Playing Speed
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 8:10 am
Recently, I decided to read "Million Dollar Video Poker" again. I must have read this book at least 20 times by now. Each time I read it, I learn something I didn't know before.
On page 59, there is a riddle about two imaginary players, Stan and Pearl. It's an interesting riddle and I encourage you to read it. It's about playing with house money and how comps affect your results. There is one sentence that stands out for me.
"Wining players know that the key to this puzzle is that 9/6 Jacks or Better returns only 99.5% without a slot club, which means this game is a loser for the player, so the one who plays the least loses the least."
The riddle goes on to tell how comps can turn a negative game positive. Suppose they don't?
What does this have to do with playing speed? We have all seen VP players that play fast. I once saw a video of a guy playing two machines at once playing faster than I knew possible. There was no way this man could be 100% computer accurate. Here's the kicker. If the game he was playing including comps was less than positive, the faster he played the more he lost. If he decided to switch to $5 games and the comps still didn't make the net game positive he increased his losses exponentially.
Why do we tend to increase our playing speed? It's easy to get into a rhythm that steadily increases as we go along. Scientists tell us winning releases chemicals in our brain that we like. Winning is a drug and we want more and we want it faster. The problem is twofold. Playing faster causes errors. You may miss a straight flush draw or two to a royal hidden in a bunch of nothing. Most of us play negative games where our comps don't offset the casino's edge. Playing these games faster increases losses. Playing these games bigger without any additional benefit for doing so does as well.
About five years ago I timed myself playing VP. I was playing at about 1,000 hands an hour. I also made a lot of mistakes. No wonder I thought the games were rigged! I only had negative games to play, so the faster I played the bigger my losses. I would move up in denomination and lose even more. Once in a while I would hit a jackpot at a high denomination and play with what I believed was house money. It was actually my money, the house just loaned it to me for a while. They knew I would give it back.
Since I switched to Bonus Poker last fall, I have intentionally slowed my play. I now look at every hand twice. I keep my finger off the deal button while I'm looking. I find cards I didn't see before. So far this year I have hit five royals. Playing slow did not make them happen. Playing fast, I might have missed one or more. Since the games I have to play are negative even with comps, I would have lost more as well.
My wife has always played VP slow and she has always had better results. I have known her since she was 15 years old. She was an A+ honor student in school and a National Honor Society Member. She also reads slow, but she comprehends 100% of what she reads. I on other hand, have a different personality and talents. I am a creative person and she's not. I tend to read and play fast and I miss things and make errors. I am making an effort to slow down my VP and play like her. If you are like me, you should too.
On page 59, there is a riddle about two imaginary players, Stan and Pearl. It's an interesting riddle and I encourage you to read it. It's about playing with house money and how comps affect your results. There is one sentence that stands out for me.
"Wining players know that the key to this puzzle is that 9/6 Jacks or Better returns only 99.5% without a slot club, which means this game is a loser for the player, so the one who plays the least loses the least."
The riddle goes on to tell how comps can turn a negative game positive. Suppose they don't?
What does this have to do with playing speed? We have all seen VP players that play fast. I once saw a video of a guy playing two machines at once playing faster than I knew possible. There was no way this man could be 100% computer accurate. Here's the kicker. If the game he was playing including comps was less than positive, the faster he played the more he lost. If he decided to switch to $5 games and the comps still didn't make the net game positive he increased his losses exponentially.
Why do we tend to increase our playing speed? It's easy to get into a rhythm that steadily increases as we go along. Scientists tell us winning releases chemicals in our brain that we like. Winning is a drug and we want more and we want it faster. The problem is twofold. Playing faster causes errors. You may miss a straight flush draw or two to a royal hidden in a bunch of nothing. Most of us play negative games where our comps don't offset the casino's edge. Playing these games faster increases losses. Playing these games bigger without any additional benefit for doing so does as well.
About five years ago I timed myself playing VP. I was playing at about 1,000 hands an hour. I also made a lot of mistakes. No wonder I thought the games were rigged! I only had negative games to play, so the faster I played the bigger my losses. I would move up in denomination and lose even more. Once in a while I would hit a jackpot at a high denomination and play with what I believed was house money. It was actually my money, the house just loaned it to me for a while. They knew I would give it back.
Since I switched to Bonus Poker last fall, I have intentionally slowed my play. I now look at every hand twice. I keep my finger off the deal button while I'm looking. I find cards I didn't see before. So far this year I have hit five royals. Playing slow did not make them happen. Playing fast, I might have missed one or more. Since the games I have to play are negative even with comps, I would have lost more as well.
My wife has always played VP slow and she has always had better results. I have known her since she was 15 years old. She was an A+ honor student in school and a National Honor Society Member. She also reads slow, but she comprehends 100% of what she reads. I on other hand, have a different personality and talents. I am a creative person and she's not. I tend to read and play fast and I miss things and make errors. I am making an effort to slow down my VP and play like her. If you are like me, you should too.