Thread: Video Poker View Single Post
2010-06-23, 02:42   #8
sdbardwick

Aug 2002
North San Diego County

2×11×31 Posts

Quote:
 Originally Posted by retina The thing about casinos is that they never allow the expected return to be >=100%. That would be bad for business. But learning the optimum strategy for poker is pretty simple, no need to use a computer to tell you. And even without a computer helping you, you can still get kicked out if you play too well. Just don't be a dick about things and they won't mind you playing well, but don't plan to ever get an expected return of over 100%.
The optimum strategy for video poker differs radically from normal poker; one of the hardest things to learn is ignore all of your real-world experiences. The seemingly minor alterations in the pay tables can have odd impacts on proper perfect-play technique.
Back in the early 00s I practiced with the program mentioned above until I was over 99.9% (I would get $99.948 out of each possible$100.00) perfect for one specific game and one specific pay table; changing the pay table slightly (IIRC for the flush/full house payouts) dropped me to around 89%.

I think I lost about $1500 cash over 12 months on about$100,000 action. Never hit the royal flush you need to come out ahead. If you valued non-cash comps (rooms, meals) at FMV, I probably came out a tiny bit ahead.