AxiomOfChoice
AxiomOfChoice
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April 9th, 2014 at 11:01:16 PM permalink
Supposing that I want to play video poker at a particular place, and the best games available are 9/7 TDB (99.58%) and 9/6 DDB (98.98%)

So, the TDB game is much better -- I'd only lose about 40% as much as playing the DDB game, if I played perfectly. The problem is, I know 9/6 DDB strategy perfectly, but I don't know TDB strategy at all.

So, suppose I play the 9/6 DDB strategy for the TDB game, except that I make the obvious adjustment of holding a kicker with trip As, 2s, 3s, or 4s. How much am I giving up? Is the TDB game still better for me?
pokerface
pokerface
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April 9th, 2014 at 11:05:41 PM permalink
sounds like myself.
I just simply play DDB without worrying about returns.
winning streaks come and go, losing streak never ends.
tringlomane
tringlomane
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April 10th, 2014 at 12:41:24 PM permalink
I would think you'd still rather play good 9/6 ddb. With the 7 for 1 payout. Lots of 3 flush holds you need to make. 4 to a flush better than kk-jj etc. I don't have the proper program to figure this out though.
AxiomOfChoice
AxiomOfChoice
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April 10th, 2014 at 1:34:13 PM permalink
Quote: tringlomane

I would think you'd still rather play good 9/6 ddb. With the 7 for 1 payout. Lots of 3 flush holds you need to make. 4 to a flush better than kk-jj etc. I don't have the proper program to figure this out though.



Yeah, I played a few hands on videopoker.com with the training mode turned on. I noticed:

1. 3-flush with 1 high card > 2 high cards. So you hold Kh2h3h from KhQs2h3h8c
2. 3-flush with 2 high cards > 2 suited high cards. So you hold KhQh3h, not just KhQh
3. 4-flush > 3 to a royal or JJ-KK
4. 222, 333, or 444 > a full house (AAA too, but that's not a deviation from DDB). This is so painful with the trips only paying 2x the bet.
5. open-ended 4-straight > small pair

I wonder how I'd do if I just played these strategy modifications, plus holding the kicker with AAA, 222, 333, or 444. Is there software out there that will answer these questions? I could just write something, I guess...

I don't think that I have time to learn the strategy perfectly (I learn kind of slowly) but with a 0.6% difference in edge I really don't have to be perfect.

The swings are another matter, of course :) Maybe I'll get lucky. 4x as many top-line pays!!
tringlomane
tringlomane
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April 10th, 2014 at 1:51:58 PM permalink
I wanna say Wolf vp can do it, but I'm cheap and don't own that.

Offhand, I know not holding the kicker on AAA costs about 0.3% alone. So I would think all these other changes might add up to 0.6% collectively. And hell, let's just say you play it at 99.1%, it is worth double the variance? Wouldn't be to me.
AxiomOfChoice
AxiomOfChoice
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April 10th, 2014 at 1:58:08 PM permalink
Quote: tringlomane

I wanna say Wolf vp can do it, but I'm cheap and don't own that.

Offhand, I know not holding the kicker on AAA costs about 0.3% alone. So I would think all these other changes might add up to 0.6% collectively. And hell, let's just say you play it at 99.1%, it is worth double the variance? Wouldn't be to me.



Might not be worth it to go to 99.1% (since DDB is 99%) but it would be worth it to get to 99.3% or 99.4%. We are talking about thousands of dollars in EV difference here. I can afford the swings (financially, anyway. Let's see how the psychological part goes)
tringlomane
tringlomane
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April 10th, 2014 at 2:21:02 PM permalink
If it's thousands of dollars of EV, then buck up and learn, imo unless the window is very short. You'll get used to finding 3 to flushes relatively quickly. I feel like I have.

<---- ~knows most strategies except joker crap.
AxiomOfChoice
AxiomOfChoice
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April 10th, 2014 at 2:27:02 PM permalink
Quote: tringlomane

If it's thousands of dollars of EV, then buck up and learn, imo unless the window is very short. You'll get used to finding 3 to flushes relatively quickly. I feel like I have.

<---- ~knows most strategies except joker crap.



I'd be a much, much better gambler if I didn't have a full time job. Also if I wasn't so lazy.
MrWarmth
MrWarmth
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April 11th, 2014 at 5:47:55 PM permalink
Is it just me or does this game seem to be all about the quads? You hit quads, you win ... you don't, you lose. Different folks have different variance tolerances, and god bless you for paying all of my taxes for me, but this game seems all about the quads.

Am I nvts?
AxiomOfChoice
AxiomOfChoice
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April 14th, 2014 at 3:16:56 PM permalink
Quote: MrWarmth

Is it just me or does this game seem to be all about the quads? You hit quads, you win ... you don't, you lose. Different folks have different variance tolerances, and god bless you for paying all of my taxes for me, but this game seems all about the quads.

Am I nvts?



I don't understand your taxes remark. I pay all the taxes that I owe whether I get a W2G or not. If I was going to steal money, I would pick an easier and less powerful target than the IRS (and then I would report the proceeds of my stealing as taxable income, as required by the IRS)

Of course the game is all about the quads. That's what happens when you move a significant portion of the return to the quads.
MrWarmth
MrWarmth
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April 18th, 2014 at 9:58:58 AM permalink
Quote: AxiomOfChoice

I don't understand your taxes remark. I pay all the taxes that I owe whether I get a W2G or not. If I was going to steal money, I would pick an easier and less powerful target than the IRS (and then I would report the proceeds of my stealing as taxable income, as required by the IRS)

Of course the game is all about the quads. That's what happens when you move a significant portion of the return to the quads.



"god bless (general, not specific) you for paying all of my taxes for me" means I live in NV where there's no state income tax, mostly because of taxes paid from gaming revenue. As I don't know you and I'm new to the forum, I'm not sure how you (or anyone else) paying taxes or stealing money could possibly enter into my thinking. Not all comments are axiomatically cynical and/or about you (or anyone else in particular). For what it's worth, I'm sure you pay your taxes and don't steal money from anyone/place/thing.
AxiomOfChoice
AxiomOfChoice
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April 18th, 2014 at 10:07:26 AM permalink
Quote: MrWarmth

"god bless (general, not specific) you for paying all of my taxes for me" means I live in NV where there's no state income tax, mostly because of taxes paid from gaming revenue. As I don't know you and I'm new to the forum, I'm not sure how you (or anyone else) paying taxes or stealing money could possibly enter into my thinking. Not all comments are axiomatically cynical and/or about you (or anyone else in particular). For what it's worth, I'm sure you pay your taxes and don't steal money from anyone/place/thing.



Oh, ok, I get it now. I thought it was a reference to the large number of W2G's generated by playing such a high variance game. So, my reply was, the variance has no effect on the amount of taxes I pay; even though I generate more W2G's, that's just paperwork.

Back on-topic, I have pretty much picked up the 9/7 TDB strategy. It is not that hard if you already know DDB. I still make the occasional mistake (about 1-2 per 100 hands) but I've only been practicing for, maybe, 1000 hands -- I should have it down by the time I get to the casino. I am even picking up the penalty card situations, which aren't worth much, but are also really, really simple for the most part. I though that this game would be really brutal to learn, but it really isn't.
MrWarmth
MrWarmth
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April 18th, 2014 at 8:19:27 PM permalink
Quote: AxiomOfChoice

Oh, ok, I get it now. I thought it was a reference to the large number of W2G's generated by playing such a high variance game. So, my reply was, the variance has no effect on the amount of taxes I pay; even though I generate more W2G's, that's just paperwork.



No worries, new member, new personality to read.
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