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Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column with Jeffrey Compton, "Player's Edge", featuring information on promotions at various Las Vegas casinos. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Neon section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.

July 1, 2003

What Good Does It Do Me?

In early June, Shirley and I took a week off and took a cruise to Alaska. This turned into a "triple date" of sorts because we intentionally scheduled the cruise with two sets of married-couple video-poker-playing friends. The three couples ate dinner together and did a few things jointly, but each of the couples did more things by themselves than they did with the others. All six of us found this to be a very agreeable way to take a vacation.

On a shore excursion during a stopover in Skagway, all six of us took a train ride on this narrow-gauge railroad originally built during the Alaska gold rush at the tail end of the 19th century. At one point in the trip, there was some idle time while the train moved the engine from one end of the train to the other and I posed one of the questions discussed in last week's column, namely, "In Deuces Wild, when you draw three cards to a suited KQ, how many times out of 16,215 do you end up with a straight flush?"

One of the couples (Couple A) dug right in. It took them a few tries but eventually they wound up with the right answer. The other couple (Couple B) didn't even want to try. They saw no value whatsoever in knowing how to count combinations. They said that if it wouldn't help them to play better, they didn't want to do it. They argued, "As long as we have the strategy memorized, what difference does it make if we do one of these stupid puzzles?" So let's look at the benefits from knowing how to do this.

a. One benefit is strictly a matter of opinion. Many people (including both members of Couple A and myself) find it pleasurable to solve puzzles. A number of people, for example, solve the crossword puzzle every day even though there is no tangible reward whatsoever for doing so. Others (like Couple B and Shirley) don't find that exercise fun. So even though this is a reason I do such things, it wouldn't carry any weight with these people, so I didn't offer it.

b. I believe that people who like to solve puzzles and are good at it do better in video poker than those who don't. (Couple B hopes that they are an exception to this rule.) It frequently happens that a casino offers some special promotion (perhaps a 100-coin bonus for 4-card royals that was discussed in this column recently) or maybe a 100-coin bonus for a certain card of the day. Or perhaps a special bonus for a straight flush in hearts. Players who are good at puzzles and practice these things are more likely to come up with the right answer.

c. Players who keep challenging themselves at various video poker questions tend to remain sharp at the game. Players who don't find themselves forgetting hands.

d. Memorizing video poker strategy rules, especially the penalty cards, is a lot easier if you have a good understanding for the underlying mathematics. Most people can understand the learn to do this by studying the Dancer Daily Winner's Guide for whatever game they are interested in.

e. Occasionally you'll visit a new casino and they will have a slightly different variation of a game you are used to. Let's say they had dollar NSU Deuces Wild with a progressive on straight flushes. Assume you knew that from Ks Qs Ad 9d 4s that drawing five cards was worth 1.8 cents more than holding KQ. If the straight flush returned $60 instead of $50, would that be enough to make a difference? The answer would be no, because 15 straight flushes out of 16,215 means that the value of KQ goes up by less than a penny for a $10 move. It would take a $20 move in the straight flush to make holding KQ correct.

f. Video poker is a dull, monotonous game. Unless you keep your mind active on SOMETHING related to the game, it is very easy to lose your concentration. Thinking of interesting relationships in the cards is the way I do it. You may have another way.

And the bottom line is: No, you don't have to learn to do these puzzles. And I think your results will improve if you do.