video poker

[blackchipjim]

On my recent trip to Vegas I had the good fortune to hit a royal flush. It was my first one in all the times that I happen to play. I usually play as a break in the action or just poor bj table conditions at the casino I happen to be visiting. I was wondering how many of us at this site play vp and have hit royals. blackchipjim

 

[Brock Windsor]

I only play if Im going to the casino to drink free booze. I think an AP VP player gets a natural royal once every 40-45000 hands. I have never had one, but seldom play.

 

[aslan]

Last week a casino gave me $70 free slot play. With $20 left I hit a royal straight flush on this $5 machine playing one "coin." I won $1,250. 5 coins would have won $20,000. It was my first RSF ever. I got plenty of grief in the forum for not playing a $1 machine 5 coins at a time. lol I'm still happy.

Az :dog:

 

[toastblows]

I have hit a royal flush 1 time on a $5 VP machine. Wish i wouldve played 5 coins instead of 1. I only play VP when tables are crowded or I want to dump a couple bucks back after a big haul on the BJ tables :cool2:

 

[moo321]

You're better off playing 9-5 Jacks or Better and betting full coins than only betting one coin.

 

[KenSmith]

I play a lot of VP these days. I have plenty of $4K royals, a few $8K, several progressives between $4K and $10K. I'm still waiting for my first $20K royal, but I bet I've played four cycles or so at the $5 level. Bad time for a drought to show up.

 

[aslan]

I play a lot of VP these days. I have plenty of $4K royals, a few $8K, several progressives between $4K and $10K. I'm still waiting for my first $20K royal, but I bet I've played four cycles or so at the $5 level. Bad time for a drought to show up.

Do you find your advantage in a combination of comps and occasional jackpots, or are you able to stay to the good based on winnings alone? Or perchance, are you behind for your lifetime of play?

 

[KenSmith]

Do you find your advantage in a combination of comps and occasional jackpots, or are you able to stay to the good based on winnings alone? Or perchance, are you behind for your lifetime of play?

I play many games that are positive once cashback is included, and many more games that have various promotional or marketing advantages. I've been quite successful, even including my royal drought at the $5 level.

In general, if a casino offers any game that has a return of at least 99.5%, you can find some way to get an edge through multiple point days or marketing mailings. Large amounts of coin-in can generate some outstanding mailings, that easily overcome the game edge.

 

[aslan]

I play many games that are positive once cashback is included, and many more games that have various promotional or marketing advantages. I've been quite successful, even including my royal drought at the $5 level.

In general, if a casino offers any game that has a return of at least 99.5%, you can find some way to get an edge through multiple point days or marketing mailings. Large amounts of coin-in can generate some outstanding mailings, that easily overcome the game edge.

Could you describe some examples of the multiple point days and marketing mailings. Also, I assume that this will only work in certain top notch facilities.

 

[KenSmith]

Could you describe some examples of the multiple point days and marketing mailings. Also, I assume that this will only work in certain top notch facilities.

I'll use a defunct example. Until a few months ago, a Mississippi property had great video poker games available at both the $1 and $5 levels.

They offered $1 9/6 Jacks with a progressive jackpot. The progressive feed was an aggressive 1%, which meant the jackpot grew quickly. This game was positive nearly all the time anyway, but to that there were several other things to add.

First, they had 0.5% cashback. Then, on one day a week they offered points multipliers that depend on your player club level, with the top level getting 7X comp points that day.

Although this was for comp points not cash, there were offers to swap comps for cash available.

Add all this up, and this $1 single-line Jacks game was worth $75 per hour in the worst case scenario. (Assumes you were a mid-level card holderr, the jackpot had just been hit, and you had to cash your comp points in for cash at half value.)

On the $5 game, you gave up the progressive, but now you are playing a break-even game after cashback, and players could earn $350 per hour in comp dollars, worth at least $175 in cash.

In addition, typical amounts of coin-in would generate mailings worth several hundred dollars per month.
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Before you book a flight, let me describe all the things that have changed there in the last 3 or 4 months:

First, the game paytables were all reduced to 8/6 Jacks, and the progressive feed was cut from 1% to 0.25%.

Then they slashed the cashback from 0.5% to 0.25%, and it appears they have reduced it sharply again in recent weeks to approximately 0.07%.

Many players made a lot of money from this game, so it's not surprising that it finally disappeared.
--------------------

 

[aslan]

I'll use a defunct example. Until a few months ago, a Mississippi property had great video poker games available at both the $1 and $5 levels.

They offered $1 9/6 Jacks with a progressive jackpot. The progressive feed was an aggressive 1%, which meant the jackpot grew quickly. This game was positive nearly all the time anyway, but to that there were several other things to add.

First, they had 0.5% cashback. Then, on one day a week they offered points multipliers that depend on your player club level, with the top level getting 7X comp points that day.

Although this was for comp points not cash, there were offers to swap comps for cash available.

Add all this up, and this $1 single-line Jacks game was worth $75 per hour in the worst case scenario. (Assumes you were a mid-level card holderr, the jackpot had just been hit, and you had to cash your comp points in for cash at half value.)

On the $5 game, you gave up the progressive, but now you are playing a break-even game after cashback, and players could earn $350 per hour in comp dollars, worth at least $175 in cash.

In addition, typical amounts of coin-in would generate mailings worth several hundred dollars per month.
------------------
Before you book a flight, let me describe all the things that have changed there in the last 3 or 4 months:

First, the game paytables were all reduced to 8/6 Jacks, and the progressive feed was cut from 1% to 0.25%.

Then they slashed the cashback from 0.5% to 0.25%, and it appears they have reduced it sharply again in recent weeks to approximately 0.07%.

Many players made a lot of money from this game, so it's not surprising that it finally disappeared.
--------------------

So the gist of the matter is, keep your eyes peeled for VP opportunities. In the meanwhile, VP is not a bad game in and of itself with quickly mounting comps and cashback events at many casinos. I/m thinking of becoming a $5 VP player. I am practicing on a VP Strategy software by Masque, although it is woefully out of date, still it covers the basics of most type games.