I haven't studied any available strategies for this game. I played
this sporadically at Showboat and Harrahs at AC, but I can't stand
the volatility of the game; very infrequent high payoffs with steady
losing hands, with almost complete busts very frequently.
I see there is a strategy available at Wizard of Odds site. It is
very detailed, running to two pages, close typed and in three columns.
I want to direct a question at people who play the game frequently,
using some optimal strategy.
When looking at the initial hand of 5 cards dealt, all strategies
strive to maximize the expected payoff. However in this game, in the
lower levels, there is a high premium for going up a level, even at a
reduced payoff. Deferred gratification, you might say. Don't try for
a low probability home run, but try to advance to the next base.
Is this aspect taken into account in the strategies published?
(probably the answer is yes, perhaps this question has been discissed
before. Having just joined this group, I hope to be excused by the
impatient)
A little more elaboration. Apply it to JoB.
Say you are dealt K-J-7-7-2, the high cards unsuited.
The normal strategy is to keep the pair.
If you keep the pair, hoping for a 3-of-a-kind or 4-of-a-kind, there
are two more 7's in the deck. The chance of 3K is 1/47 and 4-K is
that squared (approximately). But if you keep the K-J, there are
three more Kings, and three more Jacks in the deck, so your chanc of
getting a high pair is much much better. The chance of advancing to
the next level is at least 6/47.
That leads me to conclude that you are better off keeping the
unsuited K-J.
Is that right, or am I missing something?
We mere mortals play VP for fun; Bob makes the cards dance to his
tune!- A Myth