RNG & DEAL/DRAW button timing

[Benford's Law]

To everyone,        I have been appreciating your posts on this topic so far, thank you.  At the very least, there really is no harm looking into this possibility.        Shadowman and BOOPSAHOY both bring up interesting thoughts here.  When the cards are running badly (and we all know how cruel this game can be in the short-term) it may be worthwhile to physically change what you're doing as you're sitting in your chair playing.  With an RNG so lightning fast as the ones in casinos, even slight physical shifts in body position or standing up from your chair to stretch your arms and legs could turn that session around with the very next button press.  (well.....maybe!)       Since conventional video poker playing strategies can only carry us players so far....more input on this topic is encouraged.~Benford's Law

[BOOPSAHOY]

....get up and go to the restroom. I hate having to get up for change or the restroom when I am doing well!

[Benford's Law]

Haha, yes.  I've seen some strange turnarounds in playing sessions (both for better AND worse) after going to the restroom.For better - I once played 25c 9/5 TBP+ (99.8%) and was down $500 during which I only hit 2 non-special quads.  I took a brief restroom break, went back to the same machine, and proceeded to hit four aces THREE times in the next 30 minutes!  It could have very well been a part of natural randomness and coincidence, but it left me wondering otherwise....For worse - Once hit a royal at $1 9/7 DB (99.1%).   Played for the next hour or so and racked up another $1,500 in winnings with several quad 2-4's.  Since I hadn't eaten all day and was hungry, I went to eat at the buffet and returned to the same machine only to watch $2,200 disappear in less than three hours.~Benford's Law

[MikeA]

In line more with the direction of this discussion, I do tend to pause
when I have a draw to a monster hand like 3oaK or 4-RF before hitting
the DRAW button.  Sometimes, after hitting Quads...especially if they
are 800 or 2,000 credit Quads, I let the machine count all the way
out.....otherwise, I usually interrupt it so I can get on with play. 
Let's see, I have also been known to switch games on a multigame
machine from DDB to DB if DDB isn't hitting.  I usually end up
switching back after a dozen or so hands.  I have at times, switched to
touchscreen input rather than my normal button selection.Maybe I should try more of these diversions.  If my theory is correct, it will neither help nor hurt.  If my theory is wrong, then it will help!  It's a win-win situation!I've stated elsewhere that I do leave a machine usually after a losing session (or after winning one for that matter), though my reasons have nothing to do with turning my luck around.  I do it to extend the duration of my bankroll by not playing as I'm otherwise occupied by either changing casinos and machines or switching to Blackjack for a while.It DOES help though.  Anything will help IF it contributes to a positive attitude (and if you are playing Strategy the best you can.)  You are definitely NOT going to extract anything positive (i.e. derive any enjoyment from the game) if you are playing with a negative attitude, especially if you are losing.  So if turning your hat around or rubbing the machine or going to find a sandbox helps get your head squared away, then that's what you ought to do.  If there is anything to this theory of getting hunches or mental signals or subliminal prompts, as to when to hit the Button, then these actions could contribute.I've had numerous shots at 4-card Royals.  Of course, I've lost nearly all of them.  However, I hit one in Vegas last September over Labor Day weekend playing DDB by drawing the missing card to make the Royal.  I hit one three weeks later over the weekend of my Birthday in DDB by making a stupid play.  I was holding three to the Royal including a King along with another King.  I had a brain-fart and threw away the off-King and miraculously drew those two missing Royal Cards.  Maybe, just maybe, I'm destined to hit Royals only on Holidays and special occasions (Of course any day you hit a Royal it's a special occasion!).  I haven't hit one since then, however, this weekend is the first one that I will have been in a Casino on a holiday since my birthday so, maybe I'll hit my third this weekend!Okay, so going to the bathroom happens more frequently (we HOPE) than infrequent visits to a Casino on Special Occasions, it could happen that that difference is the trigger for me!  It's a start toward developing a methodology!  If I do hit that Royal again this weekend, (Memorial Day) then we might have the start of a working hypothesis and  can begin empirical analysis with that data.

[Benford's Law]

Mike,         That seems like a fairly stringent requirement (having to hit a royal on a certain weekend).          My outlook and (possible) goals here are much more modest.          I'm even skeptical of paranormal activity as you and shadowman hinted about, although I do try to keep an open mind here, too.          As you said, I do think taking the extra effort to move around a bit during a losing session may help.         Perhaps what intrigues me the most in this area (for now) are dietary intake and bodily movements during sessions.         You made a good point earlier in this thread that even if the player could actually witness the stream of numbers emanating from the RNG, it would still be a virtual impossibility to conquer something that gives data output in the order of nanoseconds.         The most logical conclusion here, of course, is that hitting the button at the right time for a big hand is simply......"A happy accident!"          Having said this, I still wonder sometimes if there are certain things we can do as players to make these happy accidents occur a little more often .          A reasonably wide variety of physical activities while playing seems like the most plausible idea so far for me....(it is the opposite of the monotony of pushing buttons over and over again, too).~Benford's Law       

[shadowman]

I'm not really sure what "paranormal" activity means. Yesterday's paranormal is today's science in some cases. I've had a couple of experiences that I can't quite define. One of them was in VP, I was dealt AKQJ of clubs. At that very moment I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that the 10 was going to appear. It is a very strange sensation that I have experienced only one other time. The 10 did appear.
 
So, was this just coincidence? My other experience also came true which makes this explanation less comforting. Of course, since I can't define it and can't repeat it at will, the event is somewhat useless ... other than hinting that there may be something going on that no one quite understands.
 
Current explanations of space-time include several that require 10 or 11 dimensions (M-theory). With this type of universe who's to say that information could not be transmitted across one of these extra dimensions and used by us little 3-dimensional beings.

[bigboy]

I've had a couple of experiences that I can't quite define. One of them was in VP, I was dealt AKQJ of clubs. At that very moment I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that the 10 was going to appear. It is a very strange sensation that I have experienced only one other time. The 10 did appear.
 
 
 
Another one of those mysteries that we just can't explain. I've experienced the same thing three times(flushed/tingling facial sensations and knew i would connect). However, the number of times that it has happened pales in comparison to the overall number of "opportunities"(exciting draws) that have come up over the years. I hope that my fourth "aura" occurs before i hit the deal button. In other words, i'm still impatiently waiting for a dealt royal after >1.5million hands.

[shadowman]

i'm still impatiently waiting for a dealt royal after >1.5million hands.
 
It seems we all have a nemesis hands. Mine is 4RF which I hit far below statistical predictions. I've have more dealt RFs than I should (~15) and I've never had one on the redraw in around 6-7 million hands.

[Benford's Law]

I've played video poker fairly regularly (from 250,000 to 500,000 hands/yr) for the last 7 years.During the first five years I only had one dealt royal.  Then, in the space of one single month last year I had two dealt royals.I've had two royals on redraws....both spade royals.~Benford's Law

[shadowman]

My wife (whose played almost as much as me) and I have had exactly zero RFs on the redraw. Add this to your experience with dealt RFs and the two dealt RFs I had 13 days apart this month while on a current string of 0-168 on 4RF draws demonstrates why it is impossible to predict random events.