My Journey on Video Poker

[DAAnMAAn]

+100... .25c fpdw...Hit the quad deuces relatively quickly, about an hour into it. Played about 30 minutes and ran down from up $230 to up $100 and just decided to call it a day.I agree with everything FloridaPhil said. I'm going to change gears though with the pot shots and if and when I hit the royal on this game, instead of going to the $1 NSUD game and vying for the deuces, I'm going to stick to quarters and just go to the more variant game, .25c Loose Deuce (100.14%) game where it pays 2500 for a quad deuce and take the pot shot that way. My higher denomination pot shots have been a killer for me this month and I'm a bit gun shy right now.Cheers

[FloridaPhil]

Man, I really envy you guys that get to play 100% games.  In my dreams...  Here's something that has worked for me.  I play max coin quarters $20 at a time.  If the counter reaches $40, I switch to dollars or .50 and play back to $20 then return to quarters.  With a $300 bankroll, you will probably be able to make the switch at least 2-3 times.  If you hit a $1 wild royal you win $125.  If you hit a $1 or .50 quad deuce or a royal flush, you will do the happy dance.   I played this way in Black Hawk last May and hit a max coin .50 royal for $2K and three more .50 max coin quad deuces for $500 each all in the same week.  Lots of fun!

[FAA]

+100. .25c fpdw. Hit the quad deuces relatively quickly, about
an hour into it. Played about 30 minutes and ran down from up $230 to
up $100 and just decided to call it a day.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Great decision, DM. I'm out of there if I hit big early. No sense frittering away that rare a hand over the course of the session. Losing half of it in a half hour is bad enough!

[FloridaPhil]

I always cash out all quad deuce or royal jackpots and save the white ticket until I'm ready to leave.  I never want to give them back until I've had a chance to savor the victory for at least a day.

[FAA]

cash out all quad deuce or royal jackpots and save the white ticket until I'm ready to leave.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If I hit one of those hands, I am de facto ready to leave! AC is most fun to explore knowing that you will depart a big winner. It's hard enough hanging in for another five hundred hands when the next quad usually arrives for me, on or around schedule. With my luck I'll hit it on min bet too!

[rascal]

Going back to the post asking about walking out with your winnings, before giving everything back. Although I play higher denoms than are generally mentioned in this thread, what works for me is (a) I take checks for handpays, and (b) if my cash position is such that I need to break a handpay into cash and check, I can order that a portion of the cash be kept at safekeeping. Then I can either pick it up when I am psyched to grab it and get out of the place, or I can just leave it there until another visit. I also agree very much with the post about getting away from the machine to think things over when you're ahead. Even if you just walk to the restroom, you need to get away from the machine long enough to analyze your position and make your decisions. I have seen solid regulars who actually are totally poised to run from the casino as they wait for the attendant to return with a handpay ---- spin the stool around *away* from the machine, sign the forms, count the cash, and then THEY LEAVE QUICKLY!!!

[DAAnMAAn]

+200... .25c fpdw...Hit two quad deuces on this one, only managed to take away $200 from it though. Good session but had a few dry spells that took away from potentially a bigger payday night.To address the great question of when should one walk away...once again, in my humble opinion, machines are dumb and don't know what hit earlier, just spits out random numbers in the representation of cards on a video screen. So...I leave when I'm tired, when times up, when I hit a goal I might set for the day, or when a promotion ends. Otherwise, if I'm feeling good and have time to play, I'm usually playing regardless if I had a big hit or not. Yes, sometimes some of that money goes right back in. But sometimes other good things happen. And yes, much easier to leave up than to leave down. But at some point, for all of us, it's time to leave, yes?Cheers

[DAAnMAAn]

+182.50... .50c 9/6 JOB, .50c NSUD...I like to spice things up sometimes to keep video poker fresh...if I grinded out .25c fpdw all the time, day after day, week after week, I'd lose my sanity. So decided to go to 9/6 jacks or better, .50c single line, and change it up. Put in $300...after about 20 minutes, lost $300 and had a wtf moment and why does this keep happening to me whenever I change denominations moment...so, I did what most of us do, went on tilt. Pulled out another $300 from the ATM cursing under my breath, and almost was going to play $1 NSUD and let the chips fall where they may, but reason got the better of me, unfortunately this time, and dropped the denomination down to .50c NSUD...that was unfortunate because about 10 hands in hit 4 deuces. But good enough for me, $500 hit, put me up. Cashed out and walked out the door. Not sure what the lesson is here except don't try this at home. Usually nights like tonight do not end well for me and one of the main reasons Oct. has been a bad month for me.Cheers

[wildman49]

Usually nights like tonight do not end well for me and one of the main reasons Oct. has been a bad month for me.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Love to follow your play Dan great post as always.I find it funny  that you find October a bad month for you. I also looked back at my records the last three years and found the same thing. Must be that Halloween effect! 

[FAA]

I have seen solid regulars who actually are totally poised to run from
the casino as they wait for the attendant to return with a hand pay- spin the stool around *away* from the machine, sign the forms, count the
cash, and then THEY LEAVE QUICKLY!!!                                                                          My kind of guys! If you don't have great discipline and are worn down by losing to begin with, time to stop and smell the roses. That would describe me. It's the perfect cue for me to see the sights beyond the casino walls.