From: Don the Dentist
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Hands per hour
Sorry, but most experienced VP players can easily play single line games @
800-1000 hands per hour, depending on the speed of the machine.
Don the Dentist
----------------------------------------------------------
This is a fair assumption Don, but as an old vet like you knows, the speed
of the machine is going to wind up as a minor consideration to a serious
player if he or she thinks it through. I'll offer up a current real world
situation that I am playing currently as an example. The top three games in
this casino, as far as return percentage goes, are all games that I feel I
am fairly proficient at playing. In descending order of return, the games
are JW 2, 9-5 TB+, and 9-6 Bdlx. In position one, best return and biggest
beast of the three, JW 2 ( for you novices, this is joker wild 2 pair
minimum for a pay ) is not the most intuitive game to play. I probably only
have some 100 k to maybe 120 k hands of this doozy in actual casino play,
but probably five times that number of practice hands on software. For
those of you that have never played this game, you may want to keep it that
way. Some strategy examples, hold two pair over any three royal. This is
not too much against intuition since the two pair is minimum pay, but fear
not, it gets worse. You will always prefer a four card inside straight over
a suited JQ. How about always picking a TWO card open straight flush hold
over a suited JK? Or preferring a two card straight flush with ONE gap over
a suited JA. I think you get the idea that this game is not going to be my
choice, but if you don't, let me just say that there is something just plain
wrong when you have nothing else to hold except a lone bare four and it is
the right play. With all of the practice and so many things to look for
during play, and confidence in my accuracy, my average speed on this ghastly
game is only 720 hands per hour. TB+, second in return, is number one in
variance, almost 40% higher than the other two games. Aces have top heavy
power in this game, as quad bullets contribute more than 5-1/2 percent of
the return, which means certain smaller paying hand possibilities may be
sacrificed if an ace is a choice. I average 850 hph on this game. The
final choice of 9-6 Bdlx, has the lowest variance, but also the lowest
return of my three game choices. This is my choice of games because I can
play with complete accuracy almost while taking a nap. Without working up
too much of a mental sweat, I average 950 hph for as long as I choose to
play. It is so easy that in a couple of hours of proper teaching, even I
could make an expert out of a video poker caveman like Rob S. with no
problem. With my expected nominal loss on the play of the game combined
with my point redemption for cash, I have a positive expectation on this
game every time that I play it. I only play on multi point days and the
casino offers me many of them each month. At my current speed levels, this
game offers me the best shot at the most net dollars in my pocket, before I
even consider the monthly mailer from them. The best mailer benefit of
course, is the boost in your hourly rate. Don't get me wrong, I do still
play JW 2 on the occasions that I am close to my monthly point goal for this
casino, especially if I am comfortably ahead for that day. I firmly believe
that you have to keep all of the video poker knives in your drawer as sharp
as you can. My final take on speed. The old adage is true. Speed kills.
Back in the early 80's when I became serious about VP, I used to play piano
style only, using both hands. Naturally I was much younger and the pure
physical dexterity was considerably superior than it is now, I became
somewhat suspicious of an error rate that may have been higher than I liked
when I was blazing along. No surprise that you can't know for sure what
your error rate is because you wont see 90% of them when you're playing at a
damn break neck speed. I just made the conscious decision to play single
handed and try to go as fast as I accurately could and be happy with that.
I wont ever know for sure if it was the right choice, but I am happy with
the decision and surely less fatigued at the end of a session. I neglected
to state it, but we all must first assume that the operator of the machine
has to have a certain level of skill to begin with, not necessarily the warp
10 that Frank has, but I think the choice of how fast has to be decided on
by the individual, not just the automatic result of genetics and reflexes.
Nudge
