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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.

August 05, 2003

August Card of the Day Promotion at the Palms

On Tuesdays in August, the Palms will offer a 125 coin bonus on four natural fives (1 a.m. -- 3 p.m. only), and on Thursdays a 125 coin bonus on four natural tens twenty four hours a day. Both of these bonuses will be awarded on nickel through $5 machines, and on the bottom line only of multi-line machines, with maximum coins played; wild card games excluded. In this column I'm addressing how much it is worth on 10/7 Double Bonus, which is the highest paying non-wild card game in the casino and is available in denominations from 25¢ to $2. To determine how much this promotion is worth using WinPoker, you need to use the "User Defined Games" section. Since I haven't written about this recently, let me go through it. Even if you aren't interested in this particular promotion at the Palms, if you're not familiar with this option in WinPoker, it might serve you well to follow along.

In the "Games" section, click on "User Defined Games" and then click on "Define . . ." You will now be looking at a clone for 9/6 Jacks or Better. To convert this in 10/7 Double Bonus with a special bonus for tens, do the following:

Click on 4 of a Kind. Rename it "4 Aces". Enter 160 under 1-coin and click on the tab button and that will enter 800 under 5-coins. To the right, notice that every 4-of-a-kind are clicked, as well as all kickers. "unclick" from 2 through K, so that the only quad clicked is aces. Leave all kickers clicked.

Click "Add Payline" and the click on NEW PAYOUT. Overwrite NEW PAYOUT with "4 2s-4s", or something similar. Enter 80 for 1 coin and tab so 400 enters. Under "Hand Type" enter "4 of a kind". You will see 2 clicked under "Quads" and also under "Kickers". Click on 3 and 4 under Quads and "all" under kickers. The net result is that 2, 3, and 4 are clicked.

Click "Add Payline" and click on NEW PAYOUT. Create a "4 Tens" 4-of-a-kind entry using the above technique. For now, enter 50 under 1-coin. This will change, but this step is very important if this is your first time.

Click "Add Payline" and click on NEW PAYOUT. Create a "OTHER QUADS" 4-of-a-kind entry, also for 50 under 1-coin, for quads 5-9 and J-K.

One at a time, click on Full House, Flush, and Two Pair, and change the 1-coin amounts to 10, 7, and 1 respectively, tabbing each time to enter the 5-coin amounts. When this is done, click on "OK".

Then go to "Analyze" and then "Game" and then "Run Analysis." If you've entered everything correctly, the return on this game should be 100.1725%. If you get a different number, you have to go back and fix it before you continue. The most common place for errors is in the entry for quads. You want to make sure you have clicked "all kickers" each time, and just the A, just the 2-4, just the ten, and on eight separate quads for the four entries respectively. Once you get this to the 100.1725% check figure, enter 75 and 375 on the "Four tens" line. This will take into account that you're receiving a 125-coin bonus. Click OK and analyze the game again. You should now come out with a figure of 100.6034%. This implies that this promotion adds .43% --- which is quite a bit more than double points. When WinPoker is set up this way, you may practice the game and inquire about any hand.

For strategy adjustments, I came up with the following ones quickly when tens are the card of the day. There may be others.

From (JT9) T and a card in the range 2-7 and unsuited with the JT9, the normal play in 10/7 is (JT9), and now you hold TT.

From (JTx) A8 and (JTx) K7, where x is suited with the (JT) and in the range 2-6, the normal play in 10/7 is (JTx) and now you hold (JT).

From (QT)[975] or (QT)[965], the normal play in 10/7 is the 9-high straight flush draw, and now you hold (QT).

To analyze it when fives are the card of the day, you change "four tens" to "four fives" and click accordingly. You also need to change "Other Quads" so that ten is clicked and five is unclicked. When you analyze this you'll get a return of 100.6074. The reason this is higher than when tens are the card of the day is that a pair of tens is more frequently found in combination with 3-card royals than a pair of fives is. I believe there are only two strategy changes.

From (JT9) 55, with both fives unsuited with the (JT9), the normal play in 10/7 is to hold the (JT9), and now you hold 55.

From (QJ9) 55, with both fives unsuited with the (QJ9), the normal play in 10/7 is to hold the (QJ9), and now you hold the 55. To be sure, TT is also better than (QJ9) during this promotion, but QJT9 is better yet. .

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