Modified Beau Rivage Strategy

[FloridaPhil]

We just booked a three day trip to the Beau Rivage over Thanksgiving.  The whole trip is comped, so this calls for a different strategy.   The Beau is a great hotel and we love going there, especially when it's free...  The VP pay tables are pretty bad, so you're paying to play anyway.  We figure the trip and airfare is worth about $1,000, so it's max coins for three days.  I just can't stomach three days of Jacks, so I'm brushing up on my Deuces strategy.  Bring on the Royals! 

[henn9438]

I can't imagine a worst way to make a living than sitting in a casino and pounding away at Jacks for years on end.

[FloridaPhil]

I totally agree. I play once a week and on numerous road trips.   At my denomination, most all the games available to me are 95% to 98% games.  With those odds, I guarantee you will lose a ton of money chasing Royals.  For me, the most exciting game to play is Deuces Wild.  I play one coin and switch to max coins after every hand where I win 4 coins or more. I switch back to one coin if I don't win that hand.  I keep good records and have hit 6 $1,000 quad deuces, two short royals and one max coin royal this year and am about even.  I think I'm doing pretty good considering the odds. The excitement mounts every time I switch to max coins and it's a lot of fun.  I've even had good days when quad deuces didn't happen because I hit multiple wild royals at max coins.  A winning professional video poker player is getting to be a thing of the past.  Video Poker is about having fun, so I think everyone should play the way they enjoy it most. 
 

[opalineopaline]

FloridaPhil,I don't remember what you posted about your Turkey day trip to Beau?  Did you come out even?  I haven't been in about 9 months - and changes?  Is the short row of deuces wild machines still towards the back?  Those are the ones I usually play - deuces wild or deuces wild bonus.  I'm going in early January - same as you - fully comped and some free play.  I can't wait to go as I live in Texas ans seldom get to a casino - maybe two or three times a year.  My last trip to the Beau was a bust financially (lost more than I expected) but I still had a lot of fun.  I don't think I can play less than max but I just might give your method a try this time.  You are so right, we should just have fun, not chase the Royal and enjoy the quad deuces when we get them. 

[FloridaPhil]

The Thanksgiving trip to the Beau was great. I started out playing DDB quarters in the back where they have the progressive and didn't do much.  I switched to Deuces and hit a $250 quad deuce within an hour or so.  The next day I got bored playing deuce quarters and switched to single coin dollar deuces using my 4 coin max strategy.  About 30 minutes in I hit this one for $1,000.  I went home even for the whole 3 day trip and was ecstatic.  In order to play this way you need to mentally discount royals.  I would rather have a $1,000 quad deuce every month or so than waiting 45,000 hands for a royal. Also, you have a chance of hitting a max coin royal for $4K!  Haven't done that so far, but it's coming.

[royal flush]

good one, I would not hit that as I would not play do something nice with the cash

[opalineopaline]

FloridaPhil,Thanks for the show and tell!  I agree with you - I would be happy to get 4 deuces on deuces wild anytime of the day rather than going for the Royal.  I normally play quarters but will try your method for a while on the $1.00.  I've hit four deuces on dollars twice and it great - no taxes and no waiting for that elusive Royal.  I really much rather hit the deuces four times than hit one royal.  More fun and no taxes.Keep it going.

[Tedlark]

  Nice hits Phil, one of these days I've got to get down to the Beau and check it out.

[FloridaPhil]

It's very interesting to play this way. I usually set a $300 budget for the session which normally lasts me at least 3-4 hours.  You can lose for a while, then you'll hit a max coin 5-of-kind for $75 or a Wild Royal for $125 and come back.  Often you will hit a max coin 4-kind for $20. As I see it, the whole trick is to hang in there long enough for a quad deuce to happen.  It seems like I hit about 3/4 of them at $200 and the rest at $1,000. Single coin Royals pay $250 which is $50 more than a single coin quad deuce.  Like all games, you can have a losing day occasionally, but I seem to win or break even more than half of the time.  I quit when I get tired or my hands start to cramp up.
Like I said, I haven't hit a max coin Royal yet.  When that happens I will gladly take the W2G.   I've tried this strategy with other games and it doesn't work well.  DW is a streaky game with long good and bad spells.  The rhythm of this system seems to match the way the game normally works.  I tested it using Video Poker for Winners for a long time before I played it with real money.  Try it yourself and see if you like it.