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Precision Software Appli…tions Silver Collection 1
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Precision Software Applications Silver Collection Volume One (PSM) (1993).iso
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games
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egavga
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videopok.exe
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VIDEOPOK.TXT
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Text File
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1992-07-13
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6KB
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143 lines
Subj: Video Poker 1
Q:V1 Is it possible to gain an advantage at Video Poker?
The video poker strategy discussed here is for the common "8/5"
machines (called 8/5 because of the 8-for-1 payoff for a full house
and 5-for-1 payoff for a flush). "Joker's Wild" and "Deuces Wild"
machines will require a much different strategy.
In order to have an advantage over the house, you must find
machine with a progressive jackpot that is larger that about 1750
maximum bets. ($8750 for $1 machines, $2200 for $.25 machines, $440
for $.05 machines). The level only makes the game even with the
house. The jackpot must be higher than this in order to gain an
advantage. The player's edge increases by about 1% for each
addition of 750 maximum bets into the progressive jackpot.
In order to have a 2% edge, the jackpot must be about 2500 max.
bets. ($12,500 for $1 machines, $3125 for $.25 machines, $625 for
$.05 machines).
The main difficulty with playing video poker is that is takes an
average of 60 hours of rapid play to hit a royal flush, and it
takes a _huge_ bankroll to survive long enough to win. During this
times, the casino enjoys an advantage of approximately 5%.
Straight flushes can be expected about once every 6 hours on
average, but these contribute only about 0.5% to the player's edge.
4-of-kind hands occur only about once per hour, and these hands
account for about 5% of the player's return.
What this all means to the video poker player is that you will be
playing with about a 10% disadvantage while waiting for an
occasional "boost" from a 4-of-kind or straight flush. On average,
it will take a bankroll about as large as the progressive jackpot
to survive long enough to hit the royal flush (and this assumes
that the jackpot is large enough to give the player a reasonable
edge over the house).
The following table shows the relative frequency of each hand,
and the resultant effect on the expected return, assuming the given
strategy is used. The table shows that you can expect to get
nothing back about 55% of the times, and hit either a high pair,
two pair, or three of a kind another 41% of the times. Hands of
higher value occur only about 3.6% of the time. This mean that the
house has a whopping 31% edge most of the time.
return % rate frequency variance
------------------------------------------
5.308 -> 0.00306 -> 1/32680 91.90 --=<ROYAL FLUSH!!!>=--
0.492 -> 0.00984 -> 1/10163 0.246 STRAIGHT FLUSH!!!!
5.878 -> 0.235 -> 1/425 1.469 FOUR OF A KIND!!!
9.183 -> 1.148 -> 1/87 0.735 FULL HOUSE!!
5.584 -> 1.117 -> 1/89.5 0.293 FLUSH!
4.512 -> 1.128 -> 1/88.7 0.180 STRAIGHT!
22.227 -> 7.409 -> 1/13.5 0.667 THREE OF A KIND
25.780 -> 12.890 -> 1/7.76 0.516 TWO PAIR
21.053 -> 21.053 -> 1/4.75 0.211 HIGH PAIR
------------------------------------------
44.993% 4.317 + royal
Q:V2 What is the "basic strategy" for Video Poker?
Strategy based on the following payoffs:
high pair 1 for 1
two pair 2 for 1
3 kind 3 for 1
straight 4 for 1
flush 5 for 1
full house 8 for 1
4 kind 25 for 1
str flush 50 for 1
royal flush 2500 for 1 (expected return 102%)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simplified strategy (find first hand that matches, keep only
needed cards).
Best draws are listed in order of decreasing expected value.
Expected value of each draw is shown, in units of one max. bet.
Numbers in() vary, depending on progressive jackpot (value shown is
for jackpot of 2500 max. bets).
drawing value hand
------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 (2500) royal flush
1 ( 54) 4/royal (break up KQJT9 str-flush) [1]
0 50 straight flush
0 25 4 kind
0 8 full house
0 5 flush
2 4.24 3 kind
0 4 straight
1 3.4 4/str-flush
2 ( 2.9) 3/royal (break up pairs) [2,3]
1 2.51 two pair
3 1.53 high pair
1 1.0 4/flush
1 0.87 KQJT 4/straight
3 0.814 low pair
1 0.809 QJT9 4/straight (outside, two high cards)
1 0.745 JT98 4/straight (outside, one high card)
2 0.699 QJ9 3/str-flush
2 0.697 JT9 3/str-flush
3 ( 0.69) 2/royal (both non-tens)
1 0.681 4/straight (outside, no high cards)
2 0.599 3/str-flush (one high card, spread 4)
2 0.597 3/str-flush (spread 3)
3 ( 0.59) 2/royal (10 + one high card)
1 0.596 AKQJ straight (4 high cards)
1 0.532 AKQT/AKJT/AQJT/KQJ9 straight (3 high cards)
2 0.515 KQJ unsuited
3 0.509 QJ unsuited
2 0.502 3/str-flush (one high card, spread 5)
2 0.500 3/str-flush (none high cards, spread 4)
3 0.48 3 unsuited high cards (keep lowest two)
3 0.48 2 unsuited high cards
4 ( 0.48) high card
2 0.402 3/str-flush (none high cards, spread 5)
5 0.360 garbage (draw 5 new cards)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Keep KQJT9 straight flush if progressive jackpot is below
2282 bets.
[2] Keep two high pair if progressive jackpot is below 2100 bets.
[3] Keep high pair plus paired 10's if progressive is below 2175 bets.
The following draws should NOT be taken, since drawing 5 new
cards gives a greater expected gain.
1 0.340 4/straight (inside, no high cards) --> keep none
2 0.305 3/flush (no high cards) --> keep none
2 0.275 3/straight (no high cards) --> keep none
------------------------------------------------------------------------