Worst mistake I ever saw on a VP Machine

[Videopokerjesus]

Single Line $25 9/6 Jacks at the Showboat in Atlantic City.

Full 5-coin bet, woman gets dealt a straight and a 4-card RF. Holds the straight, cashes out, and leaves the hand on the machine for everyone to see!

And yes, she had a KQJTs hold!

[Tedlark]

  And this has affected you for how long? Seriously, people are able to make their own choices when playing video poker and she made, what she felt was, the right decision for her. If she would have held the suited 10-K and not gotten the royal, or not even completed the open ended straight, she would not have had the $625.00 that she cashed out with.

[DaBurglar]

Single Line $25 9/6 Jacks at the Showboat in Atlantic City.

Full 5-coin bet, woman gets dealt a straight and a 4-card RF. Holds the straight, cashes out, and leaves the hand on the machine for everyone to see!

And yes, she had a KQJTs hold!
 (**This is ONLY my opinion but is based on my 20 plus years playing VP and in casinos in general**) The lady was most likely playing with money she did not want to lose or could not afford to lose (or playing over her head.)   I have seen this a thousand times at table games like BJ where someone bets ten times their normal bet out of frustration or bravado, gets dealt a 10 or 11 against a dealer bust card, but then REFUSES to double down and just hits.   Sure, maybe they are out of funds, but if that is the case, then betting like they did is just dumb. Similarly, in this example, the women is presented with a great opportunity to take a chance (i.e. GAMBLE which is what she is doing anyway) but she takes the easy way out, probably thanking her lucky stars she won even that much instead of losing it all (which she easily could have.) Now, maybe I am wrong.  Maybe she has already hit her winning(s) goal for the session and doesnt want to put a dent in it by losing the whole 125 bucks risked.  I dunno....but my intuition says she is playing the game for the wrong reasons or in the wrong circumstances. But in all honesty, I personally WOULD NEVER risk 125 bucks of my OWN money on a hand of VP no matter what the paytable.   EVen if I could afford to play at that level.....

[Vman96]

Yeah, likely playing higher than she should be. If I was her, I break it, but I wouldn't feel that great about it. It's possible she is also clueless on the right play, or was so zoned into having a $500 straight she totally missed the 4 to a Royal. Earlier this year, I did a "you sure you want to do that?" to the lady next to me as she was going to hold a flush over 4 to a Royal. I talked her into breaking, but she missed.

Not going for the Royal will definitely lead to some the biggest possible errors by people who fail to notice them. You have to incorrectly hold a quad to do worse, probably a more rare error. I hope I have never thrown away 4 to a Royal before or held a flush/straight over it!

[Videopokerjesus]

Tedlark, et al.

I am not passing judgment on the woman, and trust me, I am not suffering any mental damage from the incident. I was simply making an observation, and over 11+ years of playing video poker, I have a very keen memory at recalling tons of them. I just have that kind of mind.

I also understand fully the ideological and psychological ramifications that were going through her mind.

But mathematically speaking, it is a TREMENDOUS error to leave that amount of EV on the screen, and to see it there frozen saying HOLD HOLD HOLD HOLD HOLD HOLD. Just one of those things.

[Tedlark]

  I understand Vpj but my main point was that I do not remember plays made by other players. I focus on my play and I could really care less what is going on with other players. Its like players who get mad when the person next to them hits a royal, or AWAK on TDB, or any other premium hand and they get mad or grumble about it. Simply congratulate the player and move on, wish yourself the same luck and go for it.

[Minn. Fatz]

Personally I'm happy to hear about people misplaying positive or near-positive expected return VP games. That means management will be more likely to leave those out on the floor for those of us who can take advantage of it. Not that I'm playing $125 a spin, but.

If the player concerned couldn't, or wouldn't, risk her $125 for a one in 47 shot at $100K (not to mention another one in 47 at $6250, seven at $750, five at $500 and nine that break even), then her mistake wasn't just holding the dealt ST with four to a RF, it was playing the $25 machine to begin with. If you're not taking advantage of odds in your favor because you're worried about losing your bet, you're playing scared; that goes for VP, blackjack, table poker or matching pennies.

Getting upset because the player next to you hits a big hand is a different logical fallacy. There aren't a limited number of RFs or AWAKs out there, so if the next person gets one that isn't one that you can't get. Your odds of hitting a big hand on a given machine are exactly the same regardless of whether the player next to you just got one or, for that matter, whether you just got one.

When I got four Aces, no kicker on a nickel TDB machine at Paris the woman next to me was happy and excited for me (I even let her hold my payout slip for a second, which might have turned out to be a mistake of a different kind, but wasn't). And when a woman next to me hit a Royal at a quarter machine at the Nugget downtown any envy I might have felt was eased by her saying, "now if I just hit another one I can break even, almost."

[Eduardo]

That's a $100,000 royal flush on the line?

Yes, probably playing over your head but if you're going to, this is the sort of deal you're doing it for!

I have to say I would have gone for the 1/47 chance here if I ever had the cojones to step up to that machine in the first place.

But hey, hopefully the 600 bucks did her some good.

[JIMDUECE`SWILD]

There is a chance of getting the 9 of ??? on the draw for a straight flush.

[Videopokerjesus]

There is a chance of getting the 9 of ??? on the draw for a straight flush.

The nine that is the same suit as the TJQKs!