First time to VP

So during my upcoming trip I am considering playing video poker for the first time. I thought recently about adding it to my game repertoire, my gaming portfolio needs more diversification, lol.

Anyway, I was impressed on how incredibly low the house edge is on what Mike listed as the "Jacks or Better" game (I think that's what he listed in his house edge stats) and decided to give it a go. I've had very little time to actually get into memorizing strategy, and I looked at his page on the topic in his Odds site. I'm planning on looking more into it when I have more time and brainpower (I'm incredibly exhausted right now as I right this and have no room for concentration and studying at this particular moment), but thought in the mean time you guys could answer a couple of quick questions and also share any tips or advice.

The only questions I have right now after having briefly read through the page the other day:

Didn't Mike somewhere, maybe separately, talk about how to look at the pay tables in order to select the game with the best payout? (Sorry if I'm not using correct gambling terminology, but you know what I'm saying). Maybe this was in a video of his or something I saw this a long time back.

Is the "advanced strategy" hard to memorize?

If I use his app on my iPhone will I get in trouble with casino staff for using it?

Was there a survey done of where to find the best payout machines?

I feel like I had more questions but I can't think straight right now. I'll add them if I can think of them but I think it was only one or two more questions.

And please offer any advice or tips. I'm hoping I'll have a bit of time to learn the game before my trip assuming it's not as tedious as memorizing blackjack strategy charts.

You want the 9/6 paytable for Jacks or Better. You can see which Vegas casinos have it on vpFREE2. You can practice the strategy using the Wizard's free video poker game (which defaults to 9/6 Jacks or Better).

With 9/6 Jacks, the majority of the time, the correct play is obvious. It's the situations where you must choose between two seemingly viable plays that need memorizing.

Lastly, 9/6 Jacks or Better is probably the gentlest video poker game on your bankroll, and even it can be very cruel. Be prepared for more downs than ups, especially if you move to more volatile games like Double Double Bonus. See the graph on VideoPoker.com's forum post Video Poker Distributions are Not Normal. The game graphed is not 9/6 Jacks, but it illustrates the point that most sessions will be losing sessions.

Quote: HotBlonde

And please offer any advice...

In VP you better expect,
for games like 9/6 or 9/5 JOB or 8/5 BP,
to have way more losing sessions than winning ones.

This is the nature of the beast.
(Beast = Video Poker)

About 65% to 72%
or say 70 out of 100 sessions of about 1000 hands per session played,
will end up, on average, as a losing session.

No matter how perfect you play.

At 10,000 hands per session figure between 70% to 75% sessions will be a loss.

You need to hit the big payoffs, if you do not,
you better just have fun playing and losing at the same time.
Enjoy the smaller payouts.

Also, for fun,
Count the number of 4 to the Royals you get and never get that 5th needed card.

I went 12 years before ever hitting my first Royal.
34 years until I was just dealt a Royal.
I have hit 3 Royals in one day.
It can be feast or famine.

Good Luck!

What they said.

But also good VP is next to impossible to find on the Strip, except perhaps in some high limit rooms. For good VP at reasonable prices, try Downtown. Four Queens has 9/6 JoB ranging from $0.05 to $1. The Cal has 10/7 Double Bonus for $0.50. That paytable is 100.7% return or so. MSS also has good offerings.

Outside of Downtown, the best places are locals casinos like Sam's Town, the various Stations casinos, etc.

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

You can print off the optimal strategies and have them in front of you while you play.

Yes, but until the last time I played, I don't think I ever saw anyone use one. While I was getting my butt whipped at FP Bonus Deuces Wild, she was playing FP Jacks or Better. She had 89TTJ and stared at the screen for about 10 seconds. I told her to hold the pair, but she wasn't totally convinced, so she pulled out the sheet she had...lol

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Quote: JB

You want the 9/6 paytable for Jacks or Better. You can see which Vegas casinos have it on vpFREE2. You can practice the strategy using the Wizard's free video poker game (which defaults to 9/6 Jacks or Better).

I love the Free Video Poker game but it needs some sounds. I miss the "bloop" when I get a pair of jacks and the dealing sound of the cards.

Quote: HotBlonde

And please offer any advice or tips. I'm hoping I'll have a bit of time to learn the game before my trip assuming it's not as tedious as memorizing blackjack strategy charts.

Do you actually memorize the charts or simply memorize the textual rules that you can extract from them?

As to Video Poker, I believe part of the trick is to factor in Comp Points ... hence one recent post wherein Tuscany's Saturday 10x point special made the VP machines payout at 100.17 percent.

I love video poker but I find JoB to be as boring as blackjack. I'm a slot person so I love that jackpot-type of payout, so I prefer 8/5 Bonus Poker with the higher payout for quad aces than for a straight flush. If you can find a Double Double Bonus with a decent paytable that's even better, because you can hit quads but don't count on many straight flushes and really don't count on a royal on your first outing. I have strategy cards that I use to double-check to make sure I'm not overlooking something if it's not an obvious play. I know the pros like to maximize hands per hour but it's better to slow down and not make mistakes than play quickly but give up percentage points with misplayed hands.

You should earn comps faster than you would for blackjack. I like the social aspect of table games, but at least with video poker you won't have that know-it-all criticizing everyone else's play like you find at a blackjack table.

Jacks or Better can be boring until you start hitting royals. Then, it's fun. :) But that could take a while. I like the variance curve of deuces wild because the four deuces is a fun mini-jackpot to hit. (I've been on a deuces tear lately.) But the good-paying deuces games are all out in the sticks or off-strip.

I would recommend playing $1 9/6 Jacks in the high-limit room at MGM. It is 50-play, so you can play from one line (always play max credits per line), to 50 ($250 a spin!) depending on how much you want to gamble. If I recall, you already have a host at MGM, so the extra play wouldn't hurt your rating. If you have a high-level MLife card you get a bonus on your play. Use Michael's simple strategy for JoB.

Quote: teddys

But the good-paying deuces games are all out in the sticks or off-strip.

There's the famous loose deuces machine upstairs at the Ditz. True, since it only plays nickels (meaning $0.05), the payout is low even on a royal. And, also true, it plays rather slowly. For a beginner, however, that's a good machine on which to practice DW strategy.

Quote: teddys

Jacks or Better can be boring until you start hitting royals. Then, it's fun. :) But that could take a while. I like the variance curve of deuces wild because the four deuces is a fun mini-jackpot to hit. (I've been on a deuces tear lately.) But the good-paying deuces games are all out in the sticks or off-strip.

The best deuces on the Strip I've seen is "Airport Deuces" at Casino Royale (98.91%) for as cheap as pennies (50 play). I could play that thing for hours. And there is NSUD (99.73%) at Ellis Island which is walkable from Bally's. VPFree also says there is 99.2% Loose Deuces at Mandalay Bay.

Well I read through the Wizard's page on VP and just read through all your comments. All the info is very intimidating and this all seems so confusing. Why are there a bazillion different types of poker games you can play? I haven't looked at the strategy charts yet but I'm assuming they're all different from each other and that there'll be so much you have to memorize. I'm considering going and talking to my host and seeing if he can help. I don't know I'd he can actually sit with me and show me how to play but I can at least ask. I would feel better practicing on the Wizard's online free game first but I don't have a computer with me, just my iPhone and I'm guessing the game requires Flash. I'll figure something out.

Quote: HotBlonde

I haven't looked at the strategy charts yet but I'm assuming they're all different from each other and that there'll be so much you have to memorize.

Don't even try, unless you intend to be a serious AP VP player. Instead just play with the strategy card on hand, either online or at a machine, and eventually you'll memorize the strategy well enough. You can make your own cards, once you're back home, by copying the strategies from WoO. Also copy the pay tables for the better games. I think they're for sale online at the Vegas Advisor site. They may also sell them at casino gift shops.

If you'll be playing for real money, go downtown where you can find plenty of decent games at lower denominations. Therea re lots of 9/6 Jacks or Better machines at the Four Queens at 5 cents, but also at higher denoms. For full pay Double Bonus, try either the California at 50 cents and dollar denominations (plus they give a 1,000 coin bonus for a royal in hearts), or the Four Queens at dollars (no added bonus).

See I'm even confused about this whole pay table thing. What's a pay table? Lol, maybe I'm not even close to learning to play. :/

Quote: HotBlonde

See I'm even confused about this whole pay table thing. What's a pay table? Lol, maybe I'm not even close to learning to play. :/

You weren't born knowing all about VP? Neither was I. Coincidence or conspiracy? Film at 11 :)

Seriously, the pay table is the table that indicates how much each winning hand pays. I don't have them committed to memory, which is why I do carry around a listing of pay tables, pilfered from WoO, indicating what the expected long term return is. BTW, I didn't know that in my first two trips to Vegas, and yet I played mostly VP on the Strip (surely to horrendous pay tables).

That's the fundamental first step: Play good pay tables.

There are lots of subtleties and nuances, but for now just seek out good pay tables. I recommend either Deuces Wild or Jacks or Better to get started. It's better if you have a good intrinsic feel for poker, but you can learn good strategy without it. By a good feel, I mean knowing without being told why drawing for an inside straight is not as good a play as keeping a low pair. That works rather well on JoB and DW.

And have fun. IN the end, for the casual gambler, that matters more.

I'd suggest playing the Wizards games with the correction on, showing when you picked the wrong cards.

The games gives feedback, and without even knowing what the strategy is, you will begin to pick up the more obvious and common plays.

After a couple sessions, you can start looking up the deal/draw hands you keep missing in the Wiz's strategy tables.

This is kind of painless way to learn. Just involves idle play over several sessions.

That is, if you have at least a week or more and time to sit and play. You might think you're remembering nothing the first time you play a game, but your brain will notice the similar hands, and you really are picking up information.

Just make sure you have the tables identical to what you will be playing in the casino.

Go to the Gambler's Book store, and pick up Jean Scott's Frugal Video Poker. Read it. She explains the lingo and how to find your first machine.

Then find a cheap machine to play on. No point playing dollars when you are just checking out the game. You can take the cheat sheets with you to the casino (I have my own hand written ones in a note book to refer back to).

There's millions of versions of the game, as it's popular and people like variety, just like they want a variety in the fruit machines.

Either that, or belly up to the bar, look confused and find some handsome stranger to teach you the game. I wouldn't do the that though.

Ok, I'm about to play JoB for the first time. I'm going to use the Wizard's hand analyzer on my phone and see what happens. Wish me luck.