Powerful Profits From Video Poker

out.

Preface—Why This Book?

This book is the fourth in a series called Powerful Profits—and there are many very good reasons why the series is called just that. For two decades, I have worked in casinos, played in casinos, been a consultant to casinos and slot machine manufacturers. I have spoken with thousands of players, and many casino executives, as well as executives from the companies that manufacture the machines you play. I have been inside every machine on the casino floor. I have seen them in pieces, I have seen their motherboards and their computer chips, I have seen the test data, called Par Sheets. I have been involved in the development, creation, manufacture, marketing, promotion, and actual use of the slot machine. And since video poker is a slot machine, what I have learned is even more important, because on video poker, you can alter the outcome.

From my experience, I have learned two important lessons:

1. If you don’t know anything about video poker, and still play, you will lose.

2. If you learn the what, why, where, and how, you can win.

So, this book is really about these two revelations. There are many secrets about video poker machines. The apparent simplicity of the device itself is highly misleading. Yes, the principle is easy to understand: Put a coin in, or multiple coins, and the machine deals you five cards. Simple, right? Well, not quite. Then what? What do you hold? Why? Should you keep the win, or try for a better one? If you don’t have an immediate winner, what do you do? Why? It’s not nearly as easy as it seems, and the decisions you make will have a direct bearing on whether you win, how much you win, and what the machine’s payback percentage may be when you are playing it.

Modern video poker machines are of many kinds, and of varied evolutionary heritage. Machines manufactured by different companies may look the same, but that’s an illusion. Many machines are substantially different from others of their kind. Even machines made by the same manufacturer are not necessarily all the same, even though they may look identical. What separates these machines from each other is not so much the way they look in their outside cabinetry, but how they work on the inside. That’s the first secret about video poker machines.

Most people are not aware that all modern slot machines are entirely computer-controlled, including video poker. To provide you with a comparison, think of the most expensive PC you can buy, with the fastest processor and the best and newest software. That will give you the best idea of what the video poker machine really is. And that’s the second secret about these casino machines.

How do they work? Look inside your own computer, if you have one. If you don’t, go to a computer store and ask them to show you a motherboard and a processor. You will see a whole lot of little silver dots and strings of metal all over the board. The processor looks like a spider with spokes and it fits on a specific part of the motherboard. That’s the real video poker machine. What you see there—the motherboard and the processor chip—is all the hardware that is required for the basis of a video poker machine. This is the computer hardware, as opposed to software.

Software includes all the programs that actually run the computer, and make the game. These run on the operating system, which is made possible by the hardware on this motherboard and this processor chip.

I think you get the picture even if you may not be familiar with computers. If you are, then forgive me for this simplistic approach. I want to make sure that everyone reading this can understand the basics of the hardware and software profiles of what constitutes a video poker machine. So, now we have the hardware, the operating system, and the game software—the three essential components of a video poker machine. So far, all of this is merely a display on a computer monitor, and it looks nothing like the machine you will find in the casino. That part of the manufacturing process involves the hardware cabinetry. This is where the steel, chrome, buttons, coin chutes, coin hoppers, bill acceptors, and Plexiglas boxes are added to the computer bits and pieces, and then the whole thing is made to look like the video poker machine you see in the casino.

The final component is the game chip itself, the software program that holds the actual game. This chip interacts with the other software and hardware components of the video poker machine to render the accurate game that has been approved by the Gaming Regulatory Agency, or Regulatory Board, or whatever the government regulatory body may be in the state or country where the manufacturer seeks to have that game licensed for in-casino use. The game chip interacts with the graphics program, which renders the pictures you see on the screen (the cards). Then there is something popularly called the random number generator, or RNG for short. This assures randomness in the generation of the binary numeric sequences that determine the final outcome of the event. Finally, there is an array of various other components that count the coins in, jackpots paid, coins out, number of hands dealt, theoretical hold, actual hold, and many other kinds of information: all but useless to the players but very important to the casino and the Regulatory Agencies, which from time to time inspect the performance information of the machine and compare this to the approved statistical norms. The game chip is the third secret about video poker machines.

How do video poker machines pay off? How do they make money for the casino? How do we know which are the better payers, and which ones are the takers? How do we find the good machines and stay away from the bad ones? Where in the casino should we play? Where do the casinos put their good machines, and where do they put the bad ones? How can we tell the difference between the different kinds of machines, if they look the same? Which manufacturer has the better games, and why? How should we play the machines to our best advantage? What strategy, if any, can we use to get the most value from our slot machine dollars? What about malfunctions?

The answers to these questions are the other secrets of video poker machines and how to play them to your best benefit—and the reasons for this book. The game may seem simple. The questions may seem easy. But one thing is absolutely certain—if you don’t know what is in this book, you can’t make powerful profits from video poker. You can be lucky, but luck is fleeting. To be a regular winner, to be able to go to a machine and know—really, actually know—that you have the best there is, and know how to play it to its fullest profit potential, and then know how to maximize your profits, and then know how to do this regularly and frequently, well, for that you can’t rely just on luck alone. You need knowledge.

Throughout this book, I will be featuring video poker games from two major manufacturers: Action Gaming of Las Vegas, who are the pioneers of Triple Play video poker as well as the multiple derivatives, such as 100-play video poker (more on this later), and IGT of Reno. IGT was the company that first introduced video poker to the major market throughout U.S. casinos. These two companies combined manufacture and distribute some 95 percent of all the video poker machines and games you will find in your favorite casino. Yes, there are machines and games made by others, but they are merely copies, or not-so-good imitations. Personally, I play the Action Gaming and IGT video poker machines. So does just about everyone else, because they are the machines that are in the casinos. It makes sense to show you the machines and games you will actually play, the ones around which the information, knowledge, and strategies in this book revolve.

At various points throughout this book, I will often show you an actual picture of the machine I am discussing. You will be able to see the machine and learn what it looks like. Then when you are in the casino, you will be able to recognize the machine and game, and know that you are playing the actual game I recommended or discussed. You will also be able to see some of the differences among these machines. When you are in the real casino, and you look at the various video poker machines, you will be able to spot these machines and their differences clearly and quickly.

Each time I write a new book, I ask myself this question: Why should this book exist? What can I offer the reader that is informative, new, and fresh? These are the same questions I ask myself when buying any new book, especially a new book on casino games. I always look to see if the books meet these basic four criteria:

1. Does it tell me what is what, what does what, when, how, and what it pays?

2. Does it explain the game simply so I can understand it immediately?

3. Does it show me a simple strategy so I can play the game wisely, and right away?

4. Does it give me something new, which other books don’t have?

Most books fail on at least one of these items. Some give explanations that are confusing, because the authors assume that the readers already know something, or know the language of the casino lifestyle and casino games. To combat that confusion I have also written a book called Casino GambleTalk: The Language of Gambling and New Casino Games. In this book, I provide, for the first time, a comprehensive glossary of casino language, idioms, slang, and generally used expressions required by anyone trying to read, and understand, anything written about casinos, casino games, or the casino business or lifestyle.

My item number 1, above, often gets a failing grade when applied to many books currently available, books that do not often adequately cover the basics of the game and the special language used in playing it.

Item 2 is a little easier to accomplish. Most books on casino gambling and games explain the games fairly well. They answer the questions, and supply the mathematics, percentages, and frequencies. Often, however, these explanations tend to be too focused on the mathematics and percentages. In video poker, this is necessary, because the game cannot be explained, or played, without this—but that’s not all that the game is about. Sometimes, in these books, the explanations of the game get bogged down in the desire to quantify the game, while the purpose of the explanation gets lost in the telling.

I want to learn the simplest and quickest way to get to play the game right away. It’s hard to do, and even harder to do well. I try to make my books perform these tasks as well as possible, to provide these explanations in a clear, understandable, and helpful format.

Item 3 is a little easier, and a little harder, all at the same time. Well, what exactly is it? Simple strategy, whatever that may be and however it may apply to the casino game in question, is highly subjective to that specific game, or that specific author’s perspective on that game. That’s why it is possible to have more than one book on the same casino game, because no two perspectives on the same subject are the same. It’s like that story of the glass of water, filled only halfway. Some people see the glass as half full, while others see it as half empty. The first are the optimists among us, and the others the pessimists. I have used this example before, but it bears retelling. It is a good way to indicate the differences among us, as human beings, as well as the differences among authors and their books. Some authors suggest that casino gambling is a war—you against the casino, or game, or table, or dealer, or whatever. Others assume you want to be a gambler. Others just state the facts. Most of these books simply cannot cover all of the information necessary due to the focus on the stats, the math, and the assumed objective of the readers. Nevertheless, each of these books has a specific place in the arena of casino gambling books, and are all great fun to read. Together they all contribute to the greater picture about the games we are discussing.

I am, however, often disappointed when I don’t find something that can be called a simple strategy. Sometimes, such simple strategy becomes the personal perspective of the author. For that reason, if no other, reading more than one book on any game is a good idea. You will get a wider view of the total knowledge available. Nonetheless, I am still hunting for a universally applicable simple strategy for video poker. In this book, I have devised the simplest, and easiest, and absolutely the best simple strategy. With this information at your disposal, you will immediately become empowered to play video poker, and do so wisely, with the best payback percentage and greatest potential for profit, without ever having to learn anything else.

Finally, Item 4 has to do with the differences among books on video poker and their authors’ opinions and advice. Is there something new in each of those books? Is there something new in this book? Video poker is a very finite and completely defined game. There is very little that can be said to be new about it, or the way to play it, other than perhaps noting the newest versions of the game. So, what is there that can be new? Well, the changes to the games, the way the game is played, the casino payoffs, the game programs, bonuses offered, and not offered, and so on, are all things that can be new. This book contains information about such changes to the game of video poker, changes that have only recently been implemented. This book explains all the new ways of playing the game—what they are, why they are, and how they will affect you when you play video poker.

What else is new? Three chapters devoted to the most commonly available video poker games, in which I present the complete details of what these games are, their payback percentages, casino edge, hit frequency, top jackpot odds, and so on, as well as the first ever glimpse into what is a Par Sheet. But first, we must learn the game, to make you a winning player.

Let’s start from the very beginning with a chapter called Video Poker 101. This chapter outlines the game of video poker and some of its most common derivatives. The information is presented in an abridged format, designed to give you a quick overview of the game. This chapter also contains a simple strategy that can be used on most video poker games. I have included it so that readers may gain a quick and useful understanding of the game.

In the later chapters, we will explore this information in much greater detail. I will list the various games, machines, and pay screens, including payback programs and payback percentages for all of the most popular pay scales among the most widely available video poker machines and games. For the first time anywhere, you will not only be able to see a picture of the actual machines, but also all of their pay screens and payback percentages, including the most secret of all video poker secrets: the theoretical payback, the actual payback, the hit frequency, and top jackpot odds. I am privileged to be able to share this with you, by permission from Action Gaming, Inc., and IGT, who kindly provided me not only with the photographs shown throughout this book, but also with copies of their most secret game program analysis, called the Par Sheet.

Nothing like this has ever before been offered in any book about video poker. That is the most compelling reason for this book. And that’s what is new.

1

Video Poker 101

This chapter is designed to provide a fast and clear overview of the game of casino video poker for those readers who wish to learn something quickly and be able to play the game immediately without being victim to bad odds, bad machines, and bad payback percentages. Here, I will show you what is meant by the 9/6 and 8/5 and 10/7 and all those numbers that appear in all books and texts about video poker, and what they really mean. You will also learn the game’s various bonus derivatives, and which among them are the better games and why. All of this is required knowledge if you want to be a winner, or if you want to play better than most people who wonder why they lose when the person next to them is winning. Chances are those losing players are playing a machine with below standard payback, perhaps less than 92 percent, while the winning player next to them may be playing a machine that looks identical, but pays back 99.5 percent, or more.

To play a video poker machine to at least as near its optimum payback potential as possible, you must know three things:

1. Which machines are the good payers, and why?

2. How do you tell them apart?

3. How can you play them to get the best payback possible?

In this introductory chapter, I will give you quick answers to these three essential questions. Remember that these are only cursory explanations, designed to allow you to gain a basic mastery of the game. This chapter opens the door to your video poker knowledge and winning potential, allowing you a glimpse into the world of profits that these games make possible. However, to be able to walk through that door and into that new world, you will also need to read the rest of this book as well. For those of you who already know video poker, or perhaps think that you know it, I would still encourage you to read this chapter anyway. You may find something here that you have forgotten, or perhaps it will spark some new thoughts that will help you play better. This first chapter is the foundation upon which the rest of this book is built. What we learn here is what we will rely on in later discussions. And so, let us begin.

INTRODUCTION

Since 1995 there has been a literal explosion of video poker games. All these new machines, playing options, and the programs to which they play are the direct result of numerous advances in computer technology. Even as you read this, the new generation of video poker machines is being prepared, tested, and improved and is undergoing the various required regulatory approvals. By the year 2010, casino gaming machines will be as different from those of today as today’s are to those of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

The major advances that will shape the future of video poker machines have little to do with the principles of the game itself, but rather a lot more with computer technology—more specifically, the memory capacity of the machines. How quickly all this will come to be, and how fast these new generations of video poker machines overtake the ones currently on the casino floor, depends on a still-to-be-determined series of issues. Competing technologies, and various regulatory problems, may delay the full introduction of these games for a few more years. Several of the newer video poker machines are being tested right now, while others are already available. In the end, the final test will be yours—you, the casino visitor, the player, will decide whether or not this new technology and the new machines will be a success. After all, if the players don’t like the machines, they won’t play them. Consequently, the manufacturers won’t be able to sell them because the casinos won’t buy them. You, therefore, have the power to decide the future of video poker machines.

Video poker machines have become the most popular form of gambling in the modern era. To help you understand why, I will start with the basics. Even if you already know how to play these machines, you may still find something here that you may have overlooked, or that you can use to improve your chances of winning. There are many varieties of video poker machines, but almost all are based on a singularly simple premise: the five card draw. In order to take you through the nuances of video poker, I will first assume that you know very little about it, and therefore will begin with some fundamentals. If you are familiar with all the items of basic video poker knowledge, you may skip this section; but a refresher course may help.

THE BASICS

Virtually all video poker games currently found in all major casinos are based on the principle of the five card draw poker game. In it, you are dealt five cards. You then have the choice of keeping any or all of them, or throwing away any or all of them. For each card you throw away, you get another to replace it. The object is to win, which can be done either by keeping the winner already dealt to you, or by improving your hand (the final set of cards you decide to keep) and making it into the highest possible and probable winning hand on the draw. This is the format currently used as the basis for almost all casino video poker machines. There are some other versions, but with the video poker strategy you learn here you will easily be able to play the vast majority of other versions of video poker as well.

On a video poker machine, you begin play by inserting your coins in the slot. The same is accomplished by playing credits (more on credits play a little later). Almost all video poker machines take from one to five coins. The only exceptions are $5, $25, $100, and higher denomination machines, some of which take two or three coins as maximum.

To be a winner, remember these three points:

• You can only win the jackpot, the top prize, by playing the maximum coins allowed on the machine you are playing.

• You cannot win that top award otherwise, and therefore if you ever plan to play this game for less than maximum coins you are already a loser.

• Never, ever, play any video poker machine without playing maximum coins. Ever! Period!

If you can’t afford to play those maximum coins—which is five coins on most standard machines—do not play the game at all. Go play something else instead, or save your money until you can play the game properly. You would be surprised how many thousands of people make this crucial mistake, and then wonder why they didn’t win anything. If you play video poker for less than maximum coins, you are enriching the casino and will never, ever, get anything close to the machine’s available programming payback potential. You will soon find out the reasons for this, but the best reason was already stated here: You can’t win the top jackpot if you don’t play maximum coins.

Once you deposit the maximum coins, the machine automatically deals you the first five cards. (If you play less than maximum coins, and you just didn’t get the point of the previous paragraph and did this anyway, you must hit a lit button called deal. The machine will then deal you the same five cards you would have been dealt if you had played any number of coins, including the maximum coins.)

After you receive the first five cards, a row of buttons on the machine will light up, usually with the word hold written on them. These buttons are used to keep the cards you wish to hold. There are five of these hold buttons, one for each of the five cards you have been dealt. Normally, these hold buttons are directly underneath each card, making it easy to see which cards you are selecting. By pressing one of these buttons, the word held will appear above or below the corresponding card. This means that when you take the next step in playing this hand, the machine will keep this card and not throw it away. Pushing the button simply tells the machine what your decision is. On some of the newest machines you can touch the card itself, and it will also hold. This is called touch-screen technology, and is used on the most recent of the new machines. You can hold any one, two, three, four, or all five cards, as you wish. Once you have selected the cards you wish to hold, you press the deal button. The machine then keeps the cards you selected and throws away the rest, immediately dealing you the replacement cards. If the combination makes a winning hand, the machine pays you automatically and the hand is over.

Most modern machines pay on credits, numerically displayed either at the bottom right-hand or the top left-hand corner of the video screen. For instance, if your win is five coins, these machines will indicate the win by displaying the word winner and running up the amount of five coins on the credit meter. After the credits are paid, the words player paid five will usually appear. Of course, if you win 30 coins, this message will say player paid 30, and so on. You can then play the next hand by using your credits. Simply press the bet button—once for one coin, twice for two coins, three for three, four for four, or you can touch the play maximum coins (or bet maximum) button, in which case the machine will automatically deduct five credits—the normal for most machines—as the maximum bet and automatically deal the next game. The whole process is then repeated each time you press this bet button until your credits are gone, or until you decide to collect your winnings. By using the credit meter option, each time you win a hand the machine will pay the amount of your win to it. Each time you lose a hand, the credits you used to play that hand are gone, lost in the same way your coins would have been had you been playing them. If you have credits left on the credit meter and wish to collect them, you can do this at any time after each hand is completed by pressing the button marked collect. The machine will pay you by dropping your coins in the tray mounted below the machine. On some of the newest machines, you may get a printed ticket instead of coins; many of them are therefore called ticket in, ticket out machines. So, if you were to cash out, say, 100 coins, instead of dropping those coins to the tray below the machine, such new machines will print you out a ticket instead. This ticket has a large bar code on it and the amount of your cash-out shown in dollars and cents. You simply pull it out, and go. No need to wait for all those messy coins. It can then be cashed at the casino cage, change booth, or used in other machines that take tickets. Whatever the value of those 100 coins may have been (or whatever the amount of your cash-out), you will be paid exactly that amount at the cage or change booth, or have that identical amount credited to the credit meter of another machine that accepts these tickets. This is the latest trend in coin-free gaming, which will soon lead to cashless gaming altogether. More on this later.

Although there are many different kinds of video poker machines now available, all of the machines I refer to in this book are based on five card draw, and all—except those machines that employ wild cards or are progressives—offer the same payoff schedule.

PAYOFF SCHEDULE

Payoff schedule means the structure and hierarchy of winning hands and the amounts these winning hands will pay you if you hit them.

Payoff schedules on the majority of video poker machines employ the same hierarchy, reflecting the value of Poker hands as determined by the rules of regular Poker. Most video poker machines begin this hierarchy with a payoff schedule of Jacks or better, appearing at the bottom of the display. This pays even money: For five coins in, if you get a pair of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces, you will get five coins back.

The payoff schedule—highest to lowest pays—is as follows:

• Royal Flush

• Straight Flush

• Four of a Kind

• Full House

• Flush

• Straight

• Three of a Kind

• Two Pairs

• Pair of Jacks or better

The object of the game is to make one of these winning hands. The Royal Flush is the biggest prize, but also the hardest to get. The higher the listing, the harder the hands are to make.

Most regular video poker machines now available are what we call 9/6 (nine-six) machines. I will explain later what this means and how this applies to your choices. On such a machine the payoffs for a one-coin bet will be as follows (see also Photo 1, opposite):

If you hit a winning hand, as listed here, you will be