i've been learning FPDW on Frugal Video Poker on strategy play mode
for a while now, and i feel comfortable enough to move on to perfect
play. but one thing that i just can't figure out is when to hold an
Ace and another royal card, when dealt a deuce. during strategy
play, the correct play is to discard both the ace and the other
royal, but seems like in perfect play, sometimes u have to hold on
to both. i just can't figure when to hold them and when to discard
them. what's the pattern here???
FPDW perfect play question
<a repost that may prove to be a duplicate>
woongrules wrote:
i've been learning FPDW on Frugal Video Poker on strategy play mode
for a while now, and i feel comfortable enough to move on to perfect
play. but one thing that i just can't figure out is when to hold an
Ace and another royal card, when dealt a deuce. during strategy
play, the correct play is to discard both the ace and the other
royal, but seems like in perfect play, sometimes u have to hold on
to both. i just can't figure when to hold them and when to discard
them. what's the pattern here???
I generally advise players against pursuing "perfect play". It can
easily turn into a case of failing to see the forest for the trees.
And perfect play will typically only add .01% to the ER of your play,
while risking that you'll make much more costly errors in the
distraction added by perfect play -- where you need to account not
only for the cards you'll hold but also the ones you'll discard.
I'd suggest that perfect play be left to those whose errors take no
more than a .03% toll on the play ER. (In Frugal VP, that would be
represented as an ER Accuracy of 99.97 in the Review Session, Error
section.)
···
------
That said, the "deuce + 2RF w/ Ace" situation in FPDW crops up
frequently, is pretty simple to handle, and is one of the more
valuable situations. So if you're of a mind to hone you play just a
little, it's not a bad one to handle.
Just understand that the biggest value is the satisfaction of knowing
a little bit more than the next guy. In a $.25 game, each time you
keep the RF hold vs. just the deuce, you're picking up around an extra
4 cents in your play.
------
Basic strategy is that you never keep this hold. In advanced (perfect
play) strategy, you keep it vs. just the deuce so long as there are no
"penalties" present to the hold.
A penalty is any card than when tossed will mean that there are fewer
winning hands available on the draw then there'd be if the card were
back in the draw deck.
In the case of this hold, this means any card that would complete a
10-A straight or a flush in the suit of the hold. So, given the hand
(2c 5d 8d Js As), the perfect play is to hold the (2c Js As).
But shift the hand slight, making the 8d a 10d or an 8s, and the hold
reverts to the basic strategy of deuce only.
I'll note that the same perfect strategy logic applies to holding a 2
card RF (no deuce) when one of the cards is a King.
- Harry
http://wizardofodds.com/games/deuceswild/deuceswildapx2.html
i've been learning FPDW on Frugal Video Poker on strategy play mode
for a while now, and i feel comfortable enough to move on to
perfect
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "woongrules" <woongrules@y...> wrote:
play. but one thing that i just can't figure out is when to hold an
Ace and another royal card, when dealt a deuce. during strategy
play, the correct play is to discard both the ace and the other
royal, but seems like in perfect play, sometimes u have to hold on
to both. i just can't figure when to hold them and when to discard
them. what's the pattern here???
nightoftheiguana2000 wrote:
http://wizardofodds.com/games/deuceswild/deuceswildapx2.html
Concerning handling of a FPDW 3wRF hold (suited A-HC-2) --
I suspect you intended that this link to Shackleford's discussion of
an exception to his "Basic" strategy (others would call it Advanced in
that it references penalty cards) be digested in the context of his
full strategy discussion at:
http://wizardofodds.com/games/deuceswild/deuceswild.html
- H.
This is another example of when "learning" from a software program
doesn't impart actual knowledge of the game.
When drawing to any 3RF(one deuce) hand, the chances of making the
wild royal, three of a kind, four of a kind, and a flush are all the
same regardless of the holdings: thus, J102, KJ2, A102, etc. are all
the same, EXCEPT that it becomes progressively harder to make a
straight as we move from J102 (the easiest) to AK/AQ/AJ/A10,2 (all
equally difficult to make a straight).
The difference between 3RF and singleton deuce draws is small enough
that the chances of making a straight sway us toward or away from the
3RF play.
The other consideration is "penalty cards". If we are drawing to AJ2
(3RF), it would obviously be better if we were NOT throwing away a K,
Q, or 10, since the absence of these cards makes it even harder to
make the straight. Similarly, we don't want to be throwing away a card
of the same suit as the AJ if we can help it.
Therefore:
We always play the 3RF when the highest card is K/Q/J: KQ2, KJ2, QJ2,
Q102, J102
We only play the A-high 3RFs when we are NOT discarding a "straight
penalty card" OR a "flush penalty card". The straight penalty card is
any card 10 thru A for this draw. A flush penalty card is any card of
the same suit as the 3RF. Thus:
A10 hearts, 2, club 5, diamond 4--play the 3RF
AJ hearts, 2, diamond 10, club 5--draw four to the lone deuce
(straight penalty card)
AJ3 hearts, 2, club 5--draw four (flush penalty)
So we ONLY play the A-high 3RF in the absence of penalty cards,
because its low probability of making a straight weakens it as a
holding vs. the lone deuce draw. Conversely, the K-high, Q-high, and
J-high 3RFs have enough straight potential that the presence of
penalty card doesn't sway us toward playing the lone deuce.
Get it?
···
--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "woongrules" <woongrules@y...> wrote:
i've been learning FPDW on Frugal Video Poker on strategy play mode
for a while now, and i feel comfortable enough to move on to perfect
play. but one thing that i just can't figure out is when to hold an
Ace and another royal card, when dealt a deuce. during strategy
play, the correct play is to discard both the ace and the other
royal, but seems like in perfect play, sometimes u have to hold on
to both. i just can't figure when to hold them and when to discard
them. what's the pattern here???