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Deal Me In: One word that assures a happy marriage |
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Written by Mark Pilarski/Special to the World
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Monday, 09 April 2007 |
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One word that assures a happy marriage
Dear Mark: I’m hoping you can settle an on going discussion (argument) my wife and I have. When playing a video poker machine that pays even money for both a high pair and any two pair, she will keep both pair and draw one card. Her reasoning is she is looking to draw a full house. I maintain that if at least one pair is high, you should keep only one high pair and draw three cards increasing your chances of catching three of a kind or possibly an even better hand. You already got your money back and a three-card draw gives you a better chance of improving your hand than a one-card full house draw. Of course, we will both keep two low pair or any two pair when playing a machine that pays 2:1 for two pair. We have nothing riding on this except a smug “I told you so!” and a strategy change for one of us.
— Ron E.
Unfortunately, Ron, your question is missing some imperative meat-and-potato information, in particular, the rest of the paytable. So the answer is shall we say “circumspect.” I know how painful it is to have this one word whispered into one’s ear.
Astute video poker players understand the difference between full-pay and partial-pay machines. The full-payers shell out the maximum for each winning hand; the partials don’t. For instance, if you can find a full-pay Jacks or Better machine that pays 9 coins for a full house, 6 for a flush, and 2 for two pair, you can expect a return rate of approximately 99.5%, making it an attractive machine to be playing.
In your example, Ron, the machine may return 9-for-1 on a Full House, and 6-for-1 for a Flush, but it probably is considered a partial-pay machine because the full-versus-partial equation usually changes when the machine pays only 1-for-1 for two pairs. Odds-on, your paytable was that of some kind of hybrid Bonus Poker machine.
If the paytable on the machine you were playing looks anything like this, Royal flush 250-for-1; Straight Flush 50-for-1; four Aces 80-for-1; four 2s, 3s or 4s 40-for-1; four 5s through Kings 25-for-1; Full House 9-for-1; Flush 6-for-1; Straight 4-for-1; Three-of-a-Kind 3-for-1; two Pair 1-for-1; pair of Jacks or Better 1-for-1, you could be giving the house an extra five-plus percent on your play. Reducing the return on two-pair hands penalizes the player, even with the increased payoffs on Four-of-a Kinds.
Again, Ron, without knowing the complete paytable, I cannot give you an unequivocal answer, but I’ll still take a shot at settling your squabble, that being drawing either three cards or one when paid even money with two pairs, using one of my all-time favorite machines, an All American 8/8 Jacks or Better Draw Poker as an example.
The lower end of the paytable looks like this: Four of a kind 40-for-1; Full House 8-for-1; Flush 8-for-1; Straight 8-for-1; Three-of-a-Kind 3-for-1; two pair 1-for-1; pair of Jacks or Better 1-for-1. Find this beauty and you can expect a return of 100.7% payback.
The correct strategy based on the average value of all attainable wins after the discards are replaced for two pairs would be, drawing just one card with this exception: three cards to a royal. That scenario would be a pair of Jacks with a Jack of spades, a pair of 10’s with a 10 of spades, and a Queen of spades kicker. You would keep the 10, Jack and Queen of spades and throw away the other 10 and Jack.
Of course there is a darn good chance you won’t find this doozy at the casino you play at, so I’d recommend you look for and start playing Full Pay 9/6 machines where you are paid 2-for-1 for two pair, and pooh-pooh any machine whose paytable remotely resembles the one I first described above.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week:
“Lady Luck favors the backbone, not the wishbone.”
— Doyle Brunson
Read more at www.markpilarski.com
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