Paytables mean NOTHING

[tshock]

Hi All.  I'm new to the forum and just wanted to bring up something that I've observed over my past year of playing VP.  Pay tables mean nothing.  I used to think they were important, but not true.  I used to think that you had to play a 9-6 or better machine or don't play at all.  Not true.  Its much better to play a machine with a good "chip" in it than a high paytable machine with a bad "chip".   I'm currently playing on a group of 8-5 machines that are paying and hitting alot better than other machines that are 9-6.  I know that they changed the "chips" in the 8-5 machines this year vs last year.  During the last quarter of last year, these machines were absolutely dead.  In January, all of a sudden the machines were hitting.  It was so obvious that something changed in those machines (chip).  Conversely, a group of brand new IGT machines (9-6) that were hitting lots of good hands when they were first put in play (New machines - January) are now not hitting at all.  I know from playing and watching that the "chips" must have been changed on those to reduce the number of good hands.  Anyway, the bottom line is that knowing from play and observation, what  "chip" is in the machine is a far better indication of how well you will do.  Paytables mean NOTHING!  Whats your thoughts?

[Eduardo]

Pay tables mean a full house pays a certain amount. That's what they mean.

But back when I used to eat a lot of Doritos, I had a couple great years. I switched to baked lays and I had some of the worst sessions you can imagine. I'm talking nothing hitting that day. It took a few days of restoring my Doritos intake before I started noticing some really nice sessions again. So you are on to something.

[Thatluckydog]

tshock... I think your bankroll is in for a shock here soon until you wise up to the law of large numbers.

[Vman96]

In the realm of a normal human's observation, paytables mean very little since in the shorter term and our good use of "selective memory", it can easily seem like the worse pay tables pay better.

Also in certain states like Washington and a few others, paytables may literally mean nothing because they don't require video poker machines to follow the probabilities of a poker deck.

My biggest hits and the machines they were on (mostly 5c player, but will sometimes dabble in 25c if paytable is > 99%). My biggest hit, doesn't even follow that rule because I was just trying to earn 25 Tier Points as quick as possible for CET's "Race to Rewards". I would say 80-90% of my play is on Super Times Pay (STP) or Double Super Times Pay (DSTP) machines.

$400 (25c 9/5 DDB w/DSTP; 98.37%)
$250 (5c 20/10/8/4/4/3 DW w/DSTP; 96.45%)
$240 (1c 6/5 BP w/STP; 97.13%; dealt Royal on 6 lines)
$100 (5c 7/5 BP Dlx w/DSTP; 96.74%)
$100 (25c 99.45% Bonus Deuces Wild)
$80 (2c 8/5 DDB w/DSTP; 97.27%; Royal)

All these hits happened in the past 15 months. And I was a loser last year. Personally I feel like I do better on the lower paying machines myself, but considering I may have played only 5000-10000 hands at quarters in the past 15 months, that's too small of a sample to really prove anything.

Regardless, I still have faith in state laws and mathematics.

[Lucky Larry]

tshock.

First welcome to the forum. The key to winning is "timing". Is your timing perfect for the exact nano second hit. The second key is playing until your "timing" is perfect. I have played the same machine with the same chip for the past three years. Over that time my hits have been from dealt 5 hand Royals and over 15 royals to several sessions where $100-$200 bucks gone in just a few minutes.

I play a 3/5 hand 99.72% DW machine for the purpose of playing a high return machine to increase my odds of staying in the game long enough for the "timing" to be perfect. I also practice enough to learn the games I play at an extremely high level. Three weeks ago I played this machine for 20 hours before the Royal hit. The next week almost 16 hours before the Royal and the week after the Royal hit within the first 20 hands. Last week I put in almost 16 hours on this machine but no Royal even though I caught 4-RF three times. On the other hand I was catching 4 deuces more than normal.

Can you hit on a low pay table machine? Sure, done so, but I'll take timing first and foremost. So, I play the machines and the games that give me the most opportunity to stay around long enough.

LL

[Vman96]

Well said, Larry. There is a lot of gamble in every single unit, but the units that pay an extra $1.25 or $2.50 per full house or flush at quarters will definitely help keep you around.

[spxChrome]

I agree, as short term players it doesn't matter much.  The same thing happend to my local casino, they came in and changed the chips around (i was there when they did it) and now that bank of machines is dead.  you almost have to get dealt a hand to win a JP its almost like playing a slot machine. It's not what is suppose to happen its what actually happens that matters. 

[faygo]

Pay tables mean a full house pays a certain amount. That's what they mean.

But back when I used to eat a lot of Doritos, I had a couple great years. I switched to baked lays and I had some of the worst sessions you can imagine. I'm talking nothing hitting that day. It took a few days of restoring my Doritos intake before I started noticing some really nice sessions again. So you are on to something.

 
OK Eduardo , It used to be tinfoil garments, now it is Doritos?  Do you use the robot Dorito feeder like the one for Cheetos?

[DaBurglar]

doritos blow

[shadowman]

At one time I knew nothing about gambling. I lost every year. Then I learned about pay tables and started playing better games at casinos with good player's clubs. I've won almost every year since.

I wonder why ..

PS. I love those tasty chips, both inside and outside the machines.