OK What Would YOU do??

[onemoretry]

 lol. go for the royal its why you play the game
 So, when you're dealt four aces, how do you decide which one to keep to go for the royal?

[BillyJoe]

  I, too, share the same outlook as roveer. I will take a 400 coin payout for a dealt FH almost, I say almost, everytime but I will occasionally play a hunch and go for the 4oak. If I am playing a machine with TDB I will more than likely draw for the 4oak if the FH is comprised of 3 premium cards such as aces, 2's, 3's, or 4's. Because billyjoe also favors TDB he might also make this play. 
 
In TDB, I ALWAYS keep the 3 Aces, and shuck the FH, no matter what. If I am playing TDB, and get a FH with TTF, it usually depends on the number of lines that I am playing. If I am playing single line, or 3 line, I will keep the FH. If I am playing 5 line or 10 line, I may just keep the trips, and try for at least one quad (400 or 2000) out of it.
But that's me..  

[DaBurglar]

[quote]It used to bother me a lot more than it does now that some people just don't "get it." My chosen profession is to explain the "EV approach" to anyone who WANTS to understand it, but if someone wants to take another approach that's really okay with me. I'll sleep just as well whether there were 0 or 50 posts saying things like "always go for the royal," or "if I'm playing for nickels I do it this way but if I'm playing for quarters I do it that way."  [/quote]  Geez, I thought I made it clear why I might (MIGHT) drop the 9 if it were 5 cent, and it has nothing to do with understanding the concept of EV.   Anyone who has had High School Economics understands EV, and will understand it if you apply it when discussing VP. But the thing is Bub Dancer, most people dont play VP for the same reason as you do....it is pure fun and distraction.  They choose to leave all pretense of rationality and intelligence at home when they head to Vegas, or Reno or AC or whereever.... I incorporate my understanding and thinking into my play without too much trouble, so thinking in terms of EV when playing VP isnt hard but I do not obsess over it or do it rigidly like some bedrock principle.  I will save that mindset for the real world in business, real estate, investing etc.   Now in your case, VP IS the real world so great, a person must always do the right thing or else their real world will end....not so the rest of us. The fact is:  the actual event of successfully getting the royal after discarding the 9 in a SF is such a rush and the type of event that spawns a LIFETIME of "remember whens" and other stories for the lucky stiff who gets it, that its VALUE goes far beyond the simple math of 250 coins versus 4000 coins versus ZERO coins.... calculating EV when you have such potential abstract and esoteric concepts like those associated with pulling off a hail mary miracle of sorts just doesnt work professor....