Basic vs gimmikcs

Why do you play video poker? What is your favorite game and why?
Waiting4RF
VP Veteran
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Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 7:01 pm

Re: Basic vs gimmikcs

Post by Waiting4RF »

Non-gimmick games are single line, triple play, five play, ten play, 100 play where each hand is a 5 coin bet for the max royal payout. Gimmick examples would be STP, DSTP, UltimateX, UltX Bonus Streak, Spin Poker UltX, Dream Card, etc where you pay 6-10 coins for the gimmick like a random multiplier, a dream card, a multiplier based on prevoius winning hand, etc.

BobDancer
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Post by BobDancer »

Waiting4RF wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:15 pm
Do successful professional VP players play any of the gimmick VP games? There is a higher variance because you need another random event to happen when you have a winning hand to make up for the additional cost to play the game. To me, the professional would want to get the EV percentage of the game sooner instead of having to play more hands waiting for the great hand and random event to occur simultaneously. An example is DSTP needing a dealt royal and multiplier on the deal which is over 1 in 9 million chance of happening to get the EV.
Every pro has his/her own way of doing things.

I've played DSTP, where so much of the return is based on the dealt royal which also receives a multiplier (a 1/9,750,000 shot), when the next best game was the same game without the DSTP feature.

I've played Ultimate X and Quick Quads and Five Play Multi Strike when they were among the highest returning games in a casino I wish to frequent. I've never played Ultimate X Bonus Streak because the game was intentionally designed to have the best pay schedules return less than 99%. If that restriction were not in place and I had a strategy I could trust, perhaps I'd play that game.

For me, the bottom line is expected dollars per hour. Variance is not an issue for me at the stakes I play --- but is definitely an issue for other players.

Yes variance could theoretically become an issue were there $5 Ten Play Ultimate X games with good pay schedules. I could easily lose $50,000 or more per hour on that game, for several hours in a row. Since I can't imagine the combination of a casinos putting out a good game in that denomination and that same casino welcoming my action, I don't worry about such things.

advantage playe
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Post by advantage playe »

boredom will never be a problem at those stakes !! seat belts required !

Vman96
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2011 12:49 am

Post by Vman96 »

BobDancer wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 1:27 am
billryan wrote:
Fri Mar 15, 2019 7:20 am

In general, Jacks or Better usually pays better than most of its cousins.
.
Sort of.

9/6 JoB does return more than 9/6 DB, 9/6 DDB, and 9/6 TDB. But most JoB games are not 9/6 and each of these games can be found in a variety of pay schedules. JoB is best in some casinos. But many casinos offer better games than the best JoB game there.

And even if JoB is the best game in a place, that will only be true of the best pay schedule offered. In the same place will usually be offered JoB in lesser pay schedules as well --- and these lesser games are NOT better than the others.
Right. When 9/6 JoB is NOT available in a casino, Bonus Poker most often seems to be the best game available in those locations as far as I can tell. Of course it varies by casino.
Waiting4RF wrote:
Mon Mar 18, 2019 12:15 pm
Do successful professional VP players play any of the gimmick VP games? There is a higher variance because you need another random event to happen when you have a winning hand to make up for the additional cost to play the game. To me, the professional would want to get the EV percentage of the game sooner instead of having to play more hands waiting for the great hand and random event to occur simultaneously. An example is DSTP needing a dealt royal and multiplier on the deal which is over 1 in 9 million chance of happening to get the EV.
Sometimes they do. Bob is known to grind dollar level Quick Quads when promotions help turn the game positive as he noted above.

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