Ask any gambling establishment executive and they will tell you that video poker is a genuine money maker for the house. Still, a lot of electronic poker games feature a casino advantage of less than 1 per cent, and others nevertheless can truly yield over a one hundred per cent payback if the player uses an ideal betting strategy. Thus, the question needs to be asked: How can these to seemingly contradictory facts be reconciled?
The answer lies in the fact that the ideal method for quite a few electronic poker games is counter-intuitive. Certain, you can find lots of palms that everyone plays optimally; if someone is dealt the As King-S Queen Spades Js three hearts, for instance, you will search long and tough prior to you discover a electronic poker gambler who would insist on discarding 4 and maintaining the 3 of hearts. But you will discover are myriad palms where what would appear to be the appropriate system really costs the gambler money. And in a few cases this loss may be significant.
To greater illustrate let’s appear at a casino game that most of us are familiar with; Jacks or Better. At first glance this casino game looks like a breeze to play. There are only nine arms that qualify for a payback, and it is usually pretty easy to inform once you have a draw to one of those nine hands. Yet everyday electronic poker players across the nation are throwing money away by producing terrible (still ‘intuitively correct’) wagering decisions. Let us appear at a few diverse fingers, and see how the optimal system varies from the intuitively right strategy.
Error 1) Retaining ‘Ace-face card-face card’ rather than just holding the 2 face cards.
You see this wager on made all the time, and yet couple of gamblers know what a disaster it truly is. The concept behind holding the ace is that you simply possess a better probability of making an ace-high straight, and you also have 3 high cards that you simply can attempt to pair up on the draw. Even so, by holding the ace you’re eliminating your chances of creating 4 of a sort or even a full casino, and reducing your odds of making 2 pair. The slight gain you receive by way of your increased chances of making a directly do not begin to compensate for these other substantial losses.
Error Two) Not attempting sufficient lengthy shot draws at the direct flush.
The straight flush might be essentially the most misunderstood hand in Jacks or Better. It doesn’t come around extremely often, and it doesn’t have the sex appeal of the royal flush, and as a result most gamblers neglect it. When dealt a hand like the 9c 7c 5c three spades 2d several players will simply discard all five and redraw. The assumption here is that the straight flush will nearly never come in, so they would rather ‘cut their losses’ and try to pick up a large pair around the redraw.
Again, this makes sense at initial glance. Yet what is forgotten in this sort of analysis is the fact that by retaining the nine clubs seven clubs 5c the gambler also has a possibility at a straight or a flush. Now it is true that a draw like this isn’t a true moneymaker. But it is going to still pay far more, in the lengthy run, than drawing 5 new cards.
Error 3) Holding a suited AT as opposed to just preserving the ace.
This is one of the most common errors created by video poker players at Jacks or Better. Now I will be the first to admit that holding the ace and the ten is far more fun then just drawing to the ace. After all, when you hold the ace and the ten you might have at least a little chance of some thing seriously great happening; namely, hitting the royal around the draw. You also possess a greater possibility of making a straight or even a flush. Nonetheless as with the hand we examined in Mistake #1 these gains don’t outweigh your decreased odds of constructing 4 of a kind, three of a kind or a big pair. If you want to play optimally you’ll need to discard that ten; I know it’s tough, except it must be done!
These are three of the most vivid examples of weak play, although you’ll find lots of other errors that a electronic poker gambler frequently makes in the course of a wagering session. If your objective is to reduce the house edge as much as achievable I advocate picking up a book that contains charts detailing the finer points of ideal play. You’ll find a variety of books like this out around the market, and they’re undoubtedly worth the sticker price. Pore over the charts, and compare the plays they advocate using the plays you’re currently making. I guarantee it will probably be a genuine eye-opening experience.
