vpFREE2 Forums

Build-A-Wheel Poker

#1

Hi Gang:
During our recent visit to Tunica, Hedy and I did the bulk of our play at the Roadhouse, which features 24 machines with five games that return over 99.9 per cent.
We did very little play at the Horseshoe next door (where we stayed in a beautiful suite, BTW) but we did have a lot of fun playing a game there called Build-A-Wheel poker.
It featured a wheel above the normal screen that was divided into eight sections. Two of the sections (or pieces of a pie) were filled in already when you began to play. One pre-filled section had a 4,000-coin bonus and the other had a random number, something like 1,365 or 1,335. Every time you were dealt 3-of-a-kind or better another section of the wheel filled in. When all eight sections were completed, the wheel would spin and you would get whatever bonus was in the section the wheel landed on.
The game offered denominations of a nickel or a quarter and you had to play either triple or five-play. The catch was you had to play five extra coins to be eligible for the bonus. Interestingly enough, you had to play the extra five coins if you played triple play OR five play. So, you were playing 20 coins for triple play or 30 coins for five play. We, of course, played five play to get the most for our money.
If you were dealt a full house or better (four-of-a-kind, straight flush or royal flush) the wheel would fill in the remaining blanks automatically and give you a spin. It featured 9/5 jacks or better and 9/6/4 DDB.
We played our favorite game ... DDB ... of course, and the first time we played Hedy got aces with a kicker for $500 before she filled in the wheel the first time then got a 975- coin bonus on her spin. We doubled our money the first time we played. The two other times we played we wound up losing, getting into a hole before the spin finally came and got us a piece of our losses back.
Strangely enough, I got our only dealt full house (aces full over sixes) with just one remaining piece of the wheel to be filled in. Not very good timing! I broke up the full house and just held the aces, but didn't get a fourth ace on any of the five hands.
It was a lot of fun to play and could be rather lucrative if you get a dealt full house or better at the right time. The bank of four machines (two back to back) is located next to the poker room.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy

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Sent from my iPad

#2

Hi Gang:
During our recent visit to Tunica, Hedy and I did the bulk of our play at the Roadhouse, which features 24 machines with five games that return over 99.9 per cent. We did very little play at the Horseshoe next door (where we stayed in a beautiful suite, BTW) but we did have a lot of fun playing a game there called Build-A-Wheel poker. It featured a wheel above the normal screen that was divided into eight sections. Two of the sections (or pieces of a pie) were filled in already when you began to play. One pre-filled section had a 4,000-coin bonus and the other had a random number, something like 1,365 or 1,335. Every time you were dealt 3-of-a-kind or better another section of the wheel filled in. When all eight sections were completed, the wheel would spin and you would get whatever bonus was in the section the wheel landed on.

Looks like a short term advantage play if you find a machine with enough blanks filled in. I would love to analyze the game.

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--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Tom <coachvee@...> wrote:

#3

Mickey,

It's generally unusual to find a "wheel" partially built. If you cash out your credits at any time in "Build A Wheel" vp, the machine actually offers to pay you a partial value of the wheel theo. (You can also opt to leave the segments in place for the next player ... fat chance!)

However, there's a always a chance a player managed to deplete their credits and walked away without a cashout. In that case, presumably any filled wheel segments will stay intact for the next player.

If you luck upon that instance, best EV play would be to put $5 in and immediately cash out. Of course, it you're motivated to play the generally negative game because of other inducements (count me in here), then you just continue the build.

FWIW, I cashed out a $.25 game with one segment filled because I needed to leave and was surprised when I was offered something like $18.

As far as game analysis, Michael Shackleford has an interesting discussion on the game on his website. What I found notable is that he didn't seem to realize that the "random" value of each wheel segment is directly related to the trigger hand value (dealt trips trigger an increasing value segment fill based upon trip value, ditto for high card in straights/flushes, as well as the trip value in FH's).

http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/tables/build-a-wheel/

- H.

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

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Tom <coachvee@> wrote:

We did very little play at the Horseshoe next door (where we stayed in a beautiful suite, BTW) but we did have a lot of fun playing a game there called Build-A-Wheel poker. It featured a wheel above the normal screen that was divided into eight sections. Two of the sections (or pieces of a pie) were filled in already when you began to play. One pre-filled section had a 4,000-coin bonus and the other had a random number, something like 1,365 or 1,335. Every time you were dealt 3-of-a-kind or better another section of the wheel filled in. When all eight sections were completed, the wheel would spin and you would get whatever bonus was in the section the wheel landed on.
>
>
Looks like a short term advantage play if you find a machine with enough blanks filled in. I would love to analyze the game.

#4

Build a wheel seems to be a dying game, you see less and less of it in Vegas these days. I guess high volatility, low EV, and more often than not walkin away a loser wises up folks real quick !
tip for the build-wheel wongers out there -- try Sunset Station

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----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom" <coachvee@aol.com>
To: "acvpp@egroups.com" <acvpp@yahoogroups.com>; <vpfree@yahoogroups.com>; "VP Digest" <vpmail2@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2013 3:25 PM
Subject: [vpFREE] Build-A-Wheel Poker

Hi Gang:
During our recent visit to Tunica, Hedy and I did the bulk of our play at the Roadhouse, which features 24 machines with five games that return over 99.9 per cent.
We did very little play at the Horseshoe next door (where we stayed in a beautiful suite, BTW) but we did have a lot of fun playing a game there called Build-A-Wheel poker.
It featured a wheel above the normal screen that was divided into eight sections. Two of the sections (or pieces of a pie) were filled in already when you began to play. One pre-filled section had a 4,000-coin bonus and the other had a random number, something like 1,365 or 1,335. Every time you were dealt 3-of-a-kind or better another section of the wheel filled in. When all eight sections were completed, the wheel would spin and you would get whatever bonus was in the section the wheel landed on.
The game offered denominations of a nickel or a quarter and you had to play either triple or five-play. The catch was you had to play five extra coins to be eligible for the bonus. Interestingly enough, you had to play the extra five coins if you played triple play OR five play. So, you were playing 20 coins for triple play or 30 coins for five play. We, of course, played five play to get the most for our money.
If you were dealt a full house or better (four-of-a-kind, straight flush or royal flush) the wheel would fill in the remaining blanks automatically and give you a spin. It featured 9/5 jacks or better and 9/6/4 DDB.
We played our favorite game ... DDB ... of course, and the first time we played Hedy got aces with a kicker for $500 before she filled in the wheel the first time then got a 975- coin bonus on her spin. We doubled our money the first time we played. The two other times we played we wound up losing, getting into a hole before the spin finally came and got us a piece of our losses back.
Strangely enough, I got our only dealt full house (aces full over sixes) with just one remaining piece of the wheel to be filled in. Not very good timing! I broke up the full house and just held the aces, but didn't get a fourth ace on any of the five hands.
It was a lot of fun to play and could be rather lucrative if you get a dealt full house or better at the right time. The bank of four machines (two back to back) is located next to the poker room.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy

#5

Looks like a short term advantage play if you find a machine with enough blanks filled in. I would love to analyze the game.

Cashing out one $1 slice is ~$75-95.
Slices will stay on the machine if you change denominations (finding $2 slices on a $1/$2/$5 is $150-190/slice).
Only one set of slices for each denomination.

There are some people who choose to cash out without taking the cash for the slice.
One lady who plays $1s told me about the first time she played when she didn't cash her slices out.

A few days ago, someone hit 39,000+ on quarters (10,000 had built up to almost 40,000).
Advantage play would depend on number of slices & level of progressive...if anyone feels up to doing the math... :slight_smile:

Mitchell