vpFREE2 Forums

Bob Dancer's CasinoGaming Column - 12 DEC 2006

Sarah has some great comments. I believe that there is another

reason

that casinos don't pay out as much as might be expected on better
paytables. That is volatility.

The number of hands played on any VP machine is very high and easily
tracks close to the expected return for the accuracy of the hands
played on that machine. Volatility has little impact on the casinos.

Frankly, most non-professional players,
don't have the time or the funds to play enough on any "visit" to

get

near theoretical returns.

Some players will get very close to expected return on a single
visit, some will do better and others will do worse. Over time and
across several visits, players will approach the expected return for
the games they play and the accuracy of their play.

The newer games like MultiStriks appear to make this worse from the
player's perspective. The odds are there but only if one has a huge
bankroll and lots of time.

Don't confuse volatility with results. SOME players will hit
extremely quickly on high volatility machines. SOME will not. While
bankroll requirements and volatility are related, random results are
still variable over the entire spectrum of players.

Then again, there is the "luck" factor that slot players favor.

But if a really good machine is busy all the time, most players

will

run out of funds before hitting a really big hand and as Sarah
indicated,

No, "most" players won't run out of funds. IF a certain number of
players are playing ABOVE their bankroll then a certain percentage of
those players will go broke.

a significant number of players aren't playing at optimal
thugh they can easily miss the big hands when they are "due"

accoding

to the RNG.

No one is ever "due". Every hand is independent and the odds of
hitting any given hand have no relationship to past results. If this
is what you meant by "according to the RNG" then all you are saying
is that the results are random.

Dick

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Lavona Rann" <lrann2@...> wrote:

The first point you made is so so true! But I believe the casinos
would like to see VP get mass exposure on TV.

VP in general ... maybe. Expert play ... I don't think so.

A year or two ago I lamented how VP was losing the publicity game

to

regular poker, and that trend continues. And I imagine the

published

experts like Bob, Jean, etc. would like to see this change. At

that

time I suggested a format for a VP tournament for TV ... called the
World Series of VP.

The only way I think something like this would ever happen is for
a "gaming channel" to start up. Then there would be lots of available
time for OTHER types of gambling (like VP).

Unfortunately it's very difficult to make viewing VP action as
interesting as regular poker ... with the hole card camera, player
interaction, etc.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. VP play is simply not
exciting from a viewer perspective (and quite often from a player
perspective as well).

In spite of this, it would be good publicity to
award a "VP World Champion" each year on TV. But it seems unlikely
it will happen. Someone has to propose the idea to the cable

people.

We need that gaming channel ...

Dick

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "brumar_lv" <brumar_lv@...> wrote:

> Unfortunately it's very difficult to make viewing VP action as
> interesting as regular poker ... with the hole card camera,
> player interaction, etc.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. VP play is simply not
exciting from a viewer perspective (and quite often from a player
perspective as well).

> In spite of this, it would be good publicity to
> award a "VP World Champion" each year on TV. But it seems

unlikely

> it will happen. Someone has to propose the idea to the cable
people.

We need that gaming channel ...

Dick

I was trying to recall what I proposed as a TV format for VP, so I
searched for it. Message #37300 if interested. I had to "modify"
the rules in various ways to make it more exciting for viewers, just
like they do for card poker. I'm sure one of the creative geniuses
on this board could improve my proposal.

Got to signoff now, an aide has arrived to take me back to my room.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "mroejacks" <rgmustain@...> wrote:

The next time you are in a casino and want to have a good laugh walk
around and punch up VP games and look at how the last hand was played
and the number of coins bet.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Lavona Rann" <lrann2@...> wrote:

But if a really good machine is busy all the time, most players will
run out of funds before hitting a really big hand and as Sarah
indicated, a significant number of players aren't playing at optimal