Why Banning Single Coin Players is Stupid

[FloridaPhil]

There are different views on how to enjoy video poker.    You can choose your game by the odds, play like a computer and stick with that game counting on math to make you a winner or you can treat VP like a wheel of fortune and take your shot.   I see no conflict between the two, only two ways to enjoy the same game.I prefer the wheel of fortune view.   If I was given two choices, sit at a full pay quarter deuces wild game for a month or walk around the casino playing 98.9% $5 deuces wild 1 coin at a time, I would take the second option.  I know for a fact that the first option would pay better long term.  The second option would be 100% more fun for me. I totally understand the frustration of math based video poker experts on this forum.  Their math is correct.  They are also correct when they say most players won't do what it takes to win long term.   I play my way because I like playing my way, not because I believe there is any flaw in their strategy.  Video poker is not my career and there is nobody to beat me up if I lose money except myself.Gambling is risk taking.   Most of the fun in gambling is the anticipation of winning.   I'm paying for the anticipation of winning and the excitement when it happens.   If I don't win long term, I could care less.  If I go home with some money left in my pockets, I count the day as a win. 

[WVRadar]

There are different views on how to enjoy video poker.    I'm paying for the anticipation of winning and the excitement when it happens.   If I don't win long term, I could care less.  If I go home with some money left in my pockets, I count the day as a win. 



Well stated. My view exactly, with the added attraction of having some say as to whether you win or lose as opposed to slots.

[FloridaPhil]

If you are going to enjoy the game to it's fullest, I think it's important to analyze
your motivations for playing the game.   It took me years to realize
this.   I finally decided to play the way that gives me the most
personal enjoyment and I'm happy with my decision.   No one knows better
than me what I like to do with my own money.I find the "grinding it out" method of playing VP boring.  After a few hours, I find myself drifting into the high limit room or taking a shot on some slot machine.   I beat myself up for doing this, but it never changed anything.   Eventually, I realized I was not a computer and had no desire to be one.    To me, gambling is entertainment pure and simple.   If you can't afford to lose your money, you shouldn't be in a casino to begin with.  All I want is the most fun for my money, not the most money for my fun.

[FAA]

I now feel that I have been playing into the casino's hands with my mid level, timid wagering! I haven't paid the price yet with a meager paying RF. But it's only a matter of time. You can't be half pregnant. One or five. That's no jive. Carpe diem!

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=FAA]I now feel that I have been playing into the casino's hands with my mid level, timid wagering[/quote]The next time you are at the casino try this.   Go to the $5 video poker machines.  Put in a $20 bill and play one line single coin deuces wild.  Play as perfect as you can.  Play until you either lose your $20 or the counter reaches $50.   If you lose your $20, leave and find something else to do.  If the counter reaches $50, switch to max coins (5).  If you lose that hand switch back to single coin until the counter returns to $50.  If you win that hand continue at max coins using $100 minimum cash out levels.  Put aside a few $20s during the day just for this purpose.   Do not play them all at once, space them out during the day.  The worst thing that can happen is you lose a few $20 bills.  The best thing is wonderful.If you hit a single coin quad deuce, you will collect $1,000 for a $20 bet.  I have done this 4 times so far, which has put my way ahead on this strategy.   Even small max coin wins pay big.  You don't need outrageous luck to get paid big playing this way.  Deuces wild is a relatively low variance game with many small payouts and frequent mini jackpots for a straight flush, 5-of-a-kind and a wild royal.  This strategy does not work well with quad based games like JB  or DDB as quads are too infrequent.The chances of winning money playing this way are much better than playing the lotto.  However, if you play $5 machines all day long you will most likely lose a fortune and that's never fun.  Limit your $5 game "pot shots" to only a few hands a day.   If it doesn't work out, you won't lose much.  If it does work, do not think you have discovered the secret of the universe and start hitting the ATM.  You haven't discovered anything, you just got lucky.  Luck happens in VP and it occasionally pays pretty well.This is an exciting, cheap way to bet bigger.  This will only work for you if you can handle walking away with your profits.  Do not become greedy and feed your winnings back into the machine.  Stick with the program as I have defined it here.   I do not claim this is a long term winning strategy.  This is a luck based strategy.   It is also a lot of fun for not much money.  I do not recommend this if you are someone who has a tough time managing your money or sticking to your budget.If you believe VP is all about mathematics and you want the best chance of making a long term profit, check out the Strategy Forum.  These guys know what they are talking about.   VP fun and profit are not necessarily the same thing.

[billryan]

   At this point, anyone who listens to FP for advice has been forewarned and forearmed. Best of luck.

[FloridaPhil]

[quote=Billryan] At this point, anyone who listens to FP for advice has been forewarned and forearmed. Best of luck.[/quote]You will never hit a $5 game jackpot on a quarter VP machine.  If you play big, most players lose big.  Those are the facts.Playing bigger with a tiny portion of your money makes getting lucky more profitable as long as you don't get sucked into the vortex of believing you can beat the casino that way.  The casino wants you to believe you can beat them.  In fact they are counting on it.  They send you free play and give you free stuff to get you to come back.  Some casinos even bring in experts to tell you how to do it.   There is nothing sinister about this.  A casino is a business that exists to make money for their stockholders.  They know the more you play the better their chance.No casino wants you to play single coin VP and they sure don't want you to hit a big jackpot and walk out with it.   Doing this takes luck and discipline.  These are the same attributes required to win no matter how you play the game.  There are no guarantees either way. 

[FAA]

Pretty exciting strategy. I'm hard core JOB. But 99.5 is too much jive without a quad. This DW gambit is something to try in my last half hour in town. Meanwhile, I will cold turkey the mid level garbage. It's September. New leaf. There's not a hell of a lot of anecdotal winning from the JOB sector. We're all just enduring misery as we await a RF. Silence of the Lambs.

[FloridaPhil]

If you win a lot of money, remember who told you about it.  If you lose, you're own your own.  

[olds442jetaway]

I have lost more money in the shortest amount of time playing 99.54 job than any other game. Most reading here know that I have had several experiences of going over 500 or even 600k hands without a Royal. I have also had days playing six to ten hours and never hit a quad and many other sessions where the full houses are so far apart it seems line they haven't come in at all. When you put these three things together, your bankroll vanishes in minutes or at most an hour or two. For me and I think Phil too, regular Deuces Wild keeps you playing longer with the same money. It doesn't mean you will win, but the longer you play with the same money, the better are your chances of hitting the better hands. That is just a fact that can't be disputed. I don't think anyone can argue that playing 6 hours with the same bankroll gives you less of a chance to hit a Royal than playing 2 hours. Of course what I focus on is hitting the wild royals and quad deuces and the 5 of a kinds are nice if they hit to keep you playing a little longer. Now if I could only do this.......quit when I am up ten percent on my bankroll for the day....I can't even get one percent in the bank yet almost every session at some point, I am up ten percent or more on the money I brought with me playing deuces wild.