Newbie - never played video poker

Hello -

Just started reading

I had no idea the odds could be so 'favorable' for a video game. I have a few questions - hopefully someone can help.

1 - There seem to be an enormous amount of types of games. Are these 'selectable' on each machine, or are there several individual machines?
2 - As a follow up - do most casinos have all of the types of machines / choices listed on?
3 - What is a good bankroll for a .25 or 1.00 bet 5 max for a few hours total?
4 - I will only be playing at encore or wynn - anybody know the good games there so I can practice some strategy?

Thanks a ton.

Hi. Here's what I know:

1. Lots of machines do have options that are selectable. Usually, you can pick the denomination ($.25/$.50/$1), and select from a handful of games (usually Jacks or Better, some form of Bonus/DoubleBonus poker, and Deuces Wild).
2. Most casinos do not have all of those games. Some of those games are quite rare. Most casinos do offer many varieties, but usually not more than maybe 10 or 12 different games.
3. It depends on the game. Different games have different variances, and more variance requires more bankroll. If you had $1,000, I'd expect you to be fine in any case, but you could get by with less on a low-variability game.
4. www.vpfree2.com lists the best games by casino. It looks like the Wynn has double double bonus for $1, and bonus poker for $.50. Both of those games return over 98%. You can also probably find a version of Jacks or Better that'll return about 97.5% in the $.25 denomination.

Thanks for the info!

Looks like to get over 99% i have to goto $5 machines, which seem like they can get pretty spendy pretty quick. I'll check them out on the simulators.

I think LVH (the old Hilton), which is up near Wynn/Encore, has a lot of "9/6" (9 for a full house; 6 for a flush) 25-cent Jacks or Better machines; I think these are over 99%. Other than that, on the strip, if you're playing quarters, VPFree2 makes it sound like the only thing close to that on the strip is the 8/5 machines (somewhere between 97 and 97.5%, I think) at the Mirage; last time I looked, there was a bank of progressive jackpot 8/5s near the entrance to Carnegie Deli.

Of course, those percentages assume you're going to be playing long enough to get at least one four-of-a-kind or better, which usually happens once every 400 hands or so.

in general you need a bankroll of several royal flush payments

Quote: pokerface

in general you need a bankroll of several royal flush payments

Not for a few hours he won't. If you play 400 hands/hour for 10 hours at $1 level ($5) your coin-in will be $20,000, but if assume not hitting a royal, a 5% loss would only be $1000. A single Royal Flush bank-roll should suffice ($4,000). Not hitting any quads in those 4,000 hands would suck.

I wouldn't play at the bar tops in the Wynn/Encore... they are famous for not giving free drinks to players at the $1 level, and as I recall are relatively lousy pay offs.

Look to learn Jacks or Better and one of the Bonus types. They are the most common. Check the pay table before sitting down. 6/5 Jacks or better is a rip off, for example.

Quote: thecesspit

Not for a few hours he won't. If you play 400 hands/hour for 10 hours at $1 level ($5) your coin-in will be $20,000, but if assume not hitting a royal, a 5% loss would only be $1000. A single Royal Flush bank-roll should suffice ($4,000). Not hitting any quads in those 4,000 hands would suck.

I'm going with that math, except I'm only playing 5 hours ($10k coin-in) and so I'm hoping I can do it on $500....

Jacks or better seems easy as pie.

Really just looking to pass some time in between 25-100 BJ and 25 craps.

Sometimes 25 craps freaks me the hell out, like when I seven out 3 times in a row and want to bury myself under the carpet. They have 10 craps sometimes, which is more my speed.

I really just want something mindless to do with wifey and me to get her free drinks without playing slots, which is way too mindless. I've never paid attention to vid poker b/c in north carolina (actually the games were in south carolina) it was such a huge grift that I assumed all video poker was a grift. I've loved the wizard's sight for awhile, so when i noticed today he had vid poker as a great odds play, I got interested.

So - I guess I'll play 1 or 5 depending on how nuts I feel.

$1 x 5 coins per bet is going to give you similar action to $25 BJ. You can easily go on 5 hand losing streaks that last less than 1 minute, and just as easily hit a straight or flush and bounce right back. Make sure you always play 5 coins for the improved royal payout. Sometimes I see people sitting at $1/$2/$5 machines playing 3 credits at $2 or 1 credit at $5 and I almost want to hit them in the back of the head.

It seems like all these games are basically the same, but the payout on hands differs, which can change strategy - am I correct?

Quote: jcmahoney

It seems like all these games are basically the same, but the payout on hands differs, which can change strategy - am I correct?

Pretty much. get dealt five cards. Hold some. Replace the rest. Get paid on the hand. Profit (perhaps).

Quote: jcmahoney

3 - What is a good bankroll for a .25 or 1.00 bet 5 max for a few hours total?

I came across this site awhile back. Give it a spin.
Have not had much time to look it over.
"Gambler's Ruin" Calculator for Video Poker

Quote: jcmahoney

1 - There seem to be an enormous amount of types of games. Are these 'selectable' on each machine, or are there several individual machines?

There is usually a selectable denomination and an available set of games for each denomination. A machine can have different paytables for the same "game" at different denominations so if you want to choose the best-returning game you have to look carefully.

Quote:

2 - As a follow up - do most casinos have all of the types of machines / choices listed on https://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/ ?

No. The site http://www.vpfree2.com/ is a good starting point for determining who has what games. Note they only prominently list games they consider to have a high enough return to be "playable."

Quote:

3 - What is a good bankroll for a .25 or 1.00 bet 5 max for a few hours total?

Need more information. What game? What paytable? Video poker has what is called variance, meaning how much your bankroll will swing while playing. This is a result of making harder to get hands, such as 4-of-a-kind in Aces pay more. This is balanced out by making easier to get hands, such as two pair pay less. The higher the variance the bigger your swings will be.

The benchmark for Video Poker is 9/6 Jacks or Better, meaning it pays 9 coins (per coin bet) for a full house and 6 coins for a flush. This game returns 99.54% of the bets you put through it providing you hold the cards with the highest value every time.

Quote:

4 - I will only be playing at encore or wynn - anybody know the good games there so I can practice some strategy?

From what I see on vpfree2.com, at the stakes you want to play you are probably better off at the Wynn (if you must play at Wynn or Encore) At 25c - $1 you can play 7/5 Bonus Poker (returning as high as 98.01%). At dollars you can also choose 9/5 Jacks or Better (returning as high as 98.45%), Deuces Wild at (98.91%), or 9/6 Double Double Bonus (98.98%).

Since 7/5 Bonus Poker will be the only game available at 25c and $1 I ran two scenarios for you in the Video Poker for Winners software. In both cases you play 3000 games (500 per hour for 6 hours) and have a bankroll of $500. Playing at the 25c denomination, you can expect to be down $150-200 and will blow through the entire $500 .69% of the time. At $1, you can expect to be ruined (down the entire $500) 73% of the time. This assuming you play 100% according to the strategy.

Then again, you might hit a Royal Flush for $1000 at 25c and $4000 at $1.

Also, the Bonus Poker games are listed as being progressive so if it's been a while since anyone hit, it will be a better play.

One thing to note is the ease of the strategy. Jacks or Better strategy is fairly straightforward. It can also be used in bonus poker with hardly any ill effects. Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus strategy is more unintuitive and requires more practice to get right.

Quote: jcmahoney

I really just want something mindless to do with wifey and me to get her free drinks without playing slots, which is way too mindless.

Ummm.... the drinks will be cheaper if you paid for them and then walked around the casino watching others play.

Casino Royale has 8/5 bonus at the bar.

Quote: AlanMendelson

Ummm.... the drinks will be cheaper if you paid for them and then walked around the casino watching others play.

yep. and less fun.