Who Spreads These Superstitions, Anyway?
One of the aspects of video poker that people enjoy is the
solitary nature of the game. If you're looking for camaraderie,
you'd probably be better off playing craps or roulette, where
there's a decided social aspect to playing. But sure enough, if
you hang out long enough in the video poker section of a casino,
some well-meaning but foolish person will start sharing video
poker myths and misconceptions with you.
I've listed some of those myths here.
Video Poker Myths & Misconceptions
- Higher denomination machines have better payouts.
There is a kernel of truth in this one, because higher
denomination machines will usually have a better pay table.
But the pay table is what determines the payout percentage,
not the denomination of the machine. So don't make the
mistake of thinking that two machines with different
denominations but the same payback table will pay out
differently, because they will pay out exactly the same.
- Quarter machines are cheap action. At first it
would seem that this is true, and they certainly offer
cheaper action than dollar machines. But consider this:
you're going to play the max bet each hand, which means
you'll be betting $1.25 per hand. And you'll probably play
close to 600 hands per hour. That's $750 worth of action in
an hour!
- There are "good" machines which offer more royals
than typical, and there are "bad" machines which offer fewer
royals than is typical. This is conspiracy thinking. The
truth of the matter is that once every 40,000 hands or so,
you'll see a royal flush. The machines have tightly
controlled random number generators (RNG's), and they're
licensed and regulated. The casino gets its advantage from
the payback table of the machine, not from tricks with
machines that don't pay out correctly.
- A machine that just hit a royal is "cold" and not due
for a royal anytime soon. And a machine that hasn't hit a
royal in a while is "due" and is a better bet than a cold
machine. The RNG (random number generator) shuffles and
deals from its virtual deck every hand, regardless of what
the payout on the previous hand was. There's no such thing
as a cold or hot video poker machine, unless you're
referring to the pay tables.
Why Does It Matter?
Being aware of what the truth about the odds are in video
poker make you a better player. If you're spending your time and
effort on something futile like finding a hot machine that's
"due", or you're playing high denomination machines just because
you think they'll pay out better based on the stakes, then
you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.
You'll gain an advantage by learning what are good pay
tables, and by learning how to play with perfect strategy.
Focusing energy away from that is going to cost you more money
in the long run. |
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