the paytable to single coin instead of 5 coins. I can understand why 5 coins was set as the default, but it is unusual for me to see and adjust the table X5, especially when the machines are typically referred to with their single coin payouts (e.g., "9/6 JoB"). At the end of the day, it is better for it to default to 5 coin.

The ones I tried were defaulted to 5 coins.

This isn't the first free VP strategy calculator - see http://wolfvideopoker.com/FVP.htm - nor is it the first free online VP strategy calculator - see http://www.vpgenius.com/ - but it is good stuff. I find the interface rather more convenient than vpgenius, especially on my phone. I'm sure I'll give it a lot of use. Thanks for another excellent tool.

I'm not sure if many people know this or not, but I am the person who created vpgenius.com. (In fact, that's how the Wizard found me.) I sold it shortly after I finished it though, and am no longer associated with it.

However, the strategies created by vpgenius.com are not entirely accurate: they are created by identifying the types of plays made, and then sorting the plays by their expected value. This is a fast method of creating a strategy, but not entirely accurate (especially with lower-valued plays).

The strategies generated by the new calculator on WizardOfOdds.com use the correct (albeit slower) method, which is to compare each line against all other lines to figure out where it belongs in the list. It is correct for some lines to appear higher on the list than others even though they have a lower EV. The classic example is King vs. Suited King-Ten in 9/6 Jacks or Better: a King by itself has a higher EV than Suited King-Ten, yet Suited King-Ten is typically the better play. The reason why the EV for a King is higher is because its EV is derived only from hands where the King by itself was the better play.

The correct method to compare two plays (such as King vs. Suited King-Ten) is to only look at hands where the best play is one of the two plays being compared; only then can you see that the EV for a King is lower than the EV for Suited King-Ten among hands where the best play is one of those two plays. However, even after you've done that, there is still a choice to make when assembling the strategy list: do you arrange the plays in the way that yields the highest overall return (when exceptions are ignored), or do you arrange them in the way that produces the fewest exceptions? For this calculator, I chose to arrange them in the way that produces the highest return (when exceptions are ignored).

Quote: JB

I'm not sure if many people know this or not, but I am the person who created vpgenius.com. (In fact, that's how the Wizard found me.) I sold it shortly after I finished it though, and am no longer associated with it.

I did not know this. Major props. One of my favorite gambling sites on the web, besides the Wizard's. Very happy to hear you were behind it.

I agree with teddy. I had no idea you were behind vpgenius.com, but that explains why it's so useful.

Quote: JB

I'm not sure if many people know this or not, but I am the person who created vpgenius.com. (In fact, that's how the Wizard found me.) I sold it shortly after I finished it though, and am no longer associated with it.

Oh! Awesome. Thanks for your work, sir; I've found it very useful, and I appreciate it greatly.

At Sante Fe Station, on a machine labled over 100% payback I found the following pay table for Loose Deuces.

Paytable

Natural Royal Flush 250 4000 (1 coin and 5 coin respectively)
Four Deuces 500 2500
Wild Royal Flush 25 125
Five of a Kind 15 75
Straight Flush 8 40
Four of a Kind 4 20
Full House 3 15
Flush 2 10
Straight 2 10
Three of a Kind 1 5

Using the new Video Poker Strategy Calculator on WizardofOdds.com, I put in the 5 coin amount and the Total Return amount was 5.007, which I don't think is correct. So I put in the 1 coin in value and the Total Return amount was .9895.

Therefore, my question is, is this game really a 100% payback game?