Wild Thing Poker strategy (updated)

[Webman]

Here is a good introduction to strategy for those of you wanting to explore Wild Thing. Most mistakes happen on the first hold/fold so this should help you get some better returns. UPDATE: Here is the Wild Thing Poker strategy card in PDF format for those who wish to print it.Strategy:  Given the initial 3 cards, BET if: 1.  Any pair or 3-of-a-kind is in hand2.  Any 7 is in hand. 3.  If the hand is flushed, bet if:     a)   3 cards to a 5-card straight flush, or     b)   2 cards to a 5-card royal flush. 5.  If a 5 is in the hand, bet if:     a)  The other two cards are suited, or     b)  The other two cards fit into a 5-card straight.     EXCEPTIONS to 5b:     i)    fold if the other two cards are (A,2), (A,3), (A,4) or (2,6) and the            hand contains three different suits (rainbow)     ii)   fold if the other two cards are (4, 8) and the 4 is a different suit           from either the 5 or the 8.  Bet (4,5,8) if the (4,5) is suited or the            (4,8) is suited, but not if only the (5,8) is suited.6.  Bet the hand (T, J, Q) if at least two of the three cards have the     same suit.Strategy for 5 cards Play on to 7 cards under these conditions:  1.   Two or more '7s'in the hand   2.   Any (RF3,RF4,SF4 or FL4)   3.   A '7' with a Natural(Pair or FL3 or ST3 or SF3 or SF2)    4.   Any hand with 2P,3K,ST,FL,FH,4K,SF or RF     5.   A 4 card straight with a '7'in the straight                                  eg. 7H 9H TD JC any  6.   Possible (both ST3 AND FL3) with a '7' in the straight.                      eg. 7D 8H 9H KH AC     7.   Lose at 5 cards but a Sure Win at 7 cards (ST,FL,SF,WRF)                     eg. 7H JH QD KC AS    8.   ALL 3 of these conditions are met (ST4 OPEN AND SF3 AND a Pair)              eg. 9H TH JH QD QC That concludes the basic strategy overview.And for you numbers lovers who want to take things further...




Three Card Hands Dealt Results


Hand
Pay
Probability
Revenue


NA
0
0.81393665
0.00000000


3 of a Kind
4
0.02823529
0.11294116


ST
1
0.07004525
0.07004525


FL
2
0.07076923
0.14153846


SF
4
0.01683258
0.06733032


3 Wild ' 3s '
10
0.00018100
0.00181000


Sum
 
1.00000000
0.39366519








Five Card Hands Dealt Results


Hand
Pay
Probability
Revenue


NA
0
0.34862360
0.00000000


K3
1
0.09777403
0.09777403


ST
4
0.01343337
0.05373348


FL
6
0.00473913
0.02843478


FH
8
0.00443116
0.03544928


K4
10
0.01082479
0.10824790


SF
40
0.00081879
0.03275160


K5
50
0.00024010
0.01200500


4 Wild ' 5s '
250
0.00001847
0.00461750


RF
1000
0.00000154
0.00154000


Sum
 
0.48090498
0.37455357








Seven Card Hands Dealt Results


Hand
Pay
Probability
Revenue


NA
0
0.11109196
0.00000000


ST
2
0.05380843
0.10761686


FL
3
0.03206394
0.09619182


FH
3
0.04117834
0.12353502


K4
5
0.04419951
0.22099755


SF
10
0.00988395
0.09883950


K5
50
0.00409141
0.20457050


K6
500
0.00008683
0.04341500


K7
1000
0.00000072
0.00072000


4 Wild ' 7s '
500
0.00012647
0.06323500


RF
1000
0.00001938
0.01938000


Sum
 
0.29655094
0.97850125








Probability of going to the next level is :


Go
from 3 cards to 5 cards 
48.0905%


Go
from 5 cards to 7 cards
61.6652%





Return


98.2707%

[BOOPSAHOY]

My head just exploded

[faygo]

My head just exploded
 
Your right, somedays I just want to play. If, I lose Webman reloads the kitty.

[ginxxxx]

I just knew it!  It's MATH! It's MATH!  Blondes don't do MATH!

[Webman]

Hey, I'm blonde too. Just look at the 5 main holds for now if you want to give it a shot. The chart is for the math folks that can decipher some meaning from it.I'm going to take a shot at learning this game myself to see if I can pick it up. Making the correct decision on the first round should help significantly, but I'll also post the 5 card draws when I receive them. I'm guessing that will be a longer list, though maybe still not as long as your standard strategy chart for deuces, etc.

[shadowman]

The strategy looks much simpler than most VP games. It seems more difficult simply because it's different from were used to. That said, a game at just over 98% is of little interest to me. 
 
PS. I was blonde until most of them went on a permanent strike.

[Webman]

3-card strategy has been updated above. Give this new strategy a shot and see if your results improve. 5 card strategy is forthcoming...

[New2vp]

Thank you, Webman.  Such strategy hints on an unconventional game are very helpful.
 
I'm going to guess that the 5-card strategy is going to be quite difficult to characterize simply.  Since we will end with 7 cards and wild 7s, we can be simultaneously trying for 4 of a kind, full house, straight flush, straight and flush.  So, we could have many different holds in the same hand.  And straight draws are different depending on whether a natural 7 is in the sequence since there are only 3 true open-ended 4-card straights not requiring a natural 7 (KQJT,QJT9,5432) and only one true open-ended 3-card straight (QJT).
 
Some of the hands will be simple such as any scoring hand or any hand with two sevens.   The other non-wild hands will likely be pretty straightforward also such as any 3 of a kind, 3-card royal, 4-card flush, 4-card open-ended straight with a pair.  Any 2-pair including a 3-card open-ended straight or a 3-card flush might also be fairly easy to portray even if we don't have holds like that in conventional video poker.
 
However, the hands with one seven and four different ranks will be quite hard to differentiate.  You can have such hands where there are two different 3-card flushes in the hand since the 7 can act as either suit.  Or there might be only one 3-card flush or all the non-wilds might be from 4 different suits.  The relationship of these 4 different ranked natural cards will determine whether a 5-card hand with a 7 will be bet again or not.
 
You will have hands such as:
 
7 with (a) 2 straight flush cards with 2 gaps including the 7,
           (b) a 2-card straight with 2 gaps, and
           (c) a 3-card straight with 7 as the gap
 
Once I see it, I will almost wonder if it might be easier to list these hands then to try to understand how to describe them.
 
Thanks again.  I'm not sure that I would try this game much if I didn't have the better idea that Webman gave us on how to start out with the 3-card hands.

[ginxxxx]

I, too, am picking up the pieces of my exploded head.  Thank you for the strategy chart, I printed it and will study it as soon as I can find all the pieces.ginxxx

[Eduardo]

Could be lucky, but I've done well yesterday and today playing the strategy.  It at least is feeling comfortable to play now knowing those initial hold strategies. The second hold strategy is probably much more complex on paper but it seems fairly easy to guess your chances once you have used the correct first hold.
 
One thing I finally had to realize is that when deciding to hold or fold, you need to completely ignore what score is in your hand right now and look at what your chances would be after the draw. Sometimes you fold on a winning 3 card hand or 5 card hand because you are better off taking the money and running than taking those cards into the 5 or 7 card round. And obviously if you have 2 7's in the 5 card hand you may not score, but you will have a good shot in the 7 card hand. It sounds complicated but I'm finding it much easier now that I've played a little more.