Short Term Gain vs Long Term Loss

[Rat Terrier]

Here is a strategy that basically ignores straight flushes that occur once every 9,250 hands and drawing to inside straights. While it is not a good strategy for people who play a lot, I feel it has advantages for people who only play occasionally. Hands to hold are ranked in descending order.

Always throw away a Pair or a Flush to draw to a 4 card Royal. Throw away a Straight Flush to draw to a Royal if you have a Progressive Jackpot of at least
$ 2,938.

10. Winning Hands.
9. 4 card Straight Flushes.
8. 3 card Royal.
7. 4 card Flush.
6. Low Pair.
5. 2 card Royal.
4. 4 card Straight (open ended).
3. 3 card Straight Flush.
2. 2 High Cards.
1. 1 High Card.

All other hands, draw 5 new cards.

I have tried this system and for short periods of play, it seems to allow one to play a few more hands for every
$20 put into a machine.

Anyway, I hope this will help someone to enjoy their game a little more. Have a good day and good luck.

[chattycattty]

So with your strategy, do you recommend holding a pair of face cards and throwing away 4 to a royal if that is what you are dealt?

[Rat Terrier]

I would presume that a person would always throw away a pair or even a flush to hit a 4 card Royal. Good point though.

[Rat Terrier]

Thank you for pointing that out. Have a nice day.

[Vman96]

Following this to a tee and breaking winners for four to a Royal is 99.26% for 9/6 JoB (max 99.54%).

But I think we should do better than this with a couple more easy steps. High pair below, 4 card to straight flush. And open-ended straight should be above 2 Royal cards. This boosts the strategy to 99.40%.

99.4% strategy for 9/6 JoB.

1. 4 to a Royal
2. Made Two Pair or better
3. 4 to Straight Flush
4. High Pair
5. 3 to a Royal
6. 4 to a Flush
7. Low Pair
8. Open-Ended Straight
9. 2 Suited High Cards
10. 3 to a Straight Flush
11. 2 High Cards
12. 1 High Card
13. Nothing

This will work well for bonus poker too.

[Minn. Fatz]

Well it has the virtue of being simple, though near-optimal JB strategy is fairly simple to start with. I'd be interested to know how it affects variance tho...

[Vman96]

Unfortunately the program I used to verify this was 99.4% doesn't do variance. I would think it would be pretty close though. What play am I leaving out that is very high variance?

[Rat Terrier]

Agree with Vman96. Good suggestions. Thank you for your input.

How does the % payback work for Double Bonus games?

The reason I put the 2 card Royal over the 4 card open ended straight was to maximize the Royal Flush chances. I have seen a lot of people hit the Royal over the years and seems like a high % were holding only 2 cards.

Thanks again and have a nice day.   

[Minn. Fatz]

As I noted in a couple posts (well, one post and a correction ) here, you'll get 2 to a RF and draw the other 3 once about every 67,731 hands and get 3 to an RF and draw the other 2 once about every 64,974. It's rarer to get 4 to an RF or draw 4 RF cards holding only one.

[Vman96]

Agree with Vman96. Good suggestions. Thank you for your input.

How does the % payback work for Double Bonus games?

The reason I put the 2 card Royal over the 4 card open ended straight was to maximize the Royal Flush chances. I have seen a lot of people hit the Royal over the years and seems like a high % were holding only 2 cards.

Thanks again and have a nice day.   

I tweaked this a bit...Never hold KT, QT, or JT suited in any of these "simple strategies". That moves it to 99.44% for JoB.

For "full pay" (10/7/5) Double Bonus, the edited strategy I suggested is pretty bad because flushes pay 7 for 1 and straights pay 5 for 1. It will drop the return from 100.17% to 99.43%, a 0.74% loss.

For "full pay" (9/6) Double Double Bonus drops the return from 98.98% to 98.31%, a 0.66% drop.

For 9/6 DDB (most people's favorite game), I would suggest this.

1. Four of a kind or better (draw for kickers if needed)
2. 4 to a Royal
3. AAA
4. Full House/Flush/Straight
5. 4 to Straight Flush
6. AA
7. Two Pair
8. KK, QQ, JJ
9. 3 to a Royal
10. 4 to a Flush
11. Low Pair
12. Open Ended Straight
13. 2 Suited High Cards
14. 3 to a Straight Flush
15. 2+ Unsuited High Cards w/inside straight draw
16. 2 Unsuited Face Cards
17. 1 Unsuited High Card
18. Inside Straight Draw
19. Nothing

These key additions for BIG decisions and some important inside straight draws increase the return of 9/6 DDB to 98.87%. Only a 0.11% reduction due to errors.

If you use this chart for 9/6/5 DB though, you drop from 97.81% to 97.49%, a sizeable 0.32% drop. But DB is a much more difficult strategy unfortunately to get a much better result. Making an Open Ended Straight better than a Low Pair will add 0.05%. Using the simplified strategy for DDB for 9/7/5 DB is even worse, costing you 0.5% (99.11% vs. 98.61%).

I could add more detailed suggestions for 9/7/5 DB (mainly 3 to a flush holds)...but that pretty much guarantees it won't be simple. If someone might be interested in seeing one though, I could do it.