I call this game the "brain bender" because it requires a lot of practice and very close attention to detail in order to extract the 100.7% long term return which the full-pay schedule offers. I haven't seen this game in a 'short-pay' format, but there does exist an even more generous version where the Straight Flush pays 1250 for 5 instead of 1000 for 5, resulting in a 101.4% return. What's up with that, you ask? Well, it just goes to show you how difficult this game is. The casinos which offer All American are making puh-lenty of $$$ at it, so it'll likely to be around for a long time to come.

The reason they're making so much is that All American has a certain resemblance to Jacks or Better games, but if you play using a Jacks strategy, you'll eventually lose. There are a lot of fundamental errors that uninformed players make at All American and, as you'll see, they're usually costly mistakes. Before we get into that, here's the pay schedule for All American:

By the way, this game is usually found on Bally "GameMaker" machines as one of the 6 or 8 choices they offer. As you can see, All American pays the same for straights and flushes which actually makes a lot of sense, because the probability of receiving either of them is about the same. Throw in the importance of a straight flush and proper play has you drawing to a lot of hands that you'd be trashing in a Jacks game. Let me show you what I mean:

5c 4d 2s 8h 9h
Hold 8, 9: 2.0481
Discard all: 1.6776

You wouldn't even think of holding a two-card straight flush in most games, but here, it works. Here's another hand to ponder:

Jh 3c 7d 9h 5d
Hold J only: 2.2627
Hold J, 9: 2.4709

That's an 'inside' straight flush draw, but it's still a good play at this game. However, if we change just one card's suit, the entire play changes:

Jh 3c 7d 9h 5h
Hold J, 9: 2.3599
Hold J, 9, 5: 2.5254

Now the three-card flush draw is the better play. Told you this game wasn't easy! Here's a real brain-bender:

Kd Qd 8d Jc 7c
Two-card Royal? Three-card flush? Here are the numbers:
Hold K, Q: 2.8949
Hold K, Q, 8: 3.0111
Hold J, Q, K: 3.0435

Obviously, the three-card straight is the proper play. Don't forget that straights and flushes pay the same in All American and having that extra high card puts the straight draw ahead. Are we having fun yet?

Here's a 'nightmare' hand:

Ks Kc 8s 3s 9s
Hold 4 spades: 7.8723
Hold K, K: 7.0407

I call it a nightmare because I hate breaking up a 'made' hand, but it's the correct play by quite a margin, so I do it. But I usually shut my eyes.

This one usually ends in disappointment, but you've got to make the play anyway:

6s 7s 8s 9s 10d
Hold straight: 40.0000
Hold 4 spades: 52.7660

But, change it just a bit and the result is quite different:

6s 7d 8s 9s 10s
Hold straight 40.0000
Hold 4 spades 29.7872

So, break a straight to draw to an 'outside' straight flush, but not to an 'inside' straight flush. Let's move on and answer the burning question: Who, in their right mind would break a pair to draw to an inside straight?

9s 9d 10c Jd 7h
Hold 9, 9: 3.4764
Hold 7, 9, 10, J: 3.7234

Well, a skilled All American player would. And it goes on and on. Most of my demo hands above are truly fundamental plays and you can see that by the difference in expectation. I'm sure that there are some experts at this game out there, but I'll wager (and I'm not a gambler!) that there aren't many. A pal of mine plays an outrageous amount of All American, but even he does so with a strategy card in hand.

But I'm not trying to discourage you since, once mastered, this can be a very profitable game. With a long term return of 100.7% for perfect play, this is about as good as it gets, but - and it's a big but - this game can suck up quarters like a tornado. As always, practice, practice, practice.

See you here next time.