> 7a. Hands per hour
>
> A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me
> thinking.
> How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has
> anyone out there documented it for reference?
> This is not a contest and I am not looking for
> oneupsmanship here.
> I am just looking for real, documented answers.
The points earned MUST be your measuring tool; it obviously slows you down to actually count the number of hands you're playing. If you have a friend who will count and time, that could work; five minutes is a pretty good sample, in my opinion, for either, and obviously must be timed to within a few seconds if you're going very fast at all.
I am not a pro, but am answering because I assume you are not either, with the question you've asked, and that you'd like to have answers from a range of players. I have, however, played VP for about 15 years (yeah, back when you could get over 100% paytables AND 2/3% cash-back, and actually make money at the game without coupons, promotions, and other tricks). It's still primarily recreational and earn-comps for me, although I won't play less than 9/6 Jacks or Better (exception: waiting for a seat at a poker table and nothing else to do, might play 9/5 or even 8/5 for a while, but at a REALLY recreational denom, where I'm not going to lose more than $100 no matter how it goes).
I usually play at 600-800 hands per hour single line; not much slower very often or else I don't stay focused - I find it interesting that some will play as slow as 120 hph, that would bore me to death - although if I move up in denomination, and it's really above my bankroll, I will slow down and be extra careful about errors; I only play above my bankroll if I'm on a trip and feel obliged to get in some action to justify my comps, and the only "full pay" pay table is at the higher denom -- but more often, when confronted with this, I'll just stiff them and not expect to be invited back.
Th3 600-800 is if playing alone without distractions from a friend next to me: "look at this" with every three to a royal draw, or other games we agree to play to make the side-by-side play "social" -- or with a non-player watching over my shoulder where I feel obliged to stop & explain something from time to time, or to offer the general principles of VP play while playing.
If I'm trying to push, I've done 1000-1200 hands per hour for short stretches, and although I haven't checked, I think I've probably hit 1500 a few times when I'm "in the zone" on a fast-responding machine. If I'm tired, my speed may suffer, but usually instead I start catching myself with errors (and I always assume I - and everyone else - make some that I don't catch, tired or not, since casino play is not the same as computer practice where you can play perfectly and know it for sure by the feedback). When those errors become significantly frequent (I might allow myself three of them before I know I'm really doing poorly) I know it's (past) time to quit. Fortunately, not every mistake results in a bad outcome, just as (unfortunately) not every correct play results in a good one.
I find multi-line a little slower by your definition of one deal = one hand, compensated significantly by the multiple lines of course, but unless it's an "instant response" machine, usually the draws display one by one, even if very rapidly, and therefore the deals per hour are reduced even if my decision speed is unchanged.
I also get slowed down if a machine has a sticky button or otherwise needs me to be sure a pushed button registers - of course, if there is a "good" machine open, I'll switch in those cases, but if there's not, I'll just put up with it but be more careful, which takes time.
If you're trying to assure a certain amount of play, if you have the time, I'd recommend going for the lower denomination as you've recognized -- not only to reduce variance, but to increase the likelihood of getting in the amount of play needed if you have (like most of us) a limited bankroll. To illustrate with extremes, think of a $25 machine and how little downside variance you'd need to tap out before you got your required coin-in, compared to much smaller denominations. That's why multi-line at the next lower denomination is much lower variance but usually with approx. the same coin-in per hour. No matter how big your bankroll, unless somehow infinite, the lower the denom., the greater the likelihood of getting in a given coin-in before spending it all. Of course, I'm comparing identical pay tables.
BG
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