Common Video Poker Misplayed Hands

I was playing a video poker trainer and I was suprised at how many hands i got wrong. I was only at 95% (1/20 wrong). There are alot of hands especially with straight/flush/sflush/rsflush combinations I didnt play correctly. I was thinking maybe everyone can share some hands that they think are commonly played incorrectly with standard 9/6 Jacks or better and other games....

eg.
9s 10s Js Qs Kh
4 Card Straight Flush with last card completing straight
Correct Strategy: Hold all 5 Cards for Straight

eg2.
10sp Jh Qh Kh 7h
3 Card Royal
Correct Strategy: Ignore 4 card flush and 4 card straight and hold 3 royal cards.

eg3.
2 4 5 6 8 unsuited
Correct Strategy: Ignore Inside Straight and Draw 5

eg4.
9 10 J K A unsuited
hold 10/j/k/a for inside straight

but if Ace and King are suited or Ace and Jack are suited hold those instead of inside straight. (2card royal?)

I disagree with the first example. I think you should hold the 4 to a straight flush.

I also started learning the correct strategies at video poker and I made many, many errors.

After a few weeks, I can even spot some very close decisions, like 5d 6c 7c 10c qd. Keep the queen over three to a straight flush with two gaps. If that queen is a king, you keep the 3 to a straight flush.

I agree with the OP in example 1, JoB, keep all 5 cards in the straight. If the K was a spade and the 9 was the heart, then keep the four to the royal and abandon the straight.

In example 4, keeping any two suited high cards is slightly better than keeping 4 to an inside straight w/ three high cards. If all three high cards are suited, even better.

I believe that in the first example, you hold the straight because ....

If the situation were reversed where the option was to stand or discard the 9, it's a different story for two reasons: You'd be drawing to a Royal. But you're drawing to THREE cards of JoB. While getting a pair is less desireable than standing with the straight, it gives you more 'outs' to win something, and in the long run, will be the better move. Discard the King, and you have no royal draw. But more important, you've only got two JoB cards, which is not as good, making standing with the straight a better move.

This same logic applies to the other examples.

Mind you, I think the difference is minimal, and that it's emotionally hard to accept. But part of the trainer's job is to get you to ignore the emotion and go with the math.

I've been playing the Wizard's VP trainers. I find I get a better grasp of the strategies by playing than by looking at the strategies themselves. I know this is less effective than memorizing the strategies, the same thing happens with grammar: I have an implicit understanding but not an explicit one. For a recreational gambler, that ought to be enough.

OK, so I looked at the math.

My video poker trainer is using a 90-9-6 paytable, which pays 90 for a straight flush instead of 50. I'm going to change the paytable to pay 50, because I've never seen the 90-9-6 in real life.

On the 90-9-6, you hold the 4 to a straight flush and on the regular 9-6 paytable, you hold the straight.

One error I make a lot is throwing away the wheel in hands like As Jc 2s 8h 5s

Another one is keeping two to a royal instead of keeping three to straight flush Kc 3s Qc 5d 9c

The worst mistake I see happening with others and myself when playing live is missing pairs, sometimes missing the second pair. I don't know if it's the glare or the free drinks or what, but I see it happen. Big cards are obvious, four card straights and flushes are obvious but sometimes 2c Kh Qc Ad 2h isn't so obvious when playing live. My eyes have a tendency to go straight to the big cards.

" I don't know if it's the glare or the free drinks " Once again proving why "FREE" drinks are provided.

Quote: RogerKint

One error I make a lot is throwing away the wheel in hands like As Jc 2s 8h 5s

I have to really pay attention or I also miss 3 to a straight flush, 2 gaps, A-low in 9/6 JoB. Probably stems from never holding it in FPDW. I'm getting better at switching between FPDW, NSU, and 9/6 but I still feel better if I practice a couple hundred hands when I change games.