Stinky Biloxi Trip Ends Well

[FloridaPhil]

This Biloxi trip was a great example of why you need the Cheap Video
Poker strategy in your bag of tricks.  We arrived on Sunday afternoon
and played almost solid until we left this morning about 8:00 AM. We
took time out to sleep, eat and drive from casino to casino, but
everything else was button pushing time.  Our luck was terrible from the
beginning.  I think I took a $200 shot at the quarter DDB progressive
in the back near the poker room, but all else was Deuces Wild. As I
expected, the deuces odds at the Beau were as bad as I remember.  Most
of the other casinos have also dropped their odds to the same stinky
levels since Margaritaville closed.  We did find
some better odds at the IP and by far the best odds on the Gulf Coast
are at the Island View bar in Gulfport.  With 9/6 Jacks and Airport
Deuces in quarters, it's hard to get a seat so get there early.  
Anyway, we stayed with the single quarter Cheap Strategy to conserve money and
I'm glad we did.  It was so bad that getting a wild four of a kind was
worth a high five.  If we had played all three days at max coins,
it would have been nasty.  The pot shots on the $5 machines were
actually coming out a little better.  I won about $300 with the potshots
over the three days, so I was only down about $500 at 9 PM last night.
This morning I decided to stay with the quarter Cheap Strategy.  I
played for about an hour when the machine took off like a rocket.  With
$20 in the machine I was up to $60 when I switched to max coins on every
hand.  Five minutes later I was dealt three to a royal.  I held them
and this cutie came up.  First natural royal I've had in 5 months. 
Sorry the picture is fuzzy, I hadn't had my coffee yet...  If I had
played max coins the whole time, I would still be down over $1,000 even
with the Royal.  You can call it luck if you want.  I'll just keep
posting the pictures...

[alpax]

Congrats Phil! Your luck continues with that Royal Flush on .. MAX credit bet!

To the point of your story, I agree your strategy is much needed for playing on less than stellar paytables.

[olds442jetaway]

Great job Phil. Sounds like I need to hang in there longer at Mohegan. I am going to try it with Bonus Poker Deluxe, but unfortunately, on that game, you only catch a winner every ten hands or so and on Deuces wild in the long run every 6th hand will be a winner. The upside is a quad is worth eighty for one. I may even combine the two alternating with Deuces and this game. Heading up tonight in a little while. This is a real low budget trip so it will be a good time to stick with the single coin method. Funny how hot the Deuces game can get when the deuces just keep coming out.

[Vman96]

Nice job hitting another Royal on max bet!

And I'm guessing your wife is also following this strategy to an extent? What does she think slash how well has she done?

[alpax]

Forgot to add, please post this pic on the Win Gallery!

[Lucky Larry]

Congratulations Phil.   

[FloridaPhil]

My wife loves to play single quarter Cheap Strategy Deuces and in fact it's the only way she will play for any extended period of time.  It allows her to play all day and she says it's more exciting because every time she gets to hit the max coin button, she never knows what's going to happen.  She actually did better than I did until the Royal.  She got 3 sets of quad deuces for $50 each which kept her about even for the whole three days.  If you can play 94% video poker for three solid days and come out even, I say you won... I do not consider the Cheap Strategy as the only way to play video poker.  I use it as a fall back strategy on bad days or to get me through long dry spells. Some people will tell you that you cannot tell when you are in a good run or a bad run of video poker until after it happens.  I say that with enough experience you have a better than even chance of guessing right.   Timing is the most important factor in video poker and if you get it right you can win even with bad odds.  I realize this goes against everything the experts say and I don't want to get cocky, but it keeps happening time and time again.  There's something to this and it's not all luck.  Personally I think it has something to do with the way the new RNG chips work, but that's a whole different topic. 

[onemoretry]

  I say that with enough experience you have a better than even chance of guessing right.   Timing is the most important factor in video poker and if you get it right you can win even with bad odds

I guess I must be a slow learner. I've been playing video poker for more than 20 years, with probably a couple of million hands dealt, and I have absolutely no clue as to what is coming next.

[FloridaPhil]

Great question and fun to discuss...  Keep in mind that I am playing video poker for peanuts, so it doesn't cost me much to have crazy ideas...  I believe it's possible that today's video poker machines deal the hands differently than what we saw 10 years ago.  I don't think these RNGs are 100% random.  The chips are designed to test good to the regulators and to keep the odds the same, but they pay out differently.  The casinos think that anyone with a computer can become an expert player, so the game makers had to come up with something to protect their customer's bottom line.  Ask any serious video poker player if their results are the same as they were 10 years ago and see what they say.   Traditional strategy was created in a world where 100% plus machines were common place.  Unless you're Bob Dancer living in Vegas, I don't believe that works anymore. So what are we left with?  We can only rely on facts.  Two facts that I am sure about are; most of the good hands come up in a small percentage of the overall hands and wild card games run in streaks.  I say forget the Royals and bet small most of the time, then bet bigger when the trend says it's time.  If you don't agree, that's fine.  Just think about it with an open mind.   Real or BS?  You decide...

[DaBurglar]

I like the fact the word "stinky" sits prominently at the start of this thread......well done Phil