Getting Ugly

            For the past few weeks, I've been slowly walking through the strategy table for full-pay jacks or better video poker.  I'm about 2/3 of the way though and what's left is well, just not pretty.  The expected values of the rest of the table are below 0.60.  This means you can expect, on average, a return of only 60% of your wager.  But, as I've explained the past few weeks, learning to play the ugly hands is at least as important as learning how to play the good hands.  It is also probably more difficult to learn these hands as there are a lot of subtle nuances and a great deal of overlap.  For example, one of the hands from last week was the 2-Card Royal with no Aces or 10's.  This week's top hand is a 4-Card Inside Straight with 4 High Cards, which is really a 4 High Card hand.  There is only one way this occurs -  J Q K A.  But, if we compare this to the 2-Card Royal we realize that if TWO of the J/Q/K are suited, we actually go that route instead of the 4-Card Inside Straight.  

            Let's take a look at the next few entries and see what we can learn from them:

·       4-Card Inside Straight with 4 High Cards

·       2-Card Royal with an Ace, but no 10

·       3-Card Double Inside Straight Flush with 1 High Card

·       4-Card Inside Straight with 3 High Cards

·       3-Card Inside Straight Flush with 0 High Cards

·       3 High Cards

            Okay, so we've already covered a critical point of these hands above.  Adding to the complexity however is the 2nd rule down when compared with the 1st.  IF the 2 suited cards are an Ace and either the Jack, Queen or King, THEN we keep the 4-Card Straight! 

           

            Next up is the 3-Card Double Inside Straight Flush with 1 High Card.  So, a suited 8-9-Q would cover this.  This can't overlap with our 2-Card Royals, but can overlap with a 4-Card Inside Straight (8-9-Q suited with a Jack off-suit).  This would make it a 4-Card Inside Straight with 2 High Cards.   You'll note that the 4-Card Inside Straight with 3 High Cards is below the 3-Card Double Inside Straight with 1 High Card, so surely the 2 High Card version is even lower.  In reality, we won't find it on this strategy table at all as a 4-Card Inside Straight with 2 or less High Cards is NOT a playable hand in full-pay jacks or better.  In this case we would keep the 3-Card Straight Flush over the 4-Card Straight.

            The next hand is the 3-Card Inside Straight Flush with 0 High Cards (i.e. 5-7-8 suited).  If we have a 6 off-suit this would be a 4-Card Straight with 0 High Cards which is much higher in the table and thus would be played as the 4-Card Straight.  If we have a 4 off-suit, then it is a 4-Card Inside Straight with 0 High Cards.  If the 2 High Card version is not playable then for sure neither is the 0 High Card Version.  We would play the 3-Card Straight Flush.

            The 3 High Card hand is a critical hand to learn about.  It is frequently misplayed.  There are four possible High Cards - Jack, Queen, King and Ace.  However, 3 High Cards is a bit of a misnomer.  In order for the hand to be 3 High Cards, it MUST be J-Q-K.  If we have J-Q-A we would discard the Ace unless the Ace matches in suit to one of the other two then it would play as a 2-Card Royal.  In similar fashion, we would ONLY play J-Q-K if the three are of different suits.  Otherwise we would again have a 2-Card Royal (V3) and would play the hand that way.  The 2-Card Royals are frequently overlooked when there is a 3rd High Card, but this is simply not the right way to play the hand. 

            There are only 5 more hands on our strategy table and I will cover them next week.   These five hands all have expected value below 0.50.  Unfortunately, they account for about 1/3 of all hands dealt - so they are critical to learn.

Stroll Through the Strategy Table

            This week we continue our walk through a video poker strategy table.  Specifically, the strategy table for full-pay jacks or better video poker.  Last week we left off at the 4-Card Flush which was the last of the hands with an expected value of greater than 1.0.  These are the hands that result in net wins in the long run.  The rest of the strategy table have expected values below 1.0.  This means that in the long run we will not get back our entire wager.  But, that doesn't make them any less important.  When playing video poker, playing every hand correctly is critical if you want to achieve the theoretical payback.

            It could be argued that playing the hands below 1.0 correctly is more important than playing the ones above this line correctly.  First, the hands below make up the lion's share of hands.  Second, the hands below are by far more complex than the ones above.  You don't have to worry about confusing a Two-Pair with a 4-Card Straight Flush as this is an impossibility.  But a 4-Card Straight vs. a 3-Card Straight Flush might leave you shaking your head. 

            Without further ado, here are the next batch of hands on our strategy table:

·       4-Card Straight with 3 High Cards

·       Low Pair

·       4-Card Straight with 2 High Cards

·       4-Card Straight with 1 High Card

·       3-Card Inside Straight Flush with 2 High Cards

·       3-Card Straight Flush with 1 High Card

·       4-Card Straight with 0 High Cards

            The first thing you'll probably notice is that with the exception of the Low Pair, the number of High Cards is specified.  When the inventor of video poker decided to pay on Jacks or better, he added an incredible layer of complexity to the strategy.  Simply put, in any hand without a Pair or better, any card that is a Jack or higher is worth considerably more than any other card.  The reason should be fairly obvious.  We have the opportunity to win with High Pairs.  For each High Card in the hand, we have three additional cards that we can draw that will turn our hand into a winner.  These three cards add just over 0.06 to the expected value of the hand. 

            Sometimes, this 0.06 means nothing and sometimes it means everything.  We just need to look at the first three hands to see the impact.  If you have a 4-Card Straight with 3 High Cards and a Low Pair, you keep the partial Straight.  If you have a 4-Card Straight with 2 High Cards and a Low Pair, you keep the Lower Pair.  These hands are not very common, but they illustrate the impact of the High Card.   So, if you have 10-10-J-Q-K (assuming no 3-Card Royal), then you keep the Straight.  If you have 9-10-10-J-Q then you keep the Low Pair.  Having a 9 instead of a King lowers the expected value so that it falls just below that of the Low Pair.

            If we keep moving down the chart, we find that the next entry is the 4-Card Straight with 1 High Card.  As this is adjacent to the 2 High Card version, there really is no impact in this case.  We could lump these two hands together if we want to remove 1 hand from the strategy table.  We keep them separate because there are versions of video poker where it is relevant and we want to make sure the Player doesn't get 'lazy'. 

            In between a 4-Card Straight with 1 High Card and a 4-Card Straight with 0 High Cards we find 2 other hands.  They are both variants of a 3-Card Straight Flush.  The first is an Inside Straight Flush with 2 High Cards and the second is a 3-Card Straight Flush with 1 High Card.  This can start looking more confusing than it really is.  Most of these hands CANNOT occur in a single hand.  It is not possible to have both a 3-Card Straight Flush with 1 High Card and a 3-Card Inside Straight Flush with 2 High Cards.   But, you can have a 4-Card Straight with 1 High Card with a 3-Card Straight Flush with 1 High Card.  (8C 9D 10D JD 4H).  We learn from the strategy table that the right play is the 4-Card Straight.

           

            One last point that I should mention.  All the 4-Card Straights to this point have been Open Straight Flushes - meaning that they can be completed on both ends.   This means that as we have completed about 60% of the strategy table, we have accounted for all Pairs and for all 4-Card Straights (Open ended) and 4-Card Flushes.  The remaining 40% of the strategy tables contains very 'not pretty' hands.  It is a mish-mosh of 3-Card Straight Flushes, Inside Straight Flushes and even Double Inside Straight Flushes, along with 2-Card Royals and hands with just High Cards.  To make matters worse, these 40% of the entries account for nearly 50% of the hands.  

            Next week, we'll continue our stroll through the strategy table.

3-Card Straight Flushes and Deuces Wild

            

            I love getting together with friends.  Invariably, I get asked questions about casino games that becomes fodder for a column.  This past week, I got several possible topics based on some questions I was peppered with.  One dealt with 3-Card Straight Flushes.  Another dealt with which High Cards to hold and when.  Lastly, I was 'informed' that Deuces Wild is a bad game to play because of poor payback.  Admittedly, these came from friends who will openly state that they are not expert Players.  One of these friends also asked me what benefit there was to the casino to offer games with a Player advantage.  The simple answer to this is that so few people play these games correctly, that they're willing to allow 1% or 0.1% or maybe 0.01% of the people to make a few dollars at the expense of the other 99+%.  The rest of the questions I was asked only proves the point.  If you don't know when to hold a 3-Card Straight Flush or which High Cards to hold, the odds are (no pun intended) is that you're not going to play the 100+% game at 100+%.

            So, I'll use this week's column to answer their questions and hopefully educate some of you on how to move a few steps closer to Expert Strategy.  The first question dealt with 3-Card Straight Flushes.  Normally, Straight Flushes are the black sheep of hands.   They should occur every 9000+ hands, but because so many people ignore the 3-Card Straight Flushes, they tend to be even more rare.  The person who asked the question actually spoke of how often he hit them, which was surprising.  But, not after he told me that he tends to throw Low Pairs in favor of 3-Card Straight Flushes.   This is not such a good idea.

            While 3-Card Straight Flushes tend to be forgotten, you don't want to over value them either.  A Low Pair outranks EVERY 3-Card Straight Flush (NOT 3-Card Royals, however).  When you consider that in jacks or better, every 3-Card Straight Flush, even Inside and Double Inside ones are playable, this can lead to a lot of mistakes if you throw away the Low Pair.  When you consider that a large percentage of 3-Card Straight Flushes are also Low Pairs, this error will prove to be very costly to your bankroll.  I don't have the space here to list out all the strategy for 3-Card Straight Flush, but for now, let's go with, they are below a Low Pair and every one of them is playable.  You also play 4-Card Straights (not Inside) over the comparable 3-Card Straight Flush.  The critical part is that you play even the most awful looking 3-Card Straight Flush over a single High Card, except for the Double Inside with 0 High Cards, which only outranks the Razgu.

            Next up in the question bin was how to play High Cards.  Generally speaking, the goal is to keep the suited High Cards.  So, if dealt 3 High Cards and 2 are the same suit, those are the two we play.  If all 3 cards are of a different suit, but one is an Ace, we play the 2 High Cards that are not an Ace.  If it is J-Q-K all of different suits, we hold all 3 cards.   If you have 2 unsuited High Cards and one is an Ace, then you keep both.   That describes which ones to keep.  As for when to keep them, see the earlier part of this article and you learn that we frequently keep a 3-Card Straight Flush made up of 3 Low Cards over a High Card,  So, if dealt 3-4-5 suited and JQ (off suit), we hold the 3-4-5. 

            That brings us to the last question regarding Deuces Wild.  Should it be avoided due to low payback.  I'm not sure where my friend got this notion.  Perhaps he some bad experiences playing it.  If he tried to use his jacks or better strategy on a Deuces Wild game, things would not be pretty.  In reality, Deuces Wild can offer some of the highest paybacks in the casino.  However, like all version of video poker, you have to check the paytable.  Sometimes, different variations of video poker are given different unique names and sometimes, they just scramble the paytable a bit and still call it Deuces Wild.  So, pay attention to the paytable and make sure you are using the right strategy for that paytable.

            While I do my best to give tips out in my column, the only way you're really going to become an expert Player is by learning the complete strategy for the games.  I continue to offer our 3 best selling video poker books for $5 each (includes shipping and handling) to my loyal Gaming Today readers.  You can choose from Expert Video Poker for Las Vegas, which explains everything about the game from start to finish, Winning Strategies for Video Poker, which contains the strategy tables for 60+ video poker variations or Video Poker: America's National Game of Chance, which contains over 200 pages of my father's best columns, stories and quizzes.  If you like to learn from anecdotal stories, this is the book for you.  Just send a check or money order to Gambatria, P.O. Box 36474, Las Vegas, NV 89134.