Wonder If?

[FloridaPhil]

I'm sure every video poker player has noticed how common it is to miss a royal flush by one card. It happens so often I've wondered if the game designers display the cards this way to make players think they are getting closer to a royal than they really are. I have heard that regular slots display near jackpots all the time for the same reason. This wouldn't be illegal as long as they only manipulated the cards displayed and not the actual payout. What do you think?

[mdmick67]

I'm sure every video poker player has noticed how common it is to miss a royal flush by one card. It happens so often I've wondered if the game designers display the cards this way to make players think they are getting closer to a royal than they really are. I have heard that regular slots display near jackpots all the time for the same reason. This wouldn't be illegal as long as they only manipulated the cards displayed and not the actual payout. What do you think?Lol, It does make one wonder at times. That's what keeps the players glued to there machines as they empty out their wallets and go home broke once again

[onemoretry]

This wouldn't be illegal as long as they only manipulated the cards displayed and not the actual payout. What do you think?
In some jurisdictions it is, in fact, illegal. Here is a quote from a gaming regulation: "After the selection of game outcome the gaming equipment must not make a variable secondary decision which affects the result shown to a player. For example, the RNG chooses an outcome that the game will lose. The game must not substitute a particular type of loss to show to the player".

[FAA]

"The game must not substitute a particular type of loss to show to the player".---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Very interesting sentence. Do you recall what jurisdiction this applies to? They are definitely on top of their game. Casinos are not pulling the near miss routine there!

[alpax]

First you have to understand that there are way more possible combinations to end up with an almost royal flush (4 suited high cards) compared to the actual royal flush.

(5 possible cards to be missing) * (47 replacement cards that does not make the hand the royal flush) * (4 possible suits) = 940 ways to be short of a royal flush by 1 card.

That is compared to 4 possible outcomes you can get a royal flush, it is more than 200 times common, so that is the reason players see they are one short more times than being successful.

Same logic with the lottery, with the 5 white balls that are not the Power or Mega number. People fall short 1 ball most of the time, people think they were so close, but in reality the odds of getting 4 out of 5 balls than getting all 5 balls are way off.

[onemoretry]

Do you recall what jurisdiction this applies to? They are definitely on top of their game. Casinos are not pulling the near miss routine there!
I perhaps erred in calling it a regulation, but I think it equates to one.

It is from a document called Electronic Gaming Minimum Technical Standards. It is from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

As noted in the previous post, finishing with four to the royal is not all that rare. In fact, if you do the math (oops, that might set somebody off), it's two to three times more likely than a quad.

[Eduardo]

Math works out funny sometimes!

[FAA]

That makes sense, OMT. The four to a RF is such a source of consternation and dismay among us precisely because of its nauseating and numbing frequency!

[ko king]

I'm sure every video poker player has noticed how common it is to miss a royal flush by one card. It happens so often I've wondered if the game designers display the cards this way to make players think they are getting closer to a royal than they really are. I have heard that regular slots display near jackpots all the time for the same reason. This wouldn't be illegal as long as they only manipulated the cards displayed and not the actual payout. What do you think?

I've thought about this myself, almost every trip to the casino I have at least 1 near miss, last time I played I had two near misses, both were for the queen of hearts. I know the two aren't related but I play a ton of Let it Ride, by ton I mean probably around 100K hands. I have never even came close to hitting a royal flush or even seeing anyone come close. The most common question I hear people ask the dealers is "have you ever dealt a royal flush" the answer is always "I've never dealt one and I don't know any other dealer that has either". A few of the dealers will say they have dealt a straight flush before, personally I've never even witnessed a straight flush being dealt. Just a simple four of a kind is a very rare event. The funny thing is that the casino nearest my location only has video Let it Ride, no dealers and I've hit plenty of quads and seen a couple of royals hit along with a couple of straight flushes, isn't that odd.

[Vman96]

[QUOTE=FloridaPhil]This wouldn't be illegal as long as they only manipulated the cards displayed and not the actual payout. What do you think?
In some jurisdictions it is, in fact, illegal. Here is a quote from a gaming regulation: "After the selection of game outcome the gaming equipment must not make a variable secondary decision which affects the result shown to a player. For example, the RNG chooses an outcome that the game will lose. The game must not substitute a particular type of loss to show to the player". [/QUOTE]

Not just some. Many jurisdictions. Any jurisdiction where paytables and strategy matter.

And 4 to a Royal is the completed hand much more often than an actual Royal. I forget the exact number and I don't have the time to look it back up, but I've read it's close to 1 in 470 for 9/6 JoB. Just a little less frequent than a four of a kind. You should see roughly 85 "royal scares" for 1 "success" on average.