Pressure Test a Few new VP Games
November 4th, 2024 at 12:23:21 PM
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Let me know if you like (or dislike) any of the 8 games I have on the link below.
I won't bias you, but there are a couple I'm going to likely scratch.
Any recs, similar games, glitches, math issues...Fire away.
https://video-poker-collection.netlify.app/
I won't bias you, but there are a couple I'm going to likely scratch.
Any recs, similar games, glitches, math issues...Fire away.
https://video-poker-collection.netlify.app/
November 11th, 2024 at 2:32:39 AM
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Will they ever get the Keno to play like in the casino? 😆 Algorithms are a b*tch!
November 11th, 2024 at 9:31:27 PM
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As I've said earlier, I like grid poker quite a bit. Its somewhat addictive.
I'm wondering how you analyzed this game. Simulation? Combination math? It's an interesting analysis problem, especially since it seems necessary to develop optimal strategy rules about which cards to turn over.
I'm wondering how you analyzed this game. Simulation? Combination math? It's an interesting analysis problem, especially since it seems necessary to develop optimal strategy rules about which cards to turn over.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
November 11th, 2024 at 11:48:21 PM
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I knew the analysis of the game would be beyond my reach, so the analysis I did perform was fairly primitive and intuitive. I don't know how to run sims, and without the resources to see iterations of how the cards fall, I didn't have a great sense of the flow of the game.
However, I did some calculations for probabilities of 3-card infinite deck hands in a vacuum, and then rough starting hand probabilities. I tried to balance the fairly frequent 40 unit losses with somewhat large (but not huge) wins.
I also wanted to ensure that the best move wasn't always to pick the middle card (despite the 2 line to 1 ratio of revealed lines), so I created payouts that reward risks like drawing to a straight flush.
The game seems like a computational nightmare: The huge sample space compounded by the path dependence; the cards are independent, the lines aren't. (A flush on two rows makes additional flushes on columns more likely); the EV for line multiplier wins is unlikely to scale by assuming a consistent mean win per line.
Optimal strategy seems a little less taxing because the options are few, but the conditional probabilities could make some unintuitive choices the correct ones.
In my other games, the math and perfect strategy were much easier to approach, although none of these games are mathematically perfect, and I'm not confident I can play any one optimally.
Big Pot Poker requires some deviations from basic strategy that likely vary depending on where you are in the 20 hand set.
High Card Poker demands a player hold straight and flush combos that would otherwise be ignored. The bonus round also requires some interesting sacrifices to go for the royal and quads.
Bet the Run seems tougher than in is, both to analyze and to play well. The heuristics aren't too tough to nail down.
Make that Hand was a bit complicated to handle analytically, but hopefully I got close.
The 7 card bonus video poker game was the easiest, but I struggled to get precise values for probabilities of 7 card straights because they can be made from 5 card flush hands.
However, I did some calculations for probabilities of 3-card infinite deck hands in a vacuum, and then rough starting hand probabilities. I tried to balance the fairly frequent 40 unit losses with somewhat large (but not huge) wins.
I also wanted to ensure that the best move wasn't always to pick the middle card (despite the 2 line to 1 ratio of revealed lines), so I created payouts that reward risks like drawing to a straight flush.
The game seems like a computational nightmare: The huge sample space compounded by the path dependence; the cards are independent, the lines aren't. (A flush on two rows makes additional flushes on columns more likely); the EV for line multiplier wins is unlikely to scale by assuming a consistent mean win per line.
Optimal strategy seems a little less taxing because the options are few, but the conditional probabilities could make some unintuitive choices the correct ones.
In my other games, the math and perfect strategy were much easier to approach, although none of these games are mathematically perfect, and I'm not confident I can play any one optimally.
Big Pot Poker requires some deviations from basic strategy that likely vary depending on where you are in the 20 hand set.
High Card Poker demands a player hold straight and flush combos that would otherwise be ignored. The bonus round also requires some interesting sacrifices to go for the royal and quads.
Bet the Run seems tougher than in is, both to analyze and to play well. The heuristics aren't too tough to nail down.
Make that Hand was a bit complicated to handle analytically, but hopefully I got close.
The 7 card bonus video poker game was the easiest, but I struggled to get precise values for probabilities of 7 card straights because they can be made from 5 card flush hands.
November 14th, 2024 at 3:25:21 PM
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Make that Hand Poker -Maybe I didn't understand this game but my bankroll dropped down to near zero pretty quickly. I just didn't hit any of the jackpot hands.
Super Sequential Palindrome Poker: Interesting idea but I played for a while and didn't make a sequential or palindromic hand -I think the odds of making them are high. So the novel features of the game never made a difference.
Super Sequential Palindrome Poker: Interesting idea but I played for a while and didn't make a sequential or palindromic hand -I think the odds of making them are high. So the novel features of the game never made a difference.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
November 14th, 2024 at 10:42:37 PM
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You probably didn't hit any 2 line bonus hands or get many 3 card bonuses for that matter.
Make that Hand has pretty high variance. The 2 made hands out of 3 (for straights, flushes and full houses) aren't too uncommon. But hitting 3 is pretty rare--.06 percent to hit all 3 full houses from the 2 pair bonus activating starting hand. Hitting all 3 four of a kinds given the 3 of a kind deal is about 1 in 13,000. I've never hit that hand. It pays 50x on each winning line, so 150x the normal 4 of a kind payout.
The 3 card side bonus hands come up a lot, although they don't pay that much at the low end.
I don't much care for the palindrome game because it doesn't demand much, if any, alteration from standard play. Also, not enough winning kinds of hands are potentially palindromic, so the diversity of winning palindromes is too limited.
Make that Hand requires more deviation from basic strategy: some dumping of jacks or better winners and deciding between 4 to a straight and 4 to a flush hands.
Make that Hand has pretty high variance. The 2 made hands out of 3 (for straights, flushes and full houses) aren't too uncommon. But hitting 3 is pretty rare--.06 percent to hit all 3 full houses from the 2 pair bonus activating starting hand. Hitting all 3 four of a kinds given the 3 of a kind deal is about 1 in 13,000. I've never hit that hand. It pays 50x on each winning line, so 150x the normal 4 of a kind payout.
The 3 card side bonus hands come up a lot, although they don't pay that much at the low end.
I don't much care for the palindrome game because it doesn't demand much, if any, alteration from standard play. Also, not enough winning kinds of hands are potentially palindromic, so the diversity of winning palindromes is too limited.
Make that Hand requires more deviation from basic strategy: some dumping of jacks or better winners and deciding between 4 to a straight and 4 to a flush hands.
November 15th, 2024 at 3:29:25 AM
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50X Poker! Wow that is some strategy that will be required for that. Very addictive, and I feel a little funny saying that as a good thing.
November 15th, 2024 at 10:13:49 AM
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Thanks. That game is a bit tough. I don't know optimal (or probably even sub-optimal) strategy myself.
My general heuristic is to play the hand as I would on a basic draw poker game hand, and then check the multipliers to see if overriding that decision is warranted.
On most deal hands with 4 or 5 50x multipliers that have the potential to win, keep 4 50x multipliers and hope to pair with a 50x high card, at least.
The 5x hands are tougher. 3 or more 5x cards with some potential seems to be reasonable to keep. Two high cards or better with 5x, perhaps. Not sure that a lone high card with 5x is even worth keeping in this game.
I am thinking of tweaking the multipliers to 8x and 40x. They're currently a bit too discrepant for my taste.
In the High Card, 7 Card, Big Pot and Make that Hand poker games, the strategies are more standard, but still require subtle tweaks in basic strategy. 50X and Grid Poker are by far the toughest to play correctly.
My general heuristic is to play the hand as I would on a basic draw poker game hand, and then check the multipliers to see if overriding that decision is warranted.
On most deal hands with 4 or 5 50x multipliers that have the potential to win, keep 4 50x multipliers and hope to pair with a 50x high card, at least.
The 5x hands are tougher. 3 or more 5x cards with some potential seems to be reasonable to keep. Two high cards or better with 5x, perhaps. Not sure that a lone high card with 5x is even worth keeping in this game.
I am thinking of tweaking the multipliers to 8x and 40x. They're currently a bit too discrepant for my taste.
In the High Card, 7 Card, Big Pot and Make that Hand poker games, the strategies are more standard, but still require subtle tweaks in basic strategy. 50X and Grid Poker are by far the toughest to play correctly.
