Ask the Wizard: Video Poker - General Questions

I’m playing an 8/5 bonus machine that pays $1199 for a royal flush and double for four 8’s, in addition to the normal bonus schedule for four 2’s, 3’s, 4’s, and aces. My slot card and max coins are required. Is this 100%+?
— Malcolm from Laughlin, Nevada USA

Does a video poker game whether it be jacks or better or any wild version play like an actual deck of real cards? In other words, the payoff schedule on the front of the machine determines what exact payback this machine has or can this be tinkered with inside with computer chips making the payoff schedule meaningless? I always thought this would be dishonest until I read an article in Strictly Slots magazine that it has and can be done. If this is true you could have two identical VP machines side by side that have different house edges like. I know casinos can and in regular slot machines. If this is so then all this VP payback% on payoff schedules that I have been reading for years in magazines, software and books is useless.
— Ray

I’m thinking of visiting your advertisers’ web sites just to make sure they keep supporting your ability to give free advice to the gambling public. Your site is great. My question: Is it possible to draw the same card that is discarded in video poker? The Michigan Gaming Control Board has given me a half-answer, stating that all events are determined by a random number generator. Secondly, are the chances of hitting paying hands in VP subject to manipulation by the casino, like slot machines that are also governed by a random number generator?
— Jack from Detroit, USA

In Mississippi, is the law the same for video poker as in Nevada, that each hand is a new game?
— Barbara from Pompano Beach, Florida

Your internet newspaper column has not been updated since June. Are you OK? I hope so. I have a Black Jack basic strategy card and it is very beneficial. Are there basic strategy cards for electronic poker games? Thanks for your time.
— Charlie from Shaumburg, Illinois

Dear Mr. Wizard, How do minimum payback laws affect video poker machines? Can a casino have a VP machine installed if an ideal strategy is not known? Can really stupid players (ones who would discard a paying pair or even a pat royal) sue a casino if their strategy results in payoffs under x%, as mandated by state law? Finally, out of curiosity, what is the lowest return possible on a VP machine, assuming discarding royal flush, keeping all 5 cards of a garbage hand, etc? Thank you for your valuable time in reading and hopefully responding.
— D.S.M.

If you had to pick one video poker game to practice on line,(so you knew how to play when in Vegas), what would it be?
— Anonymous

If I put a $100 bill in a 98% return video poker machine and play until I go broke then how much on average will I bet in total?
— Anonymous

Any advice to us folks in Connecticut, with the absolute worst video poker machines in the world? Is there an accepted way to pressure a casino to improve their selection when the market doesn’t necessarily require it?
— Anonymous

If you were playing $50 per play, what would you personally chose between these two games of video poker (assuming both games have the same pay schedules and you bet the maximum of 5 coins for each hand): single-play at $10 or ten-play at $1 per hand? Thanks for your time and consideration.
— Anonymous

There are a lot of free online video poker games available. However, I am looking for a version I can run without being connected to the Internet. Do you know of a free downloadable version of Jacks or Better that does not use the Internet while running? I’ve found some free download demos, but they still connect to a site when they run even though the game is loading locally. Just a nice basic, realistic (functionally) version would be great. Thanks.
— Mark from Braham

What is the coefficient of skewness for video poker?
— David from Fort Worth, Texas

For the benefit of other readers, the coefficient of skewness (skew) for any random variable is a measure of which direction has the longer tail. A negative skew means the most likely outcomes are on the high side of the distribution, offset by the extremes tending to be on the low side. A positive skew is the opposite, where the most likely outcomes are the low side, but with the extremes tending to be on the high side. The mean is less than the median with a negative skew, and greater with a positive skew. An exact formula can be found at Wikipedia , or lots of statistics books.

Loosely stated, skewness is going to correlate with how often you get a win in a session. In Jacks or Better, for the most part, you are not going to get a winning session over a few hours if you do not hit a royal. You can sit down at Double Double Bonus and be a winner after a few hours more often because of the big quad payouts. Because most people are subject to cognitive biases, the pain from a loss is twice the pain from a win. People do not really play Double Double Bonus because they like the variance, they play because they have a greater shot at winning. The following table shows some key statistics for four common video poker games. It is interesting to note that skew is greatest for Jacks or Better.

Key Video Poker Statistics
Statistic	JoB — 9/6	BP — 8/5	DDB — 9/6	DW — NSUD
Return	0.995439	0.99166	0.989808	0.997283
Variance	19.514676	20.904113	41.985037	25.780267
Skew	147.114643	134.412152	66.495372	101.23991
(Excess) Kurtosis	26,498	23,202	6,679	14,550

JoB — 9/6 = Full pay Jacks or Better
BP — 8/5 = Standard pay Bonus Poker
DDB — 9/6 = Standard pay Double Double Bonus Poker
DW — NSUD = "Not so Ugly Ducks" Deuces Wild

How can knowing this actually help the video poker player? I suppose one could say that a game with a large skew has a greater chance of a loss over a session of a few hours. For example, in Jacks or Better, if you don’t hit any royals, the house edge will probably eventually grind your bankroll down. However in a game like Deuces Wild or Double Double Bonus, the second highest wins can pull you out of the hole over a session. In other words, the skew keeps you from winning when you are not hitting royals. Knowing the skew won’t increase your odds, but it is mentally helpful to know what to expect. So, the next time you take a beating in 9/6 Jacks, blame it on the skew.

My thanks to Jeff B. for his help with this question.

I was playing video poker in Atlantic City, and I could have sworn I received the same card I discarded on the draw sometimes. If the machine was putting the discards back in the deck, what would be the effect on the odds?
— edhoui

Cryptologic Internet casinos have such a game, called Bonus Video Poker , where discards are put back in the deck. The 40-20-9-6 Jacks or Better pay table in that game returns 95.2642%, before considering the redraw bonus feature, which I won’t get into here. In conventional video poker, that pay table would return 98.2534%. So, in this example, putting the discards back in the deck costs the player almost 3%. However, I highly doubt that actually happened on a machine in Atlantic City.

This question was raised and discussed in the forum of my companion site Wizard of Vegas .