Choosing the best video poker slot machines to play

By The Careful Gambler

In a previous issue, I explained how a Random Number Generator, RNG for short, works and how it drives the output of a reel type slot machine. For video poker machines, the RNG does not produce an extremely long stream of random numbers. Instead, it produces a continually shuffled deck of cards. The deck is usually the standard 52 card pack but could, depending on the game, include one or two jokers. The shuffling stops when you press the deal button and five cards are displayed on the face of the machine. These are the first five cards in the deck when the shuffling was stopped. Most machines have the next five cards in the deck set so as to replace any of the original five that you wish to discard. They are dealt in order. Some machines do continue to shuffle the remainder of the deck until you select replacement cards at which point the shuffling is stopped and the remainder of the deck set.

The fact that there are limited outputs for the initial deal means that it is mathematically possible to compute the odds on winning hands. Said differently, there are only 52 possible outcomes for the first card shown, 51 possibilities for the second card, 50 for the third and so on down. As a further example, letπs say you were dealt four great cards and only needed the king of spades for a big win, a royal flush! What are your odds on replacing your undesired card with that specific king? Well there are 47 cards left in the deck and you want one specific card, so your odds are one in 47. In this same manner, a properly programmed computer could compute the odds on all possible winning hands, assuming that the correct decision is made as to which of the original five cards are to be replaced. These odds, along with the pay-out schedule for the machine, allows the computation of the complete pay-out percentage for that machine. This is not possible on the traditional reel type machines

The most prevalent and popular video poker machine is ≥Jacks or Better,≤ meaning you must get a pair of jacks or higher to win. That is to say, using as many of your original five cards, as well as any you replace, compile a poker hand that is at least a pair of jacks or higher. Do this and you will win at least one coin for each coin wagered. A strategy to follow when choosing which cards to keep and which cards to replace by discarding is available in many books on gambling and will be the subject of a future article. However, when you play, it is most important to select the machine with the highest possible pay-out schedule. You accomplish this by examining the pay-out chart, available on the face of the machine, for the appropriate poker hands, with the FULL HOUSE and FLUSH pay-outs being the key.

The following table will further explain. The first column are the Poker Hands, listed in descending order. The subsequent columns list the machine pay-outs for the various poker hands when full coins are played. Full coin , or maximum coin, is typically five coins per play. If only one coin is played the pay-out is listed in brackets, [ ]. Playing two coins per hand would double the [ ] pay-out, three would triple, and four would quadruple the [ ] amount. Playing five coins would simply multiply the single coin play, the bracket,[ ], by five for every case EXCEPT the royal flush. For a royal flush, full coin pays not five times a single coin bet but 16 times it. This technique is used to encourage you to play five coins, not one, on each wager. The final line entry is the pay-out percentage for that schedule on the machine.

POKER HAND	9/6 SCHEDULE	8/5 SCHEDULE	7/5 SCHEDULE
Royal Flush	4000 [250]	4000 [250]	4000 [250]
Straight Flush	250 [50]	250 [50]	250 [50]
4 of a Kind	125 [25]	125 [25]	125 [25]
FULL HOUSE	45 [9]	40 [8]	35 [7]
FLUSH	30 [6]	25 [5]	26 [5]
Straight	20 [4]	20 [4]	20 [4]
3 of a Kind	15 [3]	15 [3]	15 [3]
2 Pair	10 [2]	10 [2]	10 [2]
Pair-Jacks or Better	5 [1]	5 [1]	5 [1]
PAY-OUT %	99.4%	97.2%	96.0%

Examining this table will show you that the pay-outs for FULL HOUSE and FLUSH are key, with the nine pay-out and six pay-out respectively being the best. This is known as a 9/6 machine and with perfect strategy, and full coin play, it has a pay-out schedule of 99.4 percent. Finding a 9/6 machine locally is hard (check the dollar machines), and you will usually need to play on a lower schedule machine. The trick is to examine the FULL HOUSE and FLUSH pay-outs. Avoid any pay-out lower than 7/5. Simply examine the pay-out chart on the face of the machine before playing.

Many machines offer more than one version of poker, and you will need to select ≥Jacks or Better.≤ Some machines may offer Draw Poker games with pay-outs higher than 9/6, but would more than compensate by reducing the two pair pay-out from two coins to one coin. The complete strategy for playing ≥Jacks or Better≤ is available in gambling books and on gambling software; however, I will provide a simplified strategy in a future article.

Knowing that you can only win 4,000 coins with a royal flush by playing at five coins per bet, is it worth the bigger bet or should you just wager one coin and have longer playing time and enjoyment for your money? Well, since with proper play you can expect a royal flush once every approximately 43,000 hands, the choice is yours. I play one coin whereas Mrs. Careful Gambler plays five!

So until next issue, when we explore a proper strategy for ≥Jacks or Better,≤ ENJOY YOUR GAMBLING.