Video Poker Forum

Hi, ya’ll, I’ve come to a few hiccups in my understanding of what profitable VP play should look like. To be clear, I want to make money. Become a High Roller Supreme. However, I’m not there with my profits just yet.

I get so frustrated because I’ll hit a streak where I start at 0.25 cent , max coin, and incrementally raise or lower the bet size according to winnings. But I always seem to come back to my starting bet, or way lower. Then it’s like climbing back up is impossible. But it can’t just be oscillating wagers that dump me there…right?

I do that knowing it’s against the advice I received from an article writer whose brain I picked one day. He said to stick with one bet size that works for my bankroll.

Well, I’ve learned that I can’t. Simply can’t. I don’t see how it’s profitable. I like the progressive increase in returns. However, I always push it somehow and those returns return to the casino faster than it takes me to build them up. Is it because I’m changing bet sizes?

My strategy has gotten pretty sharp, balanced with a fair degree of intuition, and I’m staying in the game for long periods of time but to no satisfying end. The pay out. I want at least 3-5 times more than I start with. Instead I always end up back where I start or I just lose it.

Is it an achievable goal to make a daily living on something such as VP, and, if so, how should I calibrate my strategy? What kind of game plan does a vision like that require?

I’ve tried to take in more on the math aspect but don’t really see how or why most of it is relevant when it comes to playing the game. It’s not like it makes it easier.

Do any of you professionals see where I may be flubbing up?

Again: I memorized strategy and play it like it’s second nature, I know a bit about EV but may not understand enough…..it’s the same as acknowledging a full house as 9/6 which represents the higher RTP game?


Is there any kind of cheat sheet for a VP session from start to finish. One with bullet points starting with the math used to pick a machine, what to wager based on bankroll and desired take home, and yada yada?

Not like the strategy sheets, but something with a few bullet points of information acting as a framework for the beginning and end of a VP session? Maybe even a sheet that helps me better describe this damn sheet I’m thinking of. Lol.


Thanks, ya’ll

AceTenBriggs

Good questions. Your total EV is the theoretical game payback plus slot club reward value.

Olds jetaway has posted examples. His casino has 99.5% JoB. And they send him reward offers for playing to a specified target. Maybe it's $100 for $10k coin-in (ie, 1%).

So his total EV is 99.5 + 1% = 100.5%. This gives him an edge.

But to achieve the edge, he has to play perfect strategy at the machine. No intuition. Intuition will reduce the theoretical payback.

And he has to play exactly to the target amount. If he stops short of target, or continues far beyond target, his slot club value will be less than 1%. Possibly much less.

I play a lot of advantage situations in Nevada, but usually I have to align my play with the promotional calendar such as multiplier days.

I equate this game to a sine curve tilted slightly down in the house favor. Instead of swinging for the fences, I should settle for a nice what I call hit and quit. I would be ahead at the end of every year. There will be sessions where no matter what you do, you will lose. It is the nature of the game. Nothing anyone can do about that. My most recent example of what I am talking about is in my most recent session a few nights ago. Early on, I had a nice hit and was up nearly 400 bucks. ( dollar play. ) I didn’t quit the rest of the nine hours of play which was dollars but pretty conservative and on a 98.8 game I hit absolutely nothing. End result…… I didn’t post the amount in my post in the recreation play section, but it was a negative 2,000 buck trip. I could have packed it in at plus nearly 400 but didn’t. Easy to guess how this could happen with a little math. After the nice hit, nine more hours of session play broken up here and there for breaks. No Royal, no quad deuces, and no further 5 Aces on bonus Deuces Wild. That easily translates into a 2,000 buck loss and about a 94 percent at most return on between 30,000 and 32,000 coin in. That’s only averaging 600 hands or so per hour at 5 bucks a hand average and for 9 or ten hours of play. One final thing. I just added up the percentage return for each of the things mentioned above that I didn’t hit. It’s about 8.2 percent so believe it or not, I could have done worse. I think a few more than average Wild Royals saved me from even worse results.

I think I hit a few more than average Wild Royals and that saved me from losing even more.

olds442jetaway wrote: ↑

Wed May 01, 2024 3:39 pm

Instead of swinging for the fences, I should settle for a nice what I call hit and quit. I would be ahead at the end of every year.

Proof will be in the pudding I guess if I can ever do it

olds442jetaway wrote: ↑

Wed May 01, 2024 9:07 pm

Proof will be in the pudding I guess if I can ever do it

This will address my view of most superstitions in general. A video poker EV is a constant, indicating the expected result with perfect strategy. A 98.8% game can never be anything other than 98.8% EV.

For sure, but the way I play I almost always have a chance to cash out ahead. Later I will post the latest example in the Bizarro thread.

olds442jetaway wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 2:10 pm

For sure, but the way I play I almost always have a chance to cash out ahead.

The devil is in the "almost."

Did we lose the OP? I thought I was unusually friendly .

dinghy wrote: ↑

Thu May 02, 2024 8:21 am

olds442jetaway wrote: ↑

Wed May 01, 2024 9:07 pm

Proof will be in the pudding I guess if I can ever do it

This will address my view of most superstitions in general. A video poker EV is a constant, indicating the expected result with perfect strategy. A 98.8% game can never be anything other than 98.8% EV.

Not always, The EV varies if there is a progressive.