Video Poker Forum

I took this quick trip before Christmas on the 23rd (I am writing this after the holiday has passed) to avoid the huge anticipated crowds. I was not going to play during the holidays when the casino is at its busiest with hardly any open seats. A second time I used a recreational strategy that is not endorsed by experts to get a W2G win (actually both of my best wins were recreational approaches).

I did suggest to FloridaPhil that it was not necessary to enjoy the thrill of the cheap strategy with just single quarters, it is doable with starting with max quarter bets. It will sort of defeat the purpose of trying to play cheap, but for those who can save up bankroll and do not have the urge to play frequently can benefit from playing max quarter CS.

I had limited cash on hand to play with, so I decided to just limit my attempts to 4 $100 starts on Bonus Deuces Wild. I was done in a few hours.

Abbreviated Figures (with max bet quarters, everything increases by a factor of 5):

$20 start -> $100 start
$25 upper denomination point -> $125 upper denomination point
$50 cash out -> $250 cash out


I still switched bets after a 4 credit win until I lost and I went back the lower part.

(Low: Single Quarter/Max Quarter - High: Single Dollar/Max Dollar) -> (Low: Max Quarter/Max Dollar - High: Max Dollar/Max 5 Dollar)

Pros:

-No shorted royal flush payouts, it is probably the biggest qualm most people have about the original Cheap Strategy. Also means no need to master short coin optimal play

-Another possible way to win $1000 aside from max quarter royal flush or max dollar quad deuces. If you reach max 5 dollar bets, getting 5 of a kind 3s, 4s, 5s can also produce a $1000 win. A quarter player no longer has to wait months and months for their $1000 jackpot any more.

-More cashout points, there are hands in this game that can help you reach the cash out points

Cons:

-Obviously a bigger bankroll is needed

-Hard to find Bonus Deuces Wild in most casinos in the nation

-Hard to find casinos that offer a game at 25 cent / $1 / $5 denomination points without a change in paytables

-Adds much more variance to those that do not like to handle swings

Results

1st Start - Went by quick in about 20 minutes
2nd Start - Got to play longer when the 5 of a Kind and Wild Royals started hitting
3rd Start - Jackpot!
4th Start - Went by quick as the 1st start.

Anyhow, here is the jackpot I ended up.

I luckily managed to hover past the $125 mark with a Wild Royal at $1 max bet (after a 4 credit win), so I was playing $1 and $5 at a time. I did get a flush at the $5 max bet to get the balance at $260, which is over the $250 cash out point. I decided to just play one more hand at $5 max bet, going to cash out no matter what with $235 being the worse possible scenario.

I push deal and got an ugly set of cards with a deuce at the end. I just held the deuce and was not expecting much. Out came a pair of aces and a pair of more deuces. After the credits ran up, the machine locked up.

Ended up getting one more Ace than what MCPoker got on a recent thread, but got paid half as much, also I bet half as much too. I'll take it and it was a nice feeling leaving the casino.

WTG Alpax.... The 23rd was good to me as well as previously posted. I didn't want to post about gambling on Christmas eve or Christmas. I like Bonus Deuces Wild as well. Like you say, there are lots of ways to have good hits. The problem is you don't have the 2 for 1 on the straights which keeps you going lots of times on regular Deuces. However, with a large bankroll and extra time to wait for the big hits, I prefer Bonus Deuces too. Since I am able to find regular deuces and bonus in the same machine at Mohegan Sun, I have been considering switching games on hits of 4 or more on regular deuces to the Bonus Deuces game for one or at most two hands. haven't tried it out yet though. Again congrats on that really nice hit.

The CS strategy gets it's power from the fact that the odds of hitting a jackpot are exactly the same on each and every hand. The timing of when to switch to the larger bet is crucial. As there is no way to anticipate this, the 4 coin win is a convenient way to make this choice for you. After that you need to let luck do it's thing. Here's a quote directly from the Cheap Strategy website.

As a recreational player, the only way you can beat the casino when playing a negative expectation video poker game is by hitting jackpots at a significantly higher denomination than the majority of your play.

This quote drives the math guys nuts. I've posted almost $20K of them and it's still not enough to stop their consistent criticism. What's more important than your play strategy is to return to cheap play after you hit one of these lucky jackpots. It has the same effect as walking out with your money, but you don't have to stop playing.

Single coin or max coins, CS strategy is better than flat betting and waiting for the casino to eat up your bankroll.

WTG Alpax.... The 23rd was good to me as well as previously posted. I didn't want to post about gambling on Christmas eve or Christmas. I like Bonus Deuces Wild as well. Like you say, there are lots of ways to have good hits. The problem is you don't have the 2 for 1 on the straights which keeps you going lots of times on regular Deuces. However, with a large bankroll and extra time to wait for the big hits, I prefer Bonus Deuces too. Since I am able to find regular deuces and bonus in the same machine at Mohegan Sun, I have been considering switching games on hits of 4 or more on regular deuces to the Bonus Deuces game for one or at most two hands. haven't tried it out yet though. Again congrats on that really nice hit.

Thanks olds! The 1 for 1 on straights is indeed the real killer part on Bonus DW. The strategy purposely avoids the inside straight draws, but even so, you run into a bunch of straights even if you are not trying going for any in the first place. To me it is sort of worth the risk to try to get 5 of a kinds every 1 in 300 hands (the 3,4,5 ones are really good too) to get the bonus payouts in return for those shorted straights.

I know it may be too big of a denomination and too big of variance of a game, the Mohegan Sun this year added full pay 25-9-4-3-2-1-1 Double Bonus Deuces Wild Multi-Strike at $1 denomination. It is close to a 100% game that you can get outside of Vegas. If you disable multi-strike mode and just play one line, it is 99.808% game. As the Double Bonus name states, it is the DDB of Deuces Wild.

The CS strategy gets it's power from the fact that the odds of hitting a jackpot are exactly the same on each and every hand. The timing of when to switch to the larger bet is crucial. As there is no way to anticipate this, the 4 coin win is a convenient way to make this choice for you. After that you need to let luck do it's thing. Here's a quote directly from the Cheap Strategy website.

As a recreational player, the only way you can beat the casino when playing a negative expectation video poker game is by hitting jackpots at a significantly higher denomination than the majority of your play.

This quote drives the math guys nuts. I've posted almost $20K of them and it's still not enough to stop their consistent criticism. What's more important than your play strategy is to return to cheap play after you hit one of these lucky jackpots. It has the same effect as walking out with your money, but you don't have to stop playing.

Single coin or max coins, CS strategy is better than flat betting and waiting for the casino to eat up your bankroll.

The quote from your website is the main reason that I play CS when playing DW (taking a break from Jacks or Better) like olds, FAA, and wildman49 have. My way of playing cheap is to play less often, but this is a fun way to play (I know I said that 100 times).

The worst that can happen after a 4 coin win (quad or full house) and a bust on the higher bet next hand is that the total end result means you just lost 1 hand of play in the end, but went for a chance at a greater payout.

I know it is not possible for a regular quarter player to win $2000 on VP at those takes, but its really hard to locate Bonus DW. I think regular DW will keep you in the game much longer with those 2 for 1 straight payouts, for your needs its a much better choice. On a bad day, Bonus DW requires a big bankroll and wont be cheap.

That is great hit. My recent quad aces hit was a larger sum but had to risk much more each session. You definitely have impeccable timing!

Thanks MCPoker. I was just playing around there with the references to the aces. It is more rare to get a natural quad aces than it is to get 5 of a kind aces in a deuces wild game. It deserves to be paid more for sure!

I did get lucky and it does not happen too often, on days where you whiff on the max bets after the 4 credit, your session is shorter than usual. I normally play Jacks or Better, and play CS on DW in between.

Congratulations Alpax! As a low roller Jobber, yours is a foreign language of course.

Phil, don't sweat the doubters. Easiest principle ever. Bide your time, keep your powder dry, strike strategically, feast on profit. Cobras are masters I hear.

Nice win alpax, much better than a lump of coal in your hopper.

Nice Al Nice, I love CS and don't care about the naysayers I have a whole lot more bank roll playing it vs. flat betting. Like you said about bonus DW we have it but at low denominations like nickel and quarter nothing higher.