STP is not so bad as really the multiplier is adding variance and the cost is 20% extra. (9-6 jacks available on this game at my home casino so at least I am playing a low variance base game.) Super Triple Play and Quick Quads are much worse as the extra 20% only helps the big hands thus adding alot of variance. Now we get to the ten coin per line games. Good Times Pay is not so bad but Ultimate X and Big Times Pay are ridiculous! Ultimate X strategy is insanely difficult. Because multipliers for the following hand are important considerations similiar to Multi-Strike come into play. (According to the "Wizard of Odds" the triple play version requires mastering 81 strategies for one game and ten play over 360!) Big Times Pay rewards better multipliers the lower the highest card in the dealt hand is (Note: Aces are low.). Since a high pair is the most likely starting and ending scoring hand (Aces are less likely than Ks, Qs and Js combined but also can contribute to some bigger than RF hands on some game types. - TDB, DDB etc.) you are less likely to have a big multipler on these. (This does not apply to deuces wild games except for the RF and WRF.)
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-----Original Message-----
From: mikeymic <mikeymic@yahoo.com>
Sent: Jun 1, 2009 1:41 PM
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vpFREE] How Multiplier Games Can Fool YouLast week I was dealt 3 to the royal on an Ultimate Poker machine. I was playing a 25c 10 play which is 100 coins ($25) per hand at max bet.
The good news is that I drew the other two royal cards on the bottom hand.
But, as the saying goes, it's "not what you win, it's what you keep".
And the net result is that I ended the day ahead "only" a little over $300.
So, where did the rest of that royal money go?
The bottom line "hit" was not multiplied, so the 4000 coin payoff ended up being a return of only 40 to 1 on my initial bet. The other 9 lines had small negligible payoffs (if any) which I'm not including in making this general comment.
Royals are always wonderful, and winning $1000 playing at a 25c denomination is great. But those rare royals are definitely more rewarding when they return 800 to 1 instead of 40 to 1 on your investment for that hand.
Last year I played STP with a similar result. Finally got a royal, but no multiplier. Hey, where's that 10X when you need it?
I wonder if many of us approach these multiplier games with unrealistic expectations. You take a chance with a hopeful vision of a high multiplier and a good dealt hand. But you frequently end up with either or both of those missing from your eventual result.
Meanwhile, you are betting up to twice the normal bet for buying that sneaky multiplier. And as my result showed, those incremental bets add up quickly.
Any comments?