|
Casino 101 Henry Tamburin Video
Poker for Dummies Please don’t send me e-mails about how upset you are over the title of this column. If you have read this far, then I’ve succeeded in getting your attention. Now I aim to keep it by giving you information on how to play one of the best casino games and win more money. Slots vs. Video Poker If you are a die-hard slot player, you know very well that today’s slot machines come in all different shapes, sizes and flavors. The newer slots have high-tech graphics and sound effects, game-within-a-game features, bonus jackpots, familiar TV game show themes and more. But there is one undeniable fact about a slot machine. It’s impossible to calculate what a slot machine will pay back with the information that is provided on the face of the machine. Only two people know this deep, dark secret–your friendly casino slot manager and the slot manufacturer that sold him the machine. So even though casinos may advertise that their slot machines pay "up to 99%," you have no clue if the slot machine standing in front of you returns that much. Indeed, it probably returns a lot less. Ah, but standing next to those slot machines are the fewer in number, but higher in payback, video poker machines. Although they look like slot machines, there is one major difference. All the information you need to determine a video poker machine’s payback percentage is contained smack dab on the front of the machine. And since all video poker machines are not created equal, by understanding how to read a video poker machine you can scout the casino floor and find the ones that have the highest payback. Your job, therefore, is to understand how to read the pay schedules, and my job is to show you how easy it is to do it. Playing Skill While reading the pay schedules on video poker machines is highly important, so is your skill in playing them. You will be dealt five electronic cards and you must decide which cards you want to keep (or hold) and which ones you want to discard for new ones. Your objective, of course, is to end up with a five-card poker hand that results in a payoff. So, no matter how well you learn to read the machine’s pay schedule, if you insist on discarding a low pair and keeping a single high card, or always keeping a kicker, your return will be much lower. Fortunately, several video poker experts have already computed the optimum playing strategy for different video poker games. These strategies are available in books, videos and software programs. But in a minute I’ll show you how you can play like an expert without having to resort to spending hours memorizing playing strategies. Full Pay vs. Short Pay Video
poker machines that have the highest payouts are known as full-pay
machines. For example, look at the pay schedule for the original
version of Jacks-or-Better. Specifically, we will look at the single
coin pay schedule for three different machines. |