vpFREE2 Forums

How many hands a hour?

I agree completely with your revised statement!

A few additional observations on VP speed, if I may...

Obviously, if a player "normally" plays a particular game at around 800
hands/hour, and tries to play at 1200, he will make many more errors. However...

What if he finds a faster machine than he normally plays on? Can he then
possibly play at 900 hph, without making more errors? I think it is certainly
possible.

What if that player usually plays for five or six hours, but this day only
will play for two hours? Can he then possibly play for that decreased time at
900 hph accurately? I think it is certainly possible.

What if a player normally drinks a bit of alcohol while he plays? But this
day he decides to drink coffee or soda or water instead, and concentrates on
playing faster. Might he then play considerably faster without additional
errors? I think it is certainly possible.

What if a player normally socializes while he plays, but today he is playing
alone? Might he then play considerably faster without additional errors? I
think it is certainly possible.

What if a player normally plays on an old bank of machines, with blurry
screens, sticky buttons, and balky bill acceptors? Then, the casino updates the
machines to state-of-the-art. It is pretty clear that the player will be able
to play faster without additional errors.

Speed alone does not cause errors. Trying to play beyond one's capability
does. Each person must decide what is best for himself, based upon dozens of
factors. And there are times when an increased error rate (due to increased
speed) might even be acceptable, like during a particularly juicy or
time-limited promo, or a very high progressive, or during tournament play.

Brian

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In a message dated 2/16/2007 8:28:14 PM Pacific Standard Time,
queenofcomps@cox.net writes:

I'll revise my statement: In my opinion, a good many errors by experienced
and skilled players are due to speed. I am going to assume they know the
correct strategy. Inattentiveness, fatigue, distractions, lack of
concentration, , drugs/alcohol, button errors, fuzzy screens, and many other
factors can also cause errors, it is true, but many of these are caused or
made worse by the speed factor.

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"... distractions, lack of concentration, , drugs/alcohol, button
errors..." I've experienced all of these combined. Sometimes with
bad results and sometimes luck bailed me out.

Playing $1 10/7 on a machine with 25 as MaxPlay. I was playing 5
coins and drinking some excellent free Pinot. Bartender says
something to me, I hit the Max button, and now I have a $25 hand :open_mouth:
I hit trips - yipee!

Mac
www.casinocamper.com
www.macandchris.com

I was not judging anyone when I warned about the dangers to VP accuracy caused by speed. And I wasn't saying that no one could/should ever play fast. Obviously experience and many other factors are important. I spend 12 pages in my last book, "Frugal Video Poker," talking about ALL the factors that hinder accuracy and gave techniques and suggestions on how to improve it.

However, the subject of this thread dealt with speed - so I was addressing this issue only. And in my long-time experience of teaching and playing VP, I have found that, for the average player, reducing speed is the one best way to improve accuracy (although this doesn't mean this is the only way and there aren't special circumstances where extra speed might be possible or even desirable).

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________________________________________
Jean $¢ott - "FRUGAL VIDEO POKER"
This new book (autographed) and other
   frugal products are now available at my
   new Web site, http://queenofcomps.com/.
   E-mail address is queenofcomps@cox.net.

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