Looking for advice just starting Video Poker as side-hustle

The lighter side... playing for entertainment, less concerned about "the math."
SLasVegas
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Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:28 pm

Looking for advice just starting Video Poker as side-hustle

Post by SLasVegas »

Hello,

I'm just starting to seriously look at Video Poker as a potential side-hustle for supplementary income. I have a regular full-time job, which I make good money at. I want to earn extra money on the side. I have been playing live poker for over 20 years, but not full-time as a job. With the recent covid virus events, I have elected to stall playing live. I do not care to play at a table wearing a mask, with plastic dividers all around. I would feel like I'm playing in a hospital intensive care unit. So, I started looking at playing video poker to replace live poker, for now.

I live near Maryland Live Casino and Hollywood Casino in Charlestown, West Virginia.
I used to live in Las Vegas for 5 years as well. I have played a ton of video poker in the past, and have always tried Double Double Bonus Poker, and Triple Double Bonus Poker, because of the high payouts on 4 Aces with kicker, and 4 2s,3s,4s w/kicker.

I recently saw that Maryland Live casino has Triple Triple Bonus Poker, which has a few more high paying hands.

I have taken some massive losses this past week and a half on Triple Double and Triple Triple. I know they're considered high variance games, but I thought I could play through it. It hasn't worked out so far. 2 different sessions in Hollywood casino this week, I had one session where I only hit a crappy quad (250 coins) 3 times out of 43 attempts when I flopped trips. Last nights session I flopped trips 53 times, and only hit a crappy quad 3 times.

I play at a fast pace. Min. of 1000 hands per hour. I play for the 4 aces w/kicker and royals on that game. I've been on this site practicing. But the losses on these games got me in a hole right from the start, when I was trying to make some side income. Not sure if I want to continue in this path to take more losses.

So, I'm posting this to ask what games I should try instead. Maryland live has Jacks or Better, but it only pays 8 for full house, and 5 for flush on quarter denomination. I'd prefer to stick to quarter denom max bet for now, instead of going to .50 cents/1$. I didn't give JOB a try.

I've read some on this forum about people playing deuces wild or joker poker, instead of DDB, TDB, and TTB poker.

Anyone who has any advice on what games I should transfer to instead of the current triple double bonus, triple triple bonus machines I have been playing, please provide. If you have advice on what the pay table should look like on any machines you recommend, I appreciate it. Along with any other relevant advice you feel is necessary.

I'm about ready to give up this endeavor, and it's only been 1 1/2 weeks into it. Already down a little over 2,000$ in something that was supposed to be a side job.

Thanks for your time and input.

V/r,

SLasVegas

billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

Quit playing now. If you want to be serious, stop playing for money and spend the next few months studying the game, the benefits of the players club at the casinos you will play in and the various promotions they offer. Learn the proper paytables to look for and the variance of the games. Just about each game has a different strategy and using the wrong one on a game is a killer. I don't play exotic games like Double Double or Triple . I like DW but it's hard to find full pay games. I ended up playing a lot of Bonus Poker because that was the best game for me in the casino I decided offered the best value.
I'd forget looking at VP as a way to make part time income. If you play it as a hobby that doesn't cost very much and earns you a few free meals, you might like it better.
I know nothing about the casinos in west Virginia but I suspect they aren't a VP paradise. I owned stock in the company that owned Mountaineer Casino at one point and wasn't impressed by it. Those shares are long gone, sold at a loss.
I'd wish you good luck on your venture, but it sounds like you are not currently prepared for the road ahead.

davidearl
Senior Member
Posts: 319
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:38 pm

Post by davidearl »

You will continue to lose if all you play is 97% games. If you get the Pro Trainer, and play the same games/payouts, you will see how much you will lose. We have people on this site who lose hundreds of thousands a year.
They get good perks, though.

SLasVegas
Forum Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:28 pm

Post by SLasVegas »

Any suggestions on the exact games I should be looking for, and any links to what the paytables should be on the games you suggest?
I was looking at buying the pro membership on this site for 99$ a year. What's another 99$ after I'm down a little over 2000$ in past 1 1/2 weeks.
And @billryan I'll take your advice and stop now on those Triple Double and Triple Triple games, and just recoup bankroll from my work $$$ and study the games you suggest for next few months.
I never lose my nerve/guts in live poker. If I take a bad beat, I know I made the right play, and I'm always ready to go back for the next session. After this past 1 1/2 weeks though, I feel shell shocked to even go within 100 yards of a video poker machine right now. And I know I would never play texas holdem if I was in that mindset, so I'll stay away from VP while in this state.

davidearl
Senior Member
Posts: 319
Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:38 pm

Post by davidearl »

It would take really good promotions to make any of the casinos near you positive expectation.
Charlestown has nothing.
Live has 98.98% DDB @ $1
MGM in Oxon Hill MD has 99.11% DB @ $1
It would really be tough to get those games over 100% payout. Good Luck!

olds442jetaway
Video Poker Master
Posts: 9262
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 9:08 pm

Post by olds442jetaway »

I agree with quit now. I have been trying to find a way to make money in the long run on video poker for almost 30 years and haven’t found it yet. If you find a casino That will give you enough free play, free rooms ,and food that is some consolation ,but it won’t build up your bank account. I have access to 99% games in Connecticut where I play. However, between fatigue, sticky buttons, making mistakes, making dumb decisions, and so forth my true return is about 98%. I run about $2 million through the machines a year so my loss is about $40,000 every year give or take. Some years it might only be 30,000 and some years it might be 60,000 not chump change by any means. I justify it by being able to stay in first class rooms almost whenever I want dine on them for the most part, and before the virus came around we would get tickets for shows free gas free gifts and other things that would make up for some of the loss but as a money maker to put cash in your pocket long-term I haven’t found a way to do it. Short term yes. Anything is possible even on the worst machines. Several years ago I hit for $36,000 in a 12 hour period. Unfortunately, it was all gone in a couple of months because the video poker machines went into ultra cold cycles. That’s what they do and they can be very lengthy. So if you’re going to play video poker for fun or recreation OK. As a money maker to have a nice paycheck week in and week out forget it. I would love to hear about it a year from now if you found a way to make it all work. Good luck and stay well.

FAA
Video Poker Master
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Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:58 am

Post by FAA »

Olds, may I recommend my Balling On a Budget strategy? Losses are chicken feed. Quite logical considering what the winnings are.

SLasVegas
Forum Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:28 pm

Post by SLasVegas »

@olds Thank you for your detailed response. I'm going to take my friends advice today, and the people who have responded on here, and lay off the video poker on East Coast. I went on vpfree and did some searching (should have done that before this week's losses, but now I know) and I don't see any 99% in the area I can drive to. If I want to hit video poker, I'll just study for 6 months, save up, then go back to las vegas once or twice a year. I lived there before for 5 years. I know there's good spots downtown at the plaza, binions, and the station casinos, to play video poker. It was good sorta when I left there in 2009. Don't know how it is now there, but Las Vegas VP still has to be better than the crap here on east coast. I appreciate everyone's time for providing a feedback/opinion. If anyone else would like to chime in later, I love to hear different advice. For now, until I can get to Vegas next year, I lick my wounds, recover my lost money from my work income, and study on the pro membership on this site.

One thing I did not hear from anyone is the suggested games that I should focus on. Is it deuces wild, joker poker, JOB? If anyone can recommend to me the games that the full-time pros play, I can focus my study on them. And as @billryan said, I'll stay away from exotic games like double double bonus, triple double, and triple triple. Those 1000$ payout on 4 Aces w/kicker, and on triple triple 4 2s,3s,4s with Ace kicker look good, but I don't want to be 12000 in the hole by the time I finally hit one.

SLasVegas
Forum Newbie
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:28 pm

Post by SLasVegas »

@FAA

Could I get details on what your Balling on a Budget strategy is? I would like to incorporate that into my studies for the next several months as I lick my wounds and recover from this beating from past 1 1/2 weeks.

billryan
Video Poker Master
Posts: 4421
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 1:20 pm

Post by billryan »

Another option might be playing online. However, I'm not sure what the rules are discussing it on this forum. Nor do I have any expertise to offer about it.

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