As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, I wanted to not only play All American with accuracy, but also with speed. I pretty much accomplished that through a lot of training and practice and then I began to study just how I did it. If you haven't yet played All American, its proper playing strategy is a real "brain-bender" and mistakes are costly. So, one is much better off to play it slow but accurately, rather than to play it quickly while making mistakes. This series will hopefully help you to do both: play it right and play it fast.

The Methodology

The psychiatrists or whoever it is that measures human comprehension would call fast play at a Video Poker game a study in pattern recognition. That's basically what you do; you don't necessarily think through each hand, you see a pattern and react accordingly. It's like seeing a red light at a traffic intersection; you don't think about it, you just begin to slow down. I realized that I was doing something similar as I was dealt hands at All American games. The easiest for me to remember is the category we'll cover this time, which is hands with all low cards in them. As I define them, "low" cards are 2-10 (though the 10 will play the part of a "high" card in later lessons) and you need to remember as we go through this that the rules I'm going to give you apply ONLY to hands with all small cards in them.

The General Rules for Low-Card Hands

I like to use different hands as 'markers' to help me remember the rules and the primary one in this case is a pair. So, if you're dealt:

5s

6d

5h

7c

3d

you have a pair of 5s. The first rule is simple:

Rule #1 Never break a low pair, EXCEPT for
-A 4-card outside straight flush ( 5s 6s 5h 7s 8s)
-A 4-card inside straight flush (5s 6s 5h 7s 9s)
-A 4- card flush (5s 6s 5h 2s 9s)

But, you know what? These are ALL 4-card flushes, so the rule can be made simpler by rewording it:

Rule #1 Never break a low-pair, EXCEPT for a 4-card flush.

Whether it's inside, outside or whatever, just hold the 4 suited cards and play it. See how much faster that is than praying that you'll get the one card you need? Believe me, prayer doesn't work at this game. Speed does. But wait, there's more:

Rule #2 Never break a low pair, EXCEPT for
-A 4-card outside straight (5s 6s 5h 7d 8d)

Notice that this straight can be 'filled' by either a 4 OR a 9, so it's "outside". Just toss one of the 5s and draw. This is a move that is foreign to those who play a lot of Jacks or Better games, because you'd never break a low pair for a 4-card straight. But All Am's 40 for 5 pay on the straight makes this the correct play. Got it? Good. Here's another rule:

Rule #3 Never break a low pair, EXCEPT for
-A 3-card outside straight flush (5s 6s 5h 7s 2d)
-A 3-card inside straight flush (5s 6s 5h 8s 2d)

Notice that the outside straight flush is the 5, 6 and 7 of spades; they're in numerical order, but the inside straight flush has one "gap" because it's the 5, 6 and 8 of spades.

This hand also qualifies under the rule:

2h

2s

5d

6d

8d

You would toss out the 2s and hold the 3-card inside straight flush. This is easy to miss, because your eyes are naturally drawn to the pair, so think about this a bit because it's a serious error to miss it.

The only other thing you need to remember for these hands is:

Rule #4 4-card flushes are better than 4-card outside straights and 4-card outside straights are better than ANY 3-card flushes, straight or otherwise

Four cards are better than three, right? (At least that's how I remember it.) So, how would you play this hand?

5s

6s

5h

7s

8d

What we have here is either a pair of 5s or a 3-card outside straight flush or a 4-card outside straight. The rule says that a 4-card outside straight is better than ANY 3-card straight flush and ANY pair, so you'd pitch one of the 5s and draw.

A Recap

Let's catch our breath here and I'll sum things up as I use them in actual play. (By the way, to see how I'm doing, check out my story, "All American Diary" on the Video Poker page of this site.) Okay, here's how I think about the hands we've covered up to this point:

If a hand is composed ONLY of small cards and it has a pair, I ask myself (very quickly and in order from top to bottom):

Four-card flush? If no,
Four-card outside straight? If no,
3-card straight flush with no more than 1 gap? If no,
Hold the pair.

Obviously, if any answer is "yes", I hold that hand rather than the pair. This "exclusion" method works for me and another way may work for you, but give it a try.

Different Subsets

Now I know that some of you are sitting there with your hand up, shouting "ooh, ooh", but don't worry, I know what you're thinking and that's a different subset. You may be thinking about a 5-card flush like 2h, 6h, 5h, 9h, 10h. Remember, this hand doesn't have a pair in it, so the rules above don't apply. It's even simpler here:

Rule #5 Never break a 5-card flush, EXCEPT for
-A 4-card outside straight flush
And here's the "companion" to this rule:

Rule #6 Never break a 5-card straight, EXCEPT for
-A 4-card outside straight flush

While we're polishing off some easy rules, here's another
Rule #7 Never break three-of-a-kind. Period.

Yes, there are hands which rank higher than a 3K, but they don't co-exist. You can't have a 3-of-a-kind as part of a 4-card straight flush and, since the hands we're covering here consist only of low cards, you can't have a 3-card Royal as part of the hand. Perhaps I should state the obvious, however. You never break a full house to draw to the 3-of-a-kind or any other hand, for that matter.

Here's another easy one:

Rule #8 Never break two-pair

I know I've said this a lot, but the hands I'm referring to are only those made up of all small cards, because there are times when you'll break up two-pair, but it's only when high cards are involved.

Another Recap

If the hand is all small cards but doesn't have a pair by itself, I think this:

Hold any hand of two-pair or better, except break ANY hand for a 4-card outside straight flush. I then remember this: a 4-card flush beats ANY 4-card straight and a 4-card outside straight beats ANY 3-card flush, straight or otherwise.

More Subsets

This takes us down to hands which are ranked lower than a 3-card straight flush with one gap (an "inside" straight flush), namely 3-card straight flushes with 2 gaps (a "double-inside" straight flush), 4-card inside straights and what I call "rags". Take a look at this one:

5h

6c

7h

9h

2s

You have two choices, a double-inside straight flush, 5h, X, 7h, X, 9h or an inside straight, 5, 6, 7, X, 9 (with "X" representing the missing cards). This hand should cause you no problem, just remember "4 cards are better than 3" and hold the inside straight. But the reality is that they are so close to one another in expected value that if you blow it, you're not giving up a lot. And believe me, I know how tempting that 1000-coin straight flush payoff is.

That said, here's what I see a lot of players do:

5h

6h

8h

9c

2s

They "invite" the 9 to the party and he's in the wrong suit. What I'm trying to say here is that they think this is a 4-card inside straight (5, 6, X, 8, 9) which it is, but they're forgetting about the 3-card inside straight flush. And what's the rule, students? A 3-card inside straight flush is beat only by an outside straight, remember?

Here's a hand that causes a lot of problems, at least for me:

2s

3s

4s

5c

9d

Is this a 3-card open straight flush? No, because even though it's "open" on either end, you need two spaces on both sides, but only the Ace fills the low end. So, this is the same as a 3-card inside straight flush. And what's the rule? Any 3-card straight flush is beat by a 4-card outside straight , so the play is to hold 2, 3, 4, 5. And it's not even close. You'd be making a big error to hold just the spades.

"Rag" Hands

This is a hand where, it seems at first glance, nothing's worth saving. But in All American there are very few hands in which you don't hold at least something, so let's review a few:

9d

3c

7h

4s

8c

Did you spot the play? It's a 3-card "outside" straight (7, 8, 9) and it's the highest of the 'rags'.

Try this one:

9d

3c

7h

4s

8c

Did you spot the play? It's a 3-card "outside" straight (7, 8, 9) and it's the highest of the 'rags'.

Try this one:

9d

3d

6h

4s

8d

No 3-card straight here, but the next hand down a 3-card flush (9d, 3d, 8d). Yes, I know, flushes always beat straights, but not down here in the cellar; it's just one you'll have to remember.

Going down. Try this one:

9d

3c

6h

4s

8d

Now we have a 2-card outside straight flush (8d, 9d) and it's the next-to-lowest hand that you'll hold in All American.

The lowest hand is this:

9d

3c

6h

4s

7d

See it? It's the 2-card inside straight flush (7d, 9d) and if it's any worse than this, dump 'em all. By the way, a suited 3 and 4 is a 2-card inside straight flush, not a 2-card open straight flush, but at this point who's quibbling?

The Grand Recap

Okay, let's put it all together and hope that I didn't miss anything. If I did, or if you have a question about anything I've said here, please don't hesitate to e-mail me. I only ACT perfect; I'm really not.

If a hand is composed ONLY of small cards and it has a pair, ask yourself:

If the hand is all small cards but doesn't have a pair by itself, do this:

Hold any hand of two-pair or better, except break ANY hand for a 4-card outside straight flush. Then remember this: a 4-card flush beats ANY 4-card straight and a 4-card outside straight beats ANY 3-card flush, straight or otherwise.

Then:

A 3-card double-inside straight flush (2 gaps) beats a 3-card outside straight and that beats a 3-card flush which beats a 2-card straight flush which beats a 2-card inside straight flush.

Now remember, all these rules apply ONLY to hands which are composed solely of low cards, 2 to 10. And also remember to take your strategy card with you when you play. I certainly do and I use it when I'm not sure how to play a hand. It's always better to give up some speed for accuracy rather than vice-versa.

Next time we'll cover what are, surprisingly, a fairly easy category of hands, those composed only of high cards.

See you then.