2019 VP

[FloridaPhil]

My wife and I are avid Recreational video poker players. Playing video poker is our hobby. We are both retired. I believe this forum is the only place on the Internet where Recreational VP is being openly discussed. We are not here to talk about beating the casino. We are here to talk about enjoying VP as entertainment. We invite other Recreational players to be part of this forum.

About this time last year, I decided to make my game of choice Jacks/Bonus Poker. After years of Deuces Wild I wanted to change things around a bit. My wife stayed with Deuces and played as she always does. Considering the games I had to play, I had a good year. I hit six royals with one hand pay. I also hit three $500 4 AwK playing DDB. The games we played ranged from 96-99%. I played quarters 98% of the time. My one hand pay came after I switched to 50 cent play back in January. Not counting comps, I ended up about $600 for the year.

There are some real differences between the two games. I never had a single card royal. All my royals would have happened on either game. One was dealt. Most were three card royal draws. The real difference was in the length of the good and bad spells. Deuces Wild is a very entertaining game. The bell rings a lot of the time and you have wild royals to keep you going. The quad deuce mini jackpot makes your day. Hit one or more and you have a nice day. Don't hit one and you are not so happy.

I find the strategy for either game easy to follow. Deuces has a lot of marginal hands that I don't concern myself with. I'm playing quarter VP for entertainment and a few cents either way is not going to change my lifestyle. My wife modifies her strategy slightly to hit more royals. She holds all two card ace high non deuce two card royal draws. For a strictly quarter level Recreational player, I think this change has merit. The wild cards make wild royals much more common. The cost is never more than 4 cents a hand. A wild royal pays at least $25. Hit a real royal and you make up for many years worth of 4 cent losses. We have hit three with this hand so far.

Playing Bonus Poker and Jacks is drudgery. Other than a royal, the best thing that can happen in a day of Bonus Poker is to hit one or more quad aces for $100. You will normally feed this back into the machine. Quads have a bad habit of going on hiatus. If you don't get at least one an hour, you will feed the machine all day long. Feeding $20 bills into a machine for 40,000 hands waiting for a royal is more like a job than fun. It takes more discipline to stick to these games than I wish to muster. Still, I had a good year despite this.

I am going back to Deuces Wild in 2019. This game provides more entertainment for the money than any other casino game. The wild cards make every hand exciting. The biggest thing for me is it keeps me playing quarters. The anticipation of a $250 quad deuce is enough to keep my from upping my bet or going on tilt.

After years of playing this game, I have found game odds have no relationship to how you are going to do on a daily basis. In Vegas, where you can play 100% games, you may find yourself losing for days. On your next trip playing 97% games, you may go home a big winner. In Deuces Wild, it's all about the quad deuces and royals. Long term cost is not a concern for us. We expect there will be a cost, so we play quarters to make it as small as possible. We can spend more money eating in restaurants than it cost us to play quarter VP for a year.

As a Recreational player, when you walk into a casino you are faced with a lot of choices. Chances are non of those choices are going to make you rich. If you are going to put your money into a slot machine, consider this advice. Find the single line video poker machines. Find Deuces Wild. To be prepared, buy some software and learn to play this game at least 99% correct. Pick a denomination you are comfortable with and stick with it. Play the best game they have, but don't choose your denomination based on odds. Choose your denomination on the amount you are willing to lose. If the casino wants you to bet $10 a hand to gain 99% odds, the cost will most likely be much higher than if you play 97% games with quarters. Is possibly losing $5,000 in a day vs. $300 is worth the investment? It's your money.

This year I will be playing quarter single line Deuces Wild. I may switch games or denominations, but I will try not to. We'll see what happens.

[FAA]

I just hit quad deuces. On BP. But still exciting stuff. Especially after losing most of initial win. Woo hoo!

[olds442jetaway]

For 4 deuces today, I will gladly repay you next Tuesday. Now, lets see who is old enough to know where I got that line from. Hint.....spinach.

[doris13]

popeye;the character was wimpy i think

[olds442jetaway]

Exacty right Doris and its still on youtube

[FloridaPhil]

Exacty right Doris and its still on youtube

Wimpy liked hamburgers.

[billryan]

I like pizza, but pizza in Vegas sucks. Should I eat the bad pizza, all the while reminiscing about the good old days, when delicious pizza was everywhere.
It's hard having the discipline to only eat good pizza. Lets face it, pizza is addicting.

A couple times a year, I vacation and again it is pizza based. I could travel to places with outstanding pizza, but I'm friendly with a place that serves mediocre pizza. It's okay though, because heck- I'm eating pizza.

Pizza has gone hill the last few years and there are very few places left with really good pizza. It's important to tell everyone the pizza is bad, because no one wants to spend all their money on bad pizza.
I realize some experts only eat tasty pizza but shame on them. Always talking about the good stuff like that. I wish someone would explain how we can enjoy bad pizza better.

[OTABILL]

I like pizza, but pizza in Vegas sucks. Should I eat the bad pizza, all the while reminiscing about the good old days, when delicious pizza was everywhere.
It's hard having the discipline to only eat good pizza. Lets face it, pizza is addicting.

A couple times a year, I vacation and again it is pizza based. I could travel to places with outstanding pizza, but I'm friendly with a place that serves mediocre pizza. It's okay though, because heck- I'm eating pizza.

Pizza has gone hill the last few years and there are very few places left with really good pizza. It's important to tell everyone the pizza is bad, because no one wants to spend all their money on bad pizza.
I realize some experts only eat tasty pizza but shame on them. Always talking about the good stuff like that. I wish someone would explain how we can enjoy bad pizza better.

We have a couple of surprisingly good pizza here in Gilbert/Chandler AZ.. Two places where the owners had pizzerias in Queens and Brooklyn respectively. They know what they are doing.

[case]

Phil there is something in your speech I don't understand. You tell new players to learn the game so they can play at least 99% accurate. But you also tell them it is ok to change the strategy when going for a royal because losing a few cents a hand will never hurt. If you are trying to teach all these newbies you should never tell them to change strategy. I know you only believe in the short term results but anyone who takes the time to learn to play at least 99% accurate is in it for the long term. You included.

[FAA]

Pizza is like sex, as the adage goes. Even when it's bad, it's good.