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Casino 101 Henry Tamburin Video
Poker for Dummies (continued)
Every video poker machine that has ever been built will list the pay schedule for each winning hand (based on the number of coins or credits played) somewhere on the front of the machine, or on the screen itself. Glance at the pay schedules for machines A, B and C above (for a single coin play). You will notice a difference in the payouts for a full house and a flush. Machine A pays 9 coins for the full house and 6 coins for the flush. Likewise, machine B pays 8/5 and machine C pays only 6/5. No big deal you say? Well, these slight differences affect your long-term payback. Machine A has an overall payback of 99.5% with expert play (this also assumes you play the maximum five coins and the royal flush payout for maximum coins played is 4,000 coins). With expert play and an 8/5 payout, machine B will yield a long-term payback of 97.3%. Machine C, paying at 6/5, will return only 95.0%. Over 100% Payback Machines When video poker players caught on to the full-pay 9/6 Jacks-or-Better machines, the casinos began flooding the market with many variations of the game. Each of these variations (e.g. Deuces Wild, Jokers Wild, Double Bonus, etc.) has its own specific full-pay schedule and expert playing strategy. There isn’t enough space in this column to list the full-pay schedules for every type of video poker machine you will find in a casino. Therefore, I’ve summarized the full-pay schedules for the Deuces Wild and Double Double Bonus Poker machines. I’ve chosen these games because they are fairly popular in Las Vegas and elsewhere. More importantly, they offer the astute video poker player the opportunity to play with an expected return that exceeds 100%, which means that with expert play, these machines will pay out more coins than they take in over time. Notice I’ve highlighted the key payoffs that you need to look for as you scout the different video poker machines. If you play a Deuces Wild machine, make sure the four-of-a-kind payoff is five coins, not four coins. If you are interested in Double Double Bonus, look for a 10/7 payout for the full house and flush. What Does "Greater Than 100% Return" Mean?
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