Video Poker - what is the range of the rate of play?

Hey everyone. I'm working on another video poker game and I need some help in regards to a players rate of play on a single hand game of video poker.

Here is what I'm looking at:

How long does it take you (or others) to play a single hand game of video poker from the time all five cards are dealt, held, and the draw button is held? I'm just looking for the time involved in this process.

I understand this can range widely, but I'd really be curious as finding out the range. My initial thoughts would be about 5 seconds.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Quote: RealizeGaming

Hey everyone. I'm working on another video poker game and I need some help in regards to a players rate of play on a single hand game of video poker.

Here is what I'm looking at:

How long does it take you (or others) to play a single hand game of video poker from the time all five cards are dealt, held, and the draw button is held? I'm just looking for the time involved in this process.

I understand this can range widely, but I'd really be curious as finding out the range. My initial thoughts would be about 5 seconds.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I would say the normal Video poker player plays 650 hands per hour.

Quote: AxelWolf

I would say the normal Video poker player plays 650 hands per hour.

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I agree with this. Some hands go quicker than 5 seconds, but many you think about a bit, stop to take a drink, stop to order a drink, stop to show someone a good hand etc. i would put a range of 6-8 seconds.

I used to play 1000 hands a session. At $1 a hand it was easy to track. I rarely finished in less than two hours. While proficient players can do 650 hands per hour for an extended period, most amateurs won't.

If it’s set to be able to go full speed I think most people who play a good amount can easily maintain 800 for a several hour session if they want to, 1000 for a couple hours but probably takes a bit more effort, mistakes start to come a little quicker.

Quote: billryan

I used to play 1000 hands a session. At $1 a hand it was easy to track. I rarely finished in less than two hours. While proficient players can do 650 hands per hour for an extended period, most amateurs won't.

how long is a session?

If you go to any of the local places in Las Vegas that caters to video poker players such as Rampart, Southpoint, local video poker bars etc. and watch, even the old ladies, bartenders and various others who tend to play video poker you will notice they play super fast (obviously they don't play super accurate) I have no doubt many of those people are getting out 800+ plus hands an hour.

I assume since the OP is making a video poker game he's targeting video poker players and not the casual person walking to the casino who doesn't know what he or she wants to play, or somebody sitting there trying to scalp free drinks, or put-F*** around. I didn't assume he wanted the average speed overall of everyone playing video poker. That's why I felt the 650 hands per hour was accurate if we're talking about " avid" video poker players.

$1 a hand seems like an odd amount to be playing. What denomination and how many coins was that?

Quote: billryan

I used to play 1000 hands a session. At $1 a hand it was easy to track. I rarely finished in less than two hours. While proficient players can do 650 hands per hour for an extended period, most amateurs won't.

I've timed myself many times over the years with my VPW software. I play mostly deuces wild. 650 hands an hour seems about average to me. At 500 hands an hour, I find myself distracted. At 1,000 hands an hour, I make too many errors. In my case, session length has no effect on my speed of play. Every hand of VP I play is a long term loser, so the slower I play the better. The problem comes when I play like I have an advantage when I don't.

RG, curious if you are considering some kind of timed bonus round for your new game? For reference, Wiz did a couple of VP speed challenges and got 1,537 HPH (2.34 seconds per hand) for the first, and 2,262 HPH (1.59 seconds per hand) for the second.

I think I go about 600-800 HPH. I think I could go 1,000 HPH for a short burst.

I would also assume about 600 hands per hour for the average player. In that case around 5 seconds per hand seems reasonable.

Quote: Joeman

RG, curious if you are considering some kind of timed bonus round for your new game?

I was wondering the same thing.
They start thinking about an old game they had in the 90s built by Sigma that was really fun to play. The details are kind of foggy I'm not a hundred percent sure exact details anymore. I didn't play it very often since they were much better things around the play.

For the life of me, I can't even remember the name of the game. I only remember the game being in two locations, one was at Riverside in Laughlin where they have two machines and the other was at Palace Station and they only had two machines as well.

Unfortunately, it was only in quarter denominations.

While you were actively playing at least one coin a clock would appear(perhaps every 15-30 minutes) the colors would change and the pay table would double. You could then jump up to five coins.
Depending on what you hit during this time you would be able to get out 11 to 14 Hands<< That I do specifically remember since it was important to know to calculate your hourly rate and I counted the number of hands I was able to get during each bonus round.

If you played one coin at the correct pace and jumped up to five coins during the bonus it was worth about $20 an hour. I only ever saw a father and his two sons from out of town that played them semi-frequently. They claimed it was worth about
$29 an hour, but have no idea how they came up with that. I don't think the machines lasted for more than a year or so.

Quote: Joeman

RG, curious if you are considering some kind of timed bonus round for your new game? For reference, Wiz did a couple of VP speed challenges and got 1,537 HPH (2.34 seconds per hand) for the first, and 2,262 HPH (1.59 seconds per hand) for the second.

I think I go about 600-800 HPH. I think I could go 1,000 HPH for a short burst.

It is kind of like a bonus, but I'm focusing on the time it takes starting from when the last card is dealt to the player in the opening hand to the player making decisions on what to hold-discard and then hitting the draw button. I know it will vary by player, but I'm estimating about 5 seconds or so....just for that process.

Quote: AxelWolf

how long is a session?

If you go to any of the local places in Las Vegas that caters to video poker players such as Rampart, Southpoint, local video poker bars etc. and watch, even the old ladies, bartenders and various others who tend to play video poker you will notice they play super fast (obviously they don't play super accurate) I have no doubt many of those people are getting out 800+ plus hands an hour.

I assume since the OP is making a video poker game he's targeting video poker players and not the casual person walking to the casino who doesn't know what he or she wants to play, or somebody sitting there trying to scalp free drinks, or put-F*** around. I didn't assume he wanted the average speed overall of everyone playing video poker. That's why I felt the 650 hands per hour was accurate if we're talking about " avid" video poker players.

$1 a hand seems like an odd amount to be playing. What denomination and how many coins was that?

Emerald Isle has penny, two cent and nickel machines . Top bet is $1,$2 or $5. A dollar a point and 1,000 points gets you either $10 cash back or a free gift. 30,000 a quarter pretty much let's you eat for free six days a week.
My sessions were a thousand points, followed by lunch two or three days a week.
They also were carrying Moonshine Apple Pie at the time.