Video Poker Forum

I'm a skilled VP player but have been consistently been losing for several months. I'm trying to figure what I am doing wrong, I'm not referring to game play. I'm not sure if it's game selection, as in game variation, not pay table. I enjoy playing the multiplier games, mostly ultimate x, powerhouse, and super times pay. I play TBD and Deuces. I play at the .05 level and usually 3 hands so $1.50/deal. I live minutes from A.C.. So I frequent the casino often usually with a budget of about $200 -400. I'm trying to figure out if it's budget, denomination. Or game variation. Or maybe a combination of all. Any ingo would be appreciated

Skilled players will have more losing sessions than winning ones, so you are probably just in a bad stretch if you are skilled and the paytables are good. The games you mentioned have very high variance so you will lose more often than if you were playing Jacks. I have not played AC in years but don't imagine a nickel game there is worth playing. Bad paytables and high variance are a bad mix.
Do you practice on a computer, using a training program? When I started training, I saw how often I missed a low pair when teamed with a high pair. Five coins lost here, five there and another session ends in the red.

So basically a larger buget should help with the high variance, correct? Yes I play daily on this site and have been for many years. I check my skills often and am usually 98-99% accurate

98-99% accuracy isn't all that good if you want to be a serious player.
Hopefully, one of the math guys will pop in and explain how costly playing 99% perfect is. At 600 hands an hour, that's 25 mistakes in a four hour session.
I have some out of the box ideas about VP that I think are right but I haven't run the math on them.
The way I'd look at your situation would be you are tossing away $40 a session(25x1.50). On $200 session
bankroll, that's twenty percent of it played wrong. Considering you are already playing a negative game, winning will be a challenge.
Which leaves comps and promotions to turn the tide for you, but I don't think AC is going to be that good to you.
Maybe someone else will have better news for you.

Bill Ryan's posts in this thread are correct, namely:

1. Nickel games have bad pay schedules to begin with. You are not going to be a winner no matter what you try
2. Even if you found a better game (almost certainly for higher stakes), your 98-99% accuracy level will doom you to failure.

The point I would like to add to the discussion is: what do you mean by 98%-99% accuracy? If you are basing it on the number of hands played, it may not be so bad if the errors you are making are "second-best" plays which often indicates a minor mistake. If you basing it on lost EV, giving up 1 or 2% is huge.

On this site, I believe all you can get are the figures based on the number of hands played. those numbers are limited in usefulness as a minor error and a major error are treated equally. Software such as Video Poker for Winners can evaluate your play based on loss of EV. That's a far more useful figure.

I am an AC player. Lose the nickel games and the high variance games. JOB, BP, DW menu. Very good tables.

2 keys actually 3. Skill. Paytables. Bankroll. Thats it

There's a lot more to success at video poker than skill, pay tables, and bankroll --- although all of those are indeed important --- assuming you're limiting "skill" to the play of the hands. If' you define "skill" as knowing everything that's important, then, of course, by definition there is nothing more you need to know.

Slot clubs are important.

Promotions are important.

There is keeping your welcome if you're a net winner (although a nickel AC player doesn't need to worry about that.)

There is the dealing with losing and winning streaks. People who can play every hand correctly when sitting in a quiet place, sometimes go on tilt and play poorly (or choose games poorly), when they are losing.

Play-of-the-hands skill deteriorates over time. You need to study and review periodically. If you're not practicing, you're most likely not nearly as good as you think you are.

Scouting is important. The inventory of all casinos change over time. A good pay table at a casino does you no good if you don't know it's there.

There are a certain number of social skills that are important. Not everybody is able to master that. Even simple stuff like holding your machine while you visit the restroom is nice. Good friends can tell you about games/promotions at other casinos. This is part of the scouting process.

To be successful, you often need to choose where to live. Games are better some places than others. The tax situation is different everywhere. If you're playing a very modest amount, this isn't significant. If you play bit, this is extremely important.

BobDancer wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 06, 2019 3:35 pm

There's a lot more to success at video poker than skill, pay tables, and bankroll --- although all of those are indeed important --- assuming you're limiting "skill" to the play of the hands. If' you define "skill" as knowing everything that's important, then, of course, by definition there is nothing more you need to know.

Slot clubs are important.

Promotions are important.

One thing to know right off the top is how much free play your getting for your coin in a month. Many casino's use a 3 month average of play to award free play.

Next you need a game that is 99% or higher payback to play. Practice and learn the game.

Then you need to play big enough to have a shot at a promotion or two per month. In smaller casino's you don't have to play all that big to win a few 100 to cover losses.

It's not easy to beat the casino, but it can be done. You got to be able to play many hours a month to make it happen.

The paytables are most likely the biggest problem. DDB is typically 7/5 at gimmick games at the nickel denomination which has a 95.7% return. So TDB will be close to that low return.