OK, JOB is boring...but

[olds442jetaway]

Most players find job to be a very boring game. The way I play it isn't for everyone and only will be good on machines that let you bet say up to 25 units or so. It also of course works best on a 9/6 machine. If you are concerned about hitting the Royal, start at 5 units, otherwise like myself who doesn't hit Royals anymore, I start at 1 unit. On job, you should hit 2 pair or better every 4 hands or so. So here goes.
     Base bet 5 units. If you it 2 pair or better in 4 hands, just stay at bet 5 and start your count over.
     If you don't hit 2 pair or better in 4 hands, bet 6 for the next 4 hands. Anytime you hit 2 pair or better during those 4 hands back your bet down. Follow the same progression upping your bet by 1 unit anytime you don't hit 2 pair or better in 4 hands.
     This is the schedule I use on backing down my bets. Most of the time playing this way, you will be ahead at some point. The risk is a very long streak of dud hands like 30 in a row which will really dent the bankroll. However 1 nice hit will offset the dud streaks. This method really takes the boredom out of playing job.
     Back down schedule....Hitting 2 pair on first hand back down 1. Hitting 3 of a kind, back down 1 or 2 depending on how you feel. Hitting a straight, back down 2 or 3. Hitting a flush, back down 3 or 4. Hitting a Full house, back down 4 or 5. Hitting 4 of a kind back down 10 or 12 or so. Usually hitting 4 of a kind will bring you back to your base bet. Also consider quitting if you hit a quad and are ahead a decent amount for the session. This is Martingale Clone. Not for everyone, but fun for me.

[FloridaPhil]

I tried Jacks or Better with the Cheap Strategy for a while.   It did make the game a little more exciting, but it didn't work for me.   In Jacks or Better the big jackpot is the royal flush.  It took soooo long for the royal flush to happen that it didn't make sense to try to save money and take a chance of getting one without the royal bonus.  9/6 Jacks at 99.544% is very close to a 100% game.  If you have the bankroll to play it at large denominations, I can see how the comps would put you positive.  9/6 Jacks is not available at my casino at anything less than $2 a coin.  This would require a bankroll of at least $40K to play and I'm not up to investing that much in a video poker game.  If you increase your bet in the way you describe, it could potentially cost you even more money and you could be staring at a huge lose that you'll never play out of. I'm not telling anyone how to play here, I'm just reporting what happens in my chair.

[wildman49]

I am lucky to have 9/6 JOB at the casino I play. I do play a form of a 1 coin system on JOB and DLX poker with very good results. I max bet on 3 of a kinds only. Keep all other wins above the 3 of a kind. These 2 games you can play at 50 cent or $1 and hold your own. You don't get the POP like DW gives you but the deuces  only come in every 5000 hands. The 4ok comes in about 425 hands and if you just get a few at max its a winning day! Most trips I see 8 to 10 fok , just getting them on the max bet is key, and I move a lot always works for me.

[olds442jetaway]

I tried Jacks or Better with the Cheap Strategy for a while.   It did make the game a little more exciting, but it didn't work for me.   In Jacks or Better the big jackpot is the royal flush.  It took soooo long for the royal flush to happen that it didn't make sense to try to save money and take a chance of getting one without the royal bonus.  9/6 Jacks at 99.544% is very close to a 100% game.  If you have the bankroll to play it at large denominations, I can see how the comps would put you positive.  9/6 Jacks is not available at my casino at anything less than $2 a coin.  This would require a bankroll of at least $40K to play and I'm not up to investing that much in a video poker game.  If you increase your bet in the way you describe, it could potentially cost you even more money and you could be staring at a huge lose that you'll never play out of. I'm not telling anyone how to play here, I'm just reporting what happens in my chair.

     So far Phil, I haven't even come close to having to bet 25 quarters using this method. No Royals yet either. However, hitting the hands that pay 4,6,9, for 1 allow me to back down as described below. It is usually pretty easy to get ahead 20 bucks on a quarter machine. I use a bankroll of 400 dollars. I take the twenty, switch games and play the Phil method on single coin Deuces Wild. Haven't even hit deuces quads yet, but haven't busted the 400 budget either. I usually switch machines as well when I collect that twenty and play a different 25/15/9/4/4/ machine on Deuces. Only 3 trips, but I have been able to play for nothing. When the twenty vanishes on Deuces, I go back to job and try to pick up another twenty. So far so good. Will report back both when the deuces quads hit for me and also when the budget busts which we all know is inevitable or the casinos wouldn't be in business.

[alpax]

I believe that those who see Jacks or Better as a boring game are the ones who are infatuated by Today's Score. I no longer view casino gambling based on Today's Score, but on a larger scale of things I do see a good purpose to play Jacks or Better.

There are two great opinions about the game in itself.

For the recreational player, I just think Linda Boyd is good at captivating recreational players, shares the basic reasons

http://www.americancasinoguide.com/gamb ... -play.html

For the serious players which apply to many here, there are Bob Dancer's insights in a rebuttal to that Boyd's points.

http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/bob_dancer/2013/0827.cfm

I see value in both of their opinions. I am aware certain casinos will give reduced comps and/or mailers for playing Jacks or Better. But for players with a smaller bankroll, it can enable them to be able to play most of the time though JoB is still vulnerable to the risk of run time to time.

I do not normally play long sessions or dedicate a far way trips just to play the game. I just see JoB as an effective way to increase casino club status, if a player does see value in that if any.

Generally the higher the casino club tier you are, the more benefits you receive from the casino which can essentially reduce "some" of the expected losses.

Free Hotel Room Upgrades
Line passes and priority reservations to restaurants
Bigger discounts to casino services
Increased point or cash back accrual
Dedicated Parking or Guaranteed Valet
Invitation to special tournaments
Hotel availability during major holidays

[FAA]

JOB VP is like the municipal bonds of gambling. With lower overall returns, but the possibility of a four figure hit over hopefully a year or two. Keep the free drinks coming and hit a quad a day, hopefully early on. You'll be close to break even and spare yourself despair! Stroll one mile on boardwalk at a brisk pace for exercise. Repeat weekly.
Refrain from breaking phone when RF free after 50,000 hands on app. My phone is worth almost as much as a royal, after all.

[alpax]

JOB VP is like the municipal bonds of gambling. With lower overall returns, but the possibility of a four figure hit over hopefully a year or two. Keep the free drinks coming and hit a quad a day, hopefully early on. You'll be close to break even and spare yourself despair! Stroll one mile on boardwalk at a brisk pace for exercise. Repeat weekly.
Refrain from breaking phone when RF free after 50,000 hands on app. My phone is worth almost as much as a royal, after all.


On the Video Poker Pocket app on my phone which I linked to this website, it took 130k hands to get my first RF, my next RF happened on the 180k th hand. I'm behind 2 cycles.I play JoB for small sessions spanning multiple sessions to keep bankroll alive.

[4625601]

this response is mostly directed to olds since I know from your posts u play at Mohegan(I really cant speak w/any authority about other casinos) but what ive found may apply to many others who are frustrated by the new "rng"...chips...whatever u want to call it.i play DDB;SDDB,and TDB..single line only in quarters..up to 2010 I was a dollar player but shortly after new year 2011 it was very apparent that something was going on w/the machines..i wont even get into raising coin in per point from 90.00 to almost 500.00 4 years later or not awarding any points at all on over 1/2 the machines...I decided that my max was to play quarters since I usually went w/between 300 and 500 per session...over the last 6 wks ive gone 3 times w/300 each time..the longest I lasted on those 3 trips was 53 minutes!i reluctantly switched to BPD(400 credits for a quad)I wont even mention pay tables(u can find fair paytables for the games ive mentioned)because they are of little consequence because of the way the machines have been set..in those 3 sessions I was dealt 2 quads in BPD..no quads were drawn at all in those 3 sessions....these are some of my observations:on 1 card draws u get back what u threw out a unreasonable %....on open ended straight draws u draw one of the 4 held cards a unreasonable %...on holding a pair and drawing nothing the very next hand the other 2 which woulda made your quad come out....consectutive hands w/the same pair dealt 3 or 4 times consecutively...after a winning hand above 1 pair multiple hands of garbage...the frequency with which all of the above occur can not possibly be random..it has to be programmed into the chip...I had gone 6 mths between my last trip and these last 3 trips...I stopped using my card a few years ago(whats the point 500.00$ in for 2 or 3 pts)I wont be going back till the time in October when players cards are up for renewal as it just seems more "lights are lit up" on the machines in the week or 2 before renewal date

[wildman49]

this response is mostly directed to olds since I know from your posts u play at Mohegan(I really cant speak w/any authority about other casinos) but what ive found may apply to many others who are frustrated by the new "rng"...chips...whatever u want to call it.i play DDB;SDDB,and TDB..single line only in quarters..up to 2010 I was a dollar player but shortly after new year 2011 it was very apparent that something was going on w/the machines..i wont even get into raising coin in per point from 90.00 to almost 500.00 4 years later or not awarding any points at all on over 1/2 the machines...I decided that my max was to play quarters since I usually went w/between 300 and 500 per session...over the last 6 wks ive gone 3 times w/300 each time..the longest I lasted on those 3 trips was 53 minutes!i reluctantly switched to BPD(400 credits for a quad)I wont even mention pay tables(u can find fair paytables for the games ive mentioned)because they are of little consequence because of the way the machines have been set..in those 3 sessions I was dealt 2 quads in BPD..no quads were drawn at all in those 3 sessions....these are some of my observations:on 1 card draws u get back what u threw out a unreasonable %....on open ended straight draws u draw one of the 4 held cards a unreasonable %...on holding a pair and drawing nothing the very next hand the other 2 which woulda made your quad come out....consectutive hands w/the same pair dealt 3 or 4 times consecutively...after a winning hand above 1 pair multiple hands of garbage...the frequency with which all of the above occur can not possibly be random..it has to be programmed into the chip...I had gone 6 mths between my last trip and these last 3 trips...I stopped using my card a few years ago(whats the point 500.00$ in for 2 or 3 pts)I wont be going back till the time in October when players cards are up for renewal as it just seems more "lights are lit up" on the machines in the week or 2 before renewal date


You are very much seeing what I see. There are a lot of people who play don't remember cards
well. The hold 4 and draw one card and get the same card back in
another suit is a classic. It should happen about 10% of the time but
where I play it happens 40+ % 0f the time. If I see back to back hands
same pair off the deal, I will see it one more time within the next 3
hands like clock work. There is no reason to play max bet, a system is
the only way to play, enjoy poker and play more even.

[wildman49]