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Video Poker Archive It's amazing; sometimes Straight Flushes will pour out of the machines and then I'll go for weeks or even months without one. When I first began playing Video Poker, I was totally convinced that the only way I'd ever get one was to have it dealt to me. And, when I got my first, it was dealt to me! I'll never forget it; I got the 8-Q of hearts at a quarter Jacks or Better game and of course it paid 250 coins. The other day, I was playing Double Bonus Poker and hit 3 of them and they all paid the same 250 coins. That's kind of anti-climactic, since the lowest Four-of-a-Kind at Double Bonus pays 250 coins so, while I'm always glad to get any big hand, I kind of wished they hadn't been 'wasted' at a Double Bonus game. I'd much rather get them at All American (1000 coins), but I also would rather get a Royal every time I played, too. I guess we 'gamblers' are never happy. Anyway, all those SFs came when I was thinking about what I was going to write for this column, so here we are. In non-wild card games, Straight Flushes don't provide a lot of overall return, except in the aforementioned All American. But that doesn't stop the casinos from trying to lure you with what looks like a big payout. An example of that is an on-line casino which modified the payout on their 9/6 Jacks or Better game. Now, we talk a lot about 9/6 Jacks here, primarily because it's the game which really brought Video Poker into the mainstream. It returns 99.54% long term for expert play and, in all reality, even if you don't play like an 'expert', using a little common sense will still give you a good bang for your buck, if not a long term profit. What this casino did was up the payout on the SF to 500 for 5 on a 9/6 Jacks game, while cutting the payout on the Four-of-a-Kind to 100 for 5 (from 125 for 5), and cutting the pay on Three-of-a-Kind to 10 for 5 instead of 15 for 5. Doubling the SF raises the overall payout by 0.55% and, if that was all this casino had done, they would have been offering a 100+% payback game. But you and I both know that the cut in the 4K and the trips was devastating; that game now returns 93.20%, because they also cut the Royal to 2500!!! But you know, there are people who will play this game. They've learned just enough to see the 9/6, think that's a good deal and go at it. But I'm preaching again; sorry. Back to hitting more Straight Flushes. I have seen a lot of players totally ignore a straight flush play in order to draw to a single high card, especially at Jacks or Better games. Here's an example:
Js 6c 3c 4c 10d (9/6 Jacks) Now let's change it just a bit: Js 6c 2c 4c 10s (9/6 Jacks) The 10 is, as you know, a 'little' card so it doesn't add enough value to out-rank the SF draw. But, if there's any other high card matching the Jack, then the Royal draw is the correct play. Here's another one from a 9/6 Jacks game; it's not easy to remember: Jc 7c 8c Qd 10d
The club play is double-inside, but there's a high card in it, so it out-ranks the 2-card Royal. Okay, I got a little ahead of myself here; what I want to do is give you an idea of how often you may expect a Straight Flush. At a Jacks or Better game, it's about once every 9150 hands, which is a probability of 0.01%, so it adds only 0.55% to the 99.54% return of the full-pay version of the game. "So", I hear you say, "what's the big deal about a Straight Flush?" Well, it's not a big deal. But you need to play this game one hand at a time and, like the examples above, if you always go for the Royal or just flat out ignore the possibility of a straight flush draw, then you're beating yourself. Plus, those SFs are so cool-looking! Now if you want to get good at noticing straight flush draws, play a little All American where a Flush pays 40 for 5 and a SF pays 1000 for 5. Tough game, All American. And a tough strategy to learn, too; don't even think of playing it with a Jacks or Better strategy. But, if you can master it, the full-pay version returns 100.7% and the game is easier to find in the Midwest than full-pay Deuces Wild which also returns 100.7% (but the Deuces game will cause less extreme swings in your bankroll.) How important are SF plays in All American? Take a look at this:
Js Ah 2d 9s 6h The 2 spades are a better play than two high cards! And one of those spades is a low card, to boot. You see what I mean about not trying to play this game with a Jacks or Better strategy? In the All American game, the Straight Flush will appear, on average, once every 7050 hands and it pays 1000 coins, so it adds almost 3% to the total return. Since the Royal adds about 1.75% to the total return, you're playing with an effective return of about 95.3% until those rather rare hands come in. Plus, All American pays only 5 for 5 on two-pair, so this game can suck up some tokens on a bad day. That's why you may still find these machines in quite a few locations; lack of $$$ and lack of skill on the part of the players keep them profitable for the casinos. Look at this one:
3s 5s 9d 8c 2d (All American) Isn't that amazing? You would never consider holding a two-card inside straight draw in a Jacks game, but it's the lowest hand to hold in All American. What about 10/7 Double Bonus, my favorite game? (At least this week.) One may expect to get a Straight Flush once every 8850 hands or so and it adds 0.57% to the total payback. But in Double Bonus, the plays for SFs frequently end up being 'regular' Straights and Flushes and those add quite a bit to the game. Here's what I mean: 10d 2d 9s 10s Js (10/7 Double Bonus) While holding the pair will give you the opportunity for a bunch of two-pair results, not to mention some Full Houses and quads, the SF draw is still the better play. It's not really because of the SF; it's more because of the Straight and Flush possibilities, and the fact that two-pair pay only 5 for 5. An accomplished Double Bonus player would do fairly well at All American, as compared to a Jacks player. Here's a hand I've had more times than I care to remember: Well, I don't get it everyday, but I've had it more than just a few times. How one plays this will, of course, depend upon the game. At Jacks or Better, the numbers look like this: The Royal has to be at about 11,500 coins to break up the SF. For the same hand at Double Bonus, the numbers are: Since the numbers are so similar to the Jacks game, the Royal needs to be nearly the same to justify breaking the SF. And, with a SF at 1000 coins in the All American game, it' ridiculous to think of breaking it up to go for the Royal. But here's another, more common hand, which bears analysis: 6s 7s 8s 9s 3s So, don't be tempted to go for the SF. The same holds true in a Double Bonus game where a 'pat' flush is worth 35 for 5. But what about All American where a Flush pays 40 coins? Hold Flush: 40.0000 The 1000 for 5 pay on a SF for this game causes you to break up the Flush and go for it. So, to wrap it up, Straight Flushes look cool and, in every game, they're worth pursuing so you cannot afford to miss them. As I like to say: practice, grasshopper, practice. See you here next time. ©copyright, 1999 The GameMaster Online, Inc. |