vpFREE2 Forums

Hands per hour

#1

A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there documented it for reference?
This is not a contest and I am not looking for oneupsmanship here.
I am just looking for real, documented answers.
I have an idea about how many I can play, but I don't know it for a fact. I figure 400 hands per hour should be readily doable. I think basic process (deal, read cards, select, draw, result and payout) might take to long for me to realistically do 600 per hour.
And, just to clarify, I am talking about single line or single deals of a multi-line being counted as a hand. Playing a 5-line machine does not count as 5 separate hands for this.

Thanks,
Mark

#2

It depends on my goal..if it's just to relax and "play" I like to go at a 120 hph pace.
If it's to get a certain coin-in in a certain amount of time and move on, I can crank it up to 600 hph and still be accurate.

···

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

A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there documented it for reference?
This is not a contest and I am not looking for oneupsmanship here.
I am just looking for real, documented answers.
I have an idea about how many I can play, but I don't know it for a fact. I figure 400 hands per hour should be readily doable. I think basic process (deal, read cards, select, draw, result and payout) might take to long for me to realistically do 600 per hour.
And, just to clarify, I am talking about single line or single deals of a multi-line being counted as a hand. Playing a 5-line machine does not count as 5 separate hands for this.

Thanks,
Mark

#3

If you have a casino where the card reader shows your session points it is
very easy to clock your play. Ex: Harrah's properties use $10 per point so
for every point on the card reader's meter that would be two hands at
dollars or eight hands at quarters.

Most players actually play faster than they think they do.

···

From: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vpF…@…com] On Behalf Of
casino_travel
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 10:12 AM
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] Hands per hour

A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there
documented it for reference?
This is not a contest and I am not looking for oneupsmanship here.
I am just looking for real, documented answers.
I have an idea about how many I can play, but I don't know it for a fact. I
figure 400 hands per hour should be readily doable. I think basic process
(deal, read cards, select, draw, result and payout) might take to long for
me to realistically do 600 per hour.
And, just to clarify, I am talking about single line or single deals of a
multi-line being counted as a hand. Playing a 5-line machine does not count
as 5 separate hands for this.

Thanks,
Mark

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#4

600 hph is slow-moderate comfortable speed for me. I max out at about 1100 hph, speed of the machine permitting. I know a lot of people will just look at the initial draw, play it, don't even pay attention to the result and are focused on the next hand. It does save a lot of mental energy, it is really is the way to play if you are playing 2 machines at the same time. But I like to see the end results of my hands. Its more fun and I don't play seriously anymore.

···

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

A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there documented it for reference?
This is not a contest and I am not looking for oneupsmanship here.
I am just looking for real, documented answers.
I have an idea about how many I can play, but I don't know it for a fact. I figure 400 hands per hour should be readily doable. I think basic process (deal, read cards, select, draw, result and payout) might take to long for me to realistically do 600 per hour.
And, just to clarify, I am talking about single line or single deals of a multi-line being counted as a hand. Playing a 5-line machine does not count as 5 separate hands for this.

Thanks,
Mark

#5

I have clocked this because it is useful to know how long it should take when I have a certain amount of coin thru I want to achieve in a session. It is also necessary to know HPH in order to calculate the hourly value of a play.

Anyway - I play standard single line machines at 600 - 700 hands per hour. This is a confortable rate, not really pushing hard, and includes the occasional restroom break.

It takes me right at 8 hours to run 4000 (bottom line) hands thru on a 5 line machine, which works out to 500 hands per hour. 10 play is just slightly slower.

50 and 100 play are much slower for me - perhaps closer to 300 HPH. This is partly because I have a habit of wanting to hunt for the bigger hands (quads, etc.) on the screen before playing the next hand.

EE

···

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

I am just looking for real, documented answers.

#6

A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there documented it for reference?

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Finally a post on a video poker forum that has something to do with video poker. Who'd a thunk? I'll offer you my method to compare to some of the other answers. I like to get as close to the actual average as I can and if you have played enough on different machines, you already know that the speeds of the machines themselves can vary widely. Many times you will see a two Game Kings for instance that will look identical and the tech can even show you that they are both set up on speed 2, which is relatively fast, and you may notice a considerable speed difference between the two. One may have a newer computer platform than the other, or one may just be more recently manufactured. Then, there is the wear factor. I personally prefer just to hit the max bet button on my initial hand only and for every other hand in my session, I use only the deal/draw button to eliminate any extra and sometimes dangerous movement. I feel a lot of players do this and depending on how many of them are moron whack attackers trying to bring on fatigue early, the additional stress on this button will cause the plastic legs on the underside of the button extreme premature wear. This in turn rounds off one or more of these legs and when the button is depressed the contact part of the switch is not exactly flat, and you will experience a slight delay in the deal of the hand. Many times when someone is referring to a sticky button, the condition is actually just plain abuse. Sadly, our couple of years of plunging gaming revenue has caused most places to consider general machine maintenance an unnecessary luxury. Next up, the designed delays in the game, such as the programmed anticipation of heart pounding excitement while waiting for the stuttering multiplier to be finally revealed when playing on Super Times Pay. Multi-Strike is addicting, but speed of coin in on this game now may be a factor for you to choose to play. What I do to set my speed rate is to have my wife stand behind me with her watch that has a second hand. She does not tell me when she is going to start the timing or when she has finished so I am not trying to influence the result. She counts the number of hands that I play in 60 seconds, multiplys by 60 and now I have my hph. This method will also eliminate any confusion at casinos that use a countdown to the next point in the display window. Again, thank you for making a video poker post on what is supposed to be a video poker forum. I have long tired of seeing freight train jumping and what trains are called and posts on religion which were not appropriate before the administrator became gonadless. I used to open my vpFREE mail folder everyday, now I'm lucky to do it once a week. We have 10,718 members with mostly nothing to say. If I assume correctly that most joined because of interest in video poker, and they have become the silent majority, there is no longer much material related to video poker being posted, so then just what the hell are all you people still doing here. Can somebody please give me a damn hallelujah and an amen to that.
                        Nudge

···

From: casino_travel
Subject: [vpFREE] Hands per hour

#7

Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000 per hour.

···

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

A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there documented it for reference?
This is not a contest and I am not looking for oneupsmanship here.
I am just looking for real, documented answers.
I have an idea about how many I can play, but I don't know it for a fact. I figure 400 hands per hour should be readily doable. I think basic process (deal, read cards, select, draw, result and payout) might take to long for me to realistically do 600 per hour.
And, just to clarify, I am talking about single line or single deals of a multi-line being counted as a hand. Playing a 5-line machine does not count as 5 separate hands for this.

Thanks,
Mark

#8

Thanks.
That is exactly why I am asking. I'm trying to get x amount through quickly, while protecting my bankroll as much as possible.
For example, 500 hands at $1 denom yields the same amount through as 2000 hands at 25 cent denom, but the 2000 hands are more likely to stay near the EV, than the 500 hands are. I realize those numbers don't approach a full cycle, but conceptually, the more hands played, the closer the result should be to the expected result.

Take Care,
Mark

···

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

I have clocked this because it is useful to know how long it should take when I have a certain amount of coin thru I want to achieve in a session. It is also necessary to know HPH in order to calculate the hourly value of a play.

#9

Your speed depends on the machine speed. Games at Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, are set at an agonizingly slow pace. Games at M are adjustable and can be set at lightening speed if you want them to be. Palms slowed down their 10 play jacks, so now you can get almost as much coin in per hour, at the 5 plays which are set at a slightly faster speed. But all Palms "good" machines are SLOW!

500-600 hands an hour seems "normal." Slower than that you are going to get bored. In a hurry? 800 hands an hour is not too stressful.
During speed tournaments, 1200 hands per hour is possible.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "TIMSPEED" <corvetteracing87@...> wrote:

It depends on my goal..if it's just to relax and "play" I like to go at a 120 hph pace.
If it's to get a certain coin-in in a certain amount of time and move on, I can crank it up to 600 hph and still be accurate.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "casino_travel" <casinotravel@> wrote:
>
> A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
> How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there documented it for reference?
> This is not a contest and I am not looking for oneupsmanship here.
> I am just looking for real, documented answers.
> I have an idea about how many I can play, but I don't know it for a fact. I figure 400 hands per hour should be readily doable. I think basic process (deal, read cards, select, draw, result and payout) might take to long for me to realistically do 600 per hour.
> And, just to clarify, I am talking about single line or single deals of a multi-line being counted as a hand. Playing a 5-line machine does not count as 5 separate hands for this.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
>

#10

there isn't a human alive or a single line machine made that one can put out 3000 hands per hour. even if it is possible, the error rate would be enormous.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote:

Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000 per hour.

>

#11

I can do 250--300 per hour. I have no idea how you could be accurate at 1000 per hour. You'd make tons of errors touching the wrong card or the pressing the wrong button. I'm talking about multiline games at the hrh only. Single line maybe you could be accurate at 600.

···

To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
From: bdhabm@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 23:15:57 +0000
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Hands per hour

there isn't a human alive or a single line machine made that one can put out 3000 hands per hour. even if it is possible, the error rate would be enormous.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote:

Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000 per hour.

>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#12

nightoftheiguana2000 wrote:

Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and
he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe
he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000
per hour.

I am pretty fast on 2 machines and can reach 2000/hr with
perfect conditions (new, fast slant-tops with perfectly
functioning buttons). I can't sustain that rate for more
than 2-3 hours. If I drop down to 1600 I can keep that
rate up for 5-6 hours.

Frank K. is quite a bit faster than I. If I were pressured
into making a guess, I would say Frank peaks at 2300/hr. He
is the fastest player I have observed.

G'luck all,
Gamb00ler

#13

Since you asked...

My old hand speed record, on 10 coin hand feed deuces at Sam's Town, during a Marathon was 1180 an hour for 72 hours straight with no breaks.

On regular machines of Circe 1990 I averaged 1465 an hour for shorter times. Though I did play 1400 and hour for 24 hours straight on a Christmas promo.

I no longer try to play fast, so it's difficult to say I'm still the fastest. I not trying to be anymore, and there aren't the types of tournaments there used to be that made it worthwhile.

Just for fun I clocked 2450 hands per hour, for 8.5 hours, at the Palms on the .25c Deuces--a couple of years back. A friend playing next to me watched and said they saw no mistakes.

It is important to note that I never play so fast as to miscue at all. I average 1 miscue every 3 months.

Playing accurately is more important than playing quickly these days.

Please do not think, I think this is anything to be proud of. I'm constantly ashamed of the fact that I wasted my gifts on VP, when I could have been a world class musician. It was great folly, not fortune.

~The path one walks is at least as important as how one walks it.

~FK

···

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

there isn't a human alive or a single line machine made that one can put out 3000 hands per hour. even if it is possible, the error rate would be enormous.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@> wrote:
>
> Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000 per hour.
>
>
> >
>

#14

Very close guess. 2450 for 8.5 hrs is my current record.

Hay, to all the people out there in vpFREE land. Don't read this as a manifesto of what you should strive for. If you have the hand eye coordination to play at that speed accurately, you should be a Tennis player or an astronaut, or something else and making Millions a year.

It is my own stupidity and life tragedy that resulted in me ending up a VP player instead of a world class concert violinist. It's nothing good.

The air-force tested me as part of a recruitment program, so I happen to know my hand eye coordination and reflex index. I was rated:

1 in 10,000 for eyesight
&
1 in 200,000 for reflexes

That's well above test pilot level.

Knowing this, and having nothing to show for my life but a few VP Jackpots and Tournament wins is a great sadness to me, and nothing to envy.

~FK

P.S. Oh...I did get fist place in two archery tournaments last week, and it was my first time firing a bow. Guess I'm not too old to learn some new tricks. I am kinda proud of that.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "gamb00ler" <gamb00ler@...> wrote:

nightoftheiguana2000 wrote:
>
> Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and
> he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe
> he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000
> per hour.

I am pretty fast on 2 machines and can reach 2000/hr with
perfect conditions (new, fast slant-tops with perfectly
functioning buttons). I can't sustain that rate for more
than 2-3 hours. If I drop down to 1600 I can keep that
rate up for 5-6 hours.

Frank K. is quite a bit faster than I. If I were pressured
into making a guess, I would say Frank peaks at 2300/hr. He
is the fastest player I have observed.

G'luck all,
Gamb00ler

#15

My play at the two casinos I frequent the most is 5 line. I usually track it for an hour or so by observing the points accumulation, which both casinos make readily available. With the machine speed set at the highest available, I am usually around 700 hands per hour. After a couple of hours, I drop off to about 650.

···

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

A recent post mentioning 1000 hands per hour got me thinking.
How many hands do you typically play per hour? Has anyone out there documented it for reference?

#16

If you have the hand eye coordination to play at that speed accurately, you should be a Tennis player or an astronaut, or something else and making Millions a year.

Of course, I'm NOT saying that YOU couldn't have been any of those things, but I do know that playing well over 2000 hph accurately is not as difficult as that statement suggests. I know several people who can do it, and I'm sure they all would agree that it requires a much smaller and simpler skill-set than being a professional athlete, astronaut, etc... Now if you wanted to say that they could really kick-ass at first-person-shooter style video games, I'd probably agree that requires a much more similar skill-set. Maybe I'm over-estimating what it takes to be a professional athlete or astronaut, but I certainly believe you are over-estimating what it takes to play vp at that speed accurately.

In response to the comment about how they could be making millions a year doing other things, that's certainly possible. But I think averaging well into six figures a year (some while averaging "part-time" hours) isn't exactly tragedy.

Knowing this, and having nothing to show for my life but a few VP Jackpots and Tournament wins is a great sadness to me, and nothing to envy.

I am very sorry to hear about the sadness you feel regarding this. Obviously, people derive their fulfillment in different ways, and it certainly sounds like this was not the right path for you. While I don't think I know anyone who would call vp as a profession fulfilling, the time and experiences that it allows for you to enjoy with your loved ones can be very fulfilling--as long as you've learned to balance quality of life with chasing after the next play.

···

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

#17

In my humble opinion, a bunch of B.S.

···

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

Since you asked...

My old hand speed record, on 10 coin hand feed deuces at Sam's Town, during a Marathon was 1180 an hour for 72 hours straight with no breaks.

On regular machines of Circe 1990 I averaged 1465 an hour for shorter times. Though I did play 1400 and hour for 24 hours straight on a Christmas promo.

I no longer try to play fast, so it's difficult to say I'm still the fastest. I not trying to be anymore, and there aren't the types of tournaments there used to be that made it worthwhile.

Just for fun I clocked 2450 hands per hour, for 8.5 hours, at the Palms on the .25c Deuces--a couple of years back. A friend playing next to me watched and said they saw no mistakes.

It is important to note that I never play so fast as to miscue at all. I average 1 miscue every 3 months.

Playing accurately is more important than playing quickly these days.

Please do not think, I think this is anything to be proud of. I'm constantly ashamed of the fact that I wasted my gifts on VP, when I could have been a world class musician. It was great folly, not fortune.

~The path one walks is at least as important as how one walks it.

~FK

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "bdhabm" <bdhabm@> wrote:
>
>
> there isn't a human alive or a single line machine made that one can put out 3000 hands per hour. even if it is possible, the error rate would be enormous.
>
>
> --- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@> wrote:
> >
> > Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000 per hour.
> >
> >
> > >
> >
>

#18

And I would expect anyone that hasn't seen me play to say as much. So no offense taken.

I direct your attention the posts of those that have seen me play, and actually thought I was faster than I am.

When doing a Marathon Tournament at Sam's Town years ago, (a matter of record), a few other pros really tried to outplay me. Second place was 87% of my score. Far as I know that's the closest anyone has gotten. A guy named Mario.

Keep in mind, I'm saying that taking the time to play this fast, was the biggest mistake of my life, and I regret it.

~FK

···

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

In my humble opinion, a bunch of B.S.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Frank" <frank@> wrote:
>
> Since you asked...
>
> My old hand speed record, on 10 coin hand feed deuces at Sam's Town, during a Marathon was 1180 an hour for 72 hours straight with no breaks.
>
> On regular machines of Circe 1990 I averaged 1465 an hour for shorter times. Though I did play 1400 and hour for 24 hours straight on a Christmas promo.
>
> I no longer try to play fast, so it's difficult to say I'm still the fastest. I not trying to be anymore, and there aren't the types of tournaments there used to be that made it worthwhile.
>
> Just for fun I clocked 2450 hands per hour, for 8.5 hours, at the Palms on the .25c Deuces--a couple of years back. A friend playing next to me watched and said they saw no mistakes.
>
> It is important to note that I never play so fast as to miscue at all. I average 1 miscue every 3 months.
>
> Playing accurately is more important than playing quickly these days.
>
> Please do not think, I think this is anything to be proud of. I'm constantly ashamed of the fact that I wasted my gifts on VP, when I could have been a world class musician. It was great folly, not fortune.
>
> ~The path one walks is at least as important as how one walks it.
>
> ~FK
>
>
>
>
> --- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "bdhabm" <bdhabm@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > there isn't a human alive or a single line machine made that one can put out 3000 hands per hour. even if it is possible, the error rate would be enormous.
> >
> >
> > --- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Frank Kneeland claims to be the fastest in the world, and he has a few tournament wins to document that claim. Maybe he will tell us what his rate is? My guess is around 3000 per hour.
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

#19

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "bdhabm" <bdhabm@...> wrote: In my humble opinion, a bunch of B.S.

Oh P.S. It took me roughly 6 years of playing two machines, an average of 6-8 hours a day to reach my full speed in VP.

In contrast, it took me approximately 8 years before, I was a solo performer as a violinist, and I only practiced about 3-4 hours a day.

When I tell you I wasted a lot of time on this, you have no idea!

~FK

#20

I have an addendum. You are correct in stating that quite a few can, and do play at 2000 per hour plus. What I think you might not be considering is that to increase that speed the remaining 10%, takes about 3-4 times as long as it took to get to the 90% marker.

It's a lot like the time required to become a soloist at the piano. Most people can get good enough for the bar-player level, in about 4 years, but in most cases it takes another 12 years to make it to the classical concert circuit as a soloist.

A good friend of mine in high school, named Henry Becker, was the best player in town when he got here at age sixteen, and intended to do another 8 years of study before starting his career.

Anyway, as I said before, I took me six years to reach my max speed, and I hope you are all smart enough not to make the same mistake I did and waste that much time on something no one really cares about.

This is the first time in 10 years it's even come up in conversation.

~FK

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Frank" <frank@> wrote:If you have the hand eye coordination to play at that speed accurately, you should be a Tennis player or an astronaut, or something else and making Millions a year.

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "seedub49" <seedub49@...> wrote:Of course, I'm NOT saying that YOU couldn't have been any of those things, but I do know that playing well over 2000 hph accurately is not as difficult as that statement suggests. I know several people who can do it, and I'm sure they all would agree that it requires a much smaller and simpler skill-set than being a professional athlete, astronaut, etc... Now if you wanted to say that they could really kick-ass at first-person-shooter style video games, I'd probably agree that requires a much more similar skill-set. Maybe I'm over-estimating what it takes to be a professional athlete or astronaut, but I certainly believe you are over-estimating what it takes to play vp at that speed accurately.

···

In response to the comment about how they could be making millions a year doing other things, that's certainly possible. But I think averaging well into six figures a year (some while averaging "part-time" hours) isn't exactly tragedy.
>
> Knowing this, and having nothing to show for my life but a few VP Jackpots and Tournament wins is a great sadness to me, and nothing to envy.

I am very sorry to hear about the sadness you feel regarding this. Obviously, people derive their fulfillment in different ways, and it certainly sounds like this was not the right path for you. While I don't think I know anyone who would call vp as a profession fulfilling, the time and experiences that it allows for you to enjoy with your loved ones can be very fulfilling--as long as you've learned to balance quality of life with chasing after the next play.