The Admiral Casino in St. Louis began a contest on February 1st, 1998 called "The $100,000 Point Challenge" which is a very generous giveaway to those who accumulate a lot of slot club points. I'm in the contest (under my 'real' name) and doing quite well, thank you, but that's not the point of my story. My reason for writing this is to share a few things I learned by participating in a contest like this.

Since the idea is to rack up as many slot club points as possible and, since the Admiral gives 1 point for each dollar played, I knew I'd have to play $1 video poker to stand any kind of placing in the event. I thought a VP player would win, since only VP offers the possibility of both speed and return on the money. Slots may be faster, but a person could lose thousands while trying to win hundreds, so the longevity isn't there. (The contest runs for 3 weeks.)

I, like many VP players, use a number of 400 or 500 hands an hour when I think of how quickly the game can be played. Doug Reul, in an excellent article that appeared in the Nov/Dec issue of "Video Poker Times", stated that he plays two machines at a time to acquire a playing rate of 1000 hands an hour, which seems to imply that a player at a single machine will hit 500-600 hands an hour. For what it's worth, my participation in this contest has given me the opportunity to figure how many hands an hour I get (at a 9/6 Jacks or Better game) and it's just over 800 hands/hour.

That was something of a surprise to me. As the realization took hold, I began to give some thought to the topic and tried to figure what I do to help the rate get up to that level. So, here are some ideas on how to increase your speed at the game of video poker.

First, what are the advantages of speed? The primary one is, of course, that you make a better use of your time. In a game where you have the advantage, your return will amount to more for each hour played. The slot club points you acquire will also accumulate more quickly and that increases your return per hour. For example, if you play $1 VP at a rate of 500 hands an hour, you'll bet about $2500 an hour (assuming 5-coin play), so if the slot club rebates .25% of your 'action', that's .0025 X $2500 = $6.25 an hour. If you play at a rate of 800 hands an hour, the numbers are .0025 X $4000 = $10.00 an hour, a nice improvement. Speed is also good for casino comps. If you put $4000 an hour into action, you're practically the equivalent of a 'green chip' ($25) Blackjack player. A $25 blackjack player who has an average bet of $45 ( reflecting a 1-8 spread in a 6-deck game.) will get about 100 hands an hour for a total of $4500/hour in total 'action' at a much higher cost to the casino. VP players don't require dealers, pit critters or a lot of other services and they certainly don't require all the hand-wringing inspired by card counters, so they are (or should be) highly valued by the casinos. If you play VP at this level, don't settle for just what your slot club points will get you. Introduce yourself to a slot host and let them know you have other choices regarding where to play, but you'd rather stay there if they can take care of you. Unfortunately, most casinos will pay out only what's asked of them, so ask.

The disadvantage of speed is primarily that of making mistakes in the play of the hands. The other day I held 3 eights and discarded a pair of kings before I realized I'd just broken up a full house. Oh, well. Going fast may cause a few mistakes, but if it's causing a lot of mistakes, the disadvantages will quickly outweigh the advantages. The trouble I have is that there is no one who can watch me to see if I am making mistakes, so I may be unaware of mine. I have no solution for this problem other than to say that you have to know the proper playing strategy DEAD COLD if you want to go fast. To me, the 9/6 Jacks strategy is simple and almost second nature, since it's the game I play the most. I could never hit 800 hands an hour on an All American machine, for example.

Back to the topic at hand: how to go faster. First, you have to be comfortable, which to me, means sitting far enough from the screen so I can see all five cards without turning my head. I place my hands so I can use both to hit the "Hold" buttons and I know where the "Deal" button is. I avoid, whenever possible, machines with the "Double-up" option, since that takes a second or so from every hand which results in a payoff. I also try to get my credits built up so I'm not constantly putting coins in the machine which is, of course, a very slow process. I'm amazed by people who I call "pumpers" -- those who win a few hands and then cash out their credits and then pump them back into the machine. Why do they do that? I asked a player next to me just that question the other day; her answer was that it makes her money last longer. What I didn't say was that her $$$ would also last longer if she'd learn how to play properly, but that's how it goes.

A few more 'speed' tips Take some dollar bills out of your wallet and put them in the coin tray when you sit down so they're available for tips for the cocktail server; drink only non-alcoholic beverages while you're playing (remember "speed and alcohol don't mix") and CONCENTRATE! Don't let smoke or noise or the leggy cocktailer distract you. You're there for the $$$, so try to ignore all the other stuff as you play. And the best tip of all: practice, practice, practice. It costs nothing to make playing mistakes at home. Good training and I'll let you know how I make out.