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Once you know what games have a
positive expectation you will know - from a mathematical point of view -
what the best games are. It's like comparison shopping for the best car.
But in this case, you have to learn how to drive the specific car.
That's learning the strategy.
In order to get the maximum payback
from video poker machines, you need to make the choices that will get
you the best expected returns on each hand. Since you are not a
computer, you need to use general strategy rules to guide your play.
Strategies are ways to generalize what to do with each hand. Since there
are over 2.5 million starting hands, you could have 2.5 million rules.
That would be just a bit unwieldy. Strategies work from general hand
patterns and what the best average return would be for certain
decisions. The more complex a strategy table is, the more precise it
likely is, but it is also more difficult to use. The time wasted
splitting hairs might not be worth it when you are playing on a
profitable machine.
Most strategies are created by
calculating the average expected values for different types of hands.
For instance, in Jacks or Better the average expected value of all the
hands where you start with a four-card flush is lower than the average
expected value for a high pair. Therefore, the high pair is the
preferred pre-draw combination to hold and is listed higher on a
strategy chart.
The reason you will find different
strategies from different experts is that they are dealing with an art,
rather than a science. Each analyst tries to create the smallest number
of rules that will encompass all the hands and lead to nearly
computer-perfect results. You will find that most strategies are pretty
similar from the top experts - but the presentation will differ. Some
are more concerned with practical application and ease of use. Others
will want to take you into the land of many decimal points. Many things
will affect the purity of your payback percentage - the compromises of
the strategy, your flawed human memory, fatigue, distractions, etc.
Suffice it to say that accuracy is important, but being of by hundredths
of a percent is nothing to lose sleep about. When you play, bring in
your non-electronic strategy aids with you.
So what does all this mean in terms of
bankroll requirements? For the casual and recreational player, the
bankroll message is always the same: be prepared to lose and play only
at a level at which you are comfortable. In video poker you must be
financially and mentally prepared to lose half the value of a royal
flush during a session. It's not just a matter of dollars and cents, and
how much you need to ride out the vicissitudes of the game. It's also a
matter of psychology. If what you may lose makes you too uncomfortable,
you are playing at too high a level. In that case, you can not afford to
be drawn in by the lure of having the edge against the house. Accept
that someday all your play on the best machines will win you some money,
but you van not afford to force it to happen. Realizing you have a
theoretical advantage can be dangerous. Remember that the casino gives
away a lot of money in games where they have the mathematical edge, but
the casino has a huge bankroll to weather fluctuations in fortune. The
same may not be true for you.
But what if you want to play the games
in serious pursuit of getting the edge; not with the time and dedication
of a pro, but with the long-term intent of coming out ahead. You want to
know what you need to survive long enough to win. The answer would
require a lengthy discussion and some serious math; such information
could be found in books dedicated to the game.
Read:
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poker
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to play video poker
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