New player wondering how I'm doing

[Jeff1000]

Hey Folks, first post. I recently moved to Vegas to go to truck driving school but I've been sidelined for a month after getting my CDL permit. Long story but I struggled a little parking so the instructor is setting me back to repeat that portion of the course, but while waiting to return to school I drifted into playing video poker. I live 10 minutes from the Palms on Flamingo so I've gone there the past three days; I'm going tomorrow as well and I'd like to play a little every day.

I studied online for about a week reading everything I could find as well as watching all the Youtube videos. I've only played at the Palms 25 cent 8/5 Bonus Poker with a 400 credit for quad Aces and an $1199 payoff for a Royal Flush.

I've only played in the casino for the last three days but there was a similar pattern to all three days. I would get in the hole, -$160 today, but I would continue playing and fighting my way back to breaking even, then cashout and go home. Wednesday I ended up +$1.25; Thursday +$21.25, and today -$25 (after being down $160). All three days I was happy to leave without basically losing any money, so after 3 days of play I'm basically flat except for the 3 or 4 free drinks I had each day and almost 3000 in player card points.

I was wondering if I'm doing okay so far. Today I was proud of myself for not quitting while I was down and instead hanging in there until my luck changed. Also I got my first Straight Flush ever and also 4 Aces which saved my day (if you can call breaking even "saving" your day).

Playing Bonus Poker I'm always looking for Aces, and I'll throw out a pair in a two pair hand if one of the pairs is Aces. Anyway, I hope to play at the Palms everyday if I can; I really like it there, and it's so close to where I live. I might check out Gold Coast, and the Orleans is even closer on West Tropicana.

I know I don't have any specific questions but any feedback or wisdom/ advise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Yatita]

Well Jeff...
How well are you doing I have no Idea...
I will tell you this going to a casino and not knowing how to play the particular game you like is not a good thing...
If I was you I would get a video poker tainer they have a great one on this site, But
your are going to have to invest a bit on money to learn,If you go gold membership on this site
you will have all the tools you need to become an expert at video pocker...
The best advice I can give you is to pick one game and one game only and practice, practice
and practice some more. If you try to learn more than one game you are going to get all confused
on your card picks when you are in the casino...
It is a lot cheaper to pay a bit of money for a traning program then it is to try to learn
playing in the casino...
First thing you need to learn is how to find the best pay scales for the game you want to play.
You may learn some of the things you need to know from books but the best way to learn is playing the
game as if you were in the casino. So you need hands on training...
Now for the answer you may not like to hear...
The Casino is going to have the edge on you. The only thing you can control is the
game you pick moves the edge to your side of the table but remember the edge is in your
favor but it's on the long run not the short run...
Any way you look at it, It's gambling...
It took me 3 months practicing an hour a night to get it right...
The best game for me is DDB poker because it's volital but the down side you need
a bigger bank roll than JorB or DB poker... Hope this helps a bit...

[Jeff1000]

Well Jeff...
How well are you doing I have no Idea...
I will tell you this going to a casino and not knowing how to play the particular game you like is not a good thing...
If I was you I would get a video poker tainer they have a great one on this site, But
your are going to have to invest a bit on money to learn,If you go platum on this site
you will have all the tools you need to become an expert at video pocker...
The best advice I can give you is to pick one game and one game only and practice, practice
and practice some more. If you try to learn more than one game you are going to get all confused
on your card picks when you are in the casino...
It is a lot cheaper to pay a bit of money for a traning program then it is to try to learn
playing in the casino...
First thing you need to learn is how to find the best pay scales for the game you want to play.
You may learn some of the things you need to know from books but the best way to learn is playing the
game as if you were in the casino. So you need hands on training...
Now for the answer you may not like to hear...
The Casino is going to have the edge on you. The only thing you can control is the
game you pick moves the edge to your side of the table but remember the edge is in your
favor but it's on the long run not the short run...
Any way you look at it, It's gambling...
It took me 3 months practicing an hour a night to get it right...
The best game for me is DDB poker because it's volital but the down side you need
a bigger bank roll than JorB or DB poker... Hope this helps a bit...


Thanks Yatita, appreciate the feedback.

I practiced online with Jacks or Better but when I went to the Palms I ended up playing FP 8/5 Bonus Poker instead (there is no 9/6 Bonus Poker, 8/5 is full pay). I guess it's because I found the Bonus Poker machines before the JOBs. I just slightly tweaked my strategy for Bonus Poker such as focusing on Aces looking for a quad by holding just the Ace in an unsuited two high card draw or throwing away the second pair in a two pair hand with Aces, and trying for a quad with a low pair when feasible, etc. Other than that the strategy seems to be similar to JOB. I believe that playing the hands are the least of my worries. I'm focusing on Bonus Poker and not even thinking about Deuces Wild or Double Double; in fact, I don't even know how to play those games.

The strategy, at least for JOB and Bonus Poker, seems really easy to me. If I can gather anything from only 3 days of play it's that my results seem to correspond exactly to the payout of the game: I'm getting about 99% of my money back but coming out ahead with free drinks and player's points. It seems that the only element missing in my play right now is luck.

I've allocated a 500 dollar bankroll but the deepest I've gone into it so far is $160. If I have to go 500 bucks in the hole that's how far I'm willing to go in a single session. If I ever manage to be up a couple hundred bucks in a session I'll cash out and go home, even if it only takes 10 minutes, but if I'm behind I'll keep playing until I lose my entire bankroll or I break even or come out ahead.

I'll let you know what happened tomorrow if your interested, and thanks again for the help and suggestions.

[marie meijer]

Interesting posts and good advice. I maintain learn three games for starters by practicing on VP.com trainer or WinPoker. Dancer used to claim proficient at eight games but no doubt has added to his game total. Then you might be good to go for one of those games at a particular casino, depending on the best pay tables. For example, I will not play deuces wild or deuces wild bonus if the wild royal flush is only 100 coins instead of 125. My fave game is triple double bonus but not always available. And TDB is not always available on multi play,  so I often play DDB. When my bank roll is running low, I can stretch that dwindling bank roll and play longer on DWB. Some authorities stress sticking to ONE game to avoid mistakes that are easy to make when switching games. IF not over-tired or under the influence or externally stressed, one should be able to focus on the game at hand/of choice, in theory.

[Minn. Fatz]

Some good, some bad. First the good news. You've chosen to play a game that returns 99.57%, and you've joined the player club and are using your card all the time you play, so if you're getting a half-percent back in player club credit (and free drinks), and that's OK with you, you should be able to break about even. You've also set a limit on your play; assuming you can afford to lose the whole amount and will stick to your limit, that's a definite plus.

Now the not so good. You're right that the strategy for your game is fairly simple. But breaking Aces full or Aces up to go for a $100 payout for quad Aces is not the best play for your game. Assuming you're playing about 500 hands an hour, those errors will cost you about $3.88 per hour over the long term. That, not luck, might be the difference between breaking even and being a little ahead.

There's an 8/5 BP strategy on the Wizard of Odds site at http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-pok ... poker/8-5/. The higher payoff for a RF in your game (4796 credits versus 4000) doesn't seem to affect the more common plays. That site also has an online strategy calculator at http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-pok ... alculator/.

If you haven't already I'd take a trip down to the gamblers' bookstore and pick up The Video Poker Edge by Linda Boyd. That has a lot of useful information and strategies for the best games. It goes with me when I go on casino trips.

Good Mathematics, stop breaking Aces full or Aces up in 8/5 BP to go for quads, and let us know how it all works out.

[Jeff1000]

Thankyou very much Marie and Minn. Fatz.

it's interesting that in my first two sessions at BP I played the game exactly like I was playing JoB and I didn't fall very far behind (only -$40 and -$60 in the hole respectively), but when I applied my updated BP strategy focusing on going for the quad aces that's when I fell way behind (-$160) before coming back. I guess giving up all those push hands really cost me. If I have two unsuited high cards like an Ace and a King it kills me to keep both cards because I know I have no opportunity for a great hand, but if I just hold the Ace I'm open to 4 of a kind or even a Royal Flush, but in practice I ended up sacrificing a lot of break even hands which i suspect is the reason I fell so far behind yesterday, so I definitely will return to my earlier strategy as you suggested (Minn. Fatz).

I'll post how it went when I return home. Thankyou, again, for your help.

[Jeff1000]

Just want to add that I've got this idea that the only way you can make money at VP is to QUIT PLAYING every time you get ahead because if you keep playing the law of averages/ odds will catch up to you. On the flip side, if you're losing, the only way to break even or come out ahead is to KEEP PLAYING.

So if you're winning you quit playing, and if you're losing you keep playing. It seems that the rational/ human thing to do would be to quit when you're losing and keep playing when you're winning. Does anyone else think the same as I do about this? Thanks.

[doris13]

no jeff you don't keep playing when you're losing unless you're prepared to lose more.leave before you lose it all!

[Jeff1000]

no jeff you don't keep playing when you're losing unless you're prepared to lose more.leave before you lose it all!

Just saying, but that may be why very few seem to come out ahead: they leave the casino with a loss.

[Jeff1000]

Ok, just got home from the Palms. I only played about 2 hours. I put my first 20 dollar bill in the FPBP machine and it gobbled it up in probably only 10 minutes. I recall only winning one push hand. I put my second 20 dollar bill in and the machine started gobbling that up all the way until I only had $2.50 left. I thought to myself that it's going to be one of those days, but I kept playing and starting winning some hands, a FH here, a flush there etc. Then I hit a couple quads and I found myself up about 50 bucks including the first 20 dollar bill I lost.

I continued playing deciding that I would quit if I lost the 50 bucks I was up, but what happened was I just treaded water for about an hour or so from approximately 30 up to 70 up. I found myself 40 bucks up and decided to cash out, so I walked out with 40 bucks more than I went in with.

40 bucks may sound like nothing, but to me just walking out of there without losing money is a big victory to me, plus it was my first ever winning day (3 break even days and one winning day). To me I lived to play another day.

So after 4 days of playing I'm up about 40 bucks plus drinks and points. I'm heading back tomorrow and I'll see what happens.