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The Pay Table is the Game
These days more than four dozen versions of video poker can be found with paybacks ranging from 91 percent to 100 percent and occasionally higher. Some machines offer progressive jackpots, and that further complicates the equation.
Professional gamblers and novices alike use computer programs to calculate the shifting odds, or they buy books like Lenny Frome's Winning Strategies for Video Poker. Frome covers fifty-five different games; each has a different strategy to maximize wins.
The result of so many choices is that the traditional wisdom of looking primarily for a 9/6 Jacksor-Better machine doesn't work so well anymore. It's still a great game, but the market is swimming in machines. Some pay more, many pay less.
The only way to know for sure how much a machine pays is to read the whole pay table. Math wizards then use a spread sheet. The rest of us simply compare it with a table that is proven to have a certain payback.
You'll notice that it's easy to glance at a pay table, see the numbers, and miss the required lowest hand. Joker Poker looks inviting until you realize a high pair won't bring you a win. Deuces Wild may look anemic in comparison, but it actually pays more. Beware of copycat Deuces Wild pay tables that are nearly identical but only pay 4 for four of a kind. That one coin difference drops the payback about six percent. The game rules
Professional gamblers and novices |
