Dan Paymar wrote:
If you mean what specific video poker game, my guess would be Bonus
Poker, but there are so many variations of VP the only way to know
would be to look around the casinos and see which game is most
plentiful. That's assuming that the slot director is intelligent
enough to put in more of the games that the customers like.
There's a psychological study to be found in this subject.
"mini"-Jackpot hit frequency rates highly and AC players are fond of
DDB. There's common sense in this -- when playing a negative game,
the more likely a sizable hit comes along, the more likely you'll
finish strongly ahead in the short term (most gamblers, by nature,
have far less concern about the downside -- bounding their losses by a
comfortable trip stake).
If you define a mini-jackpot as a win of 400 cr. (a threshold at which
most players feel that they've hit an exceptional win in the typical
game) DDB qualifies as providing one of the more attractive
mini-jackpot hit frequencies -- .88% prob. Of the game return, 13.1%
is tied up in these hands. On the whole, 45% of deals result in a
paying hand. Some observation would suggest that overall hit
frequency is of lesser concern to players.
···
------
Pointing to this last statement is the fact that topping DDB in
AC player popularity, by a decent margin, is "AC-JW" (5-kind jackpot).
It has one of the poorest overall hit frequencies -- 30%. And yet,
despite all those non-paying hands, AC patrons play it madly.
Traditionally, there have been more dedicated AC-JW machines on the
floor than any other single-game machine.
The game statistics are striking. With perfect play AC-JW has an ER
of 97.2%, nearly 2% below that of DDB. A relatively difficult
strategy likely ensures the house holds at least 6% on these machines
-- a return that vies with the better paying non-skill slots (strategy
study isn't a priority with these players).
The mini-jackpot probability is sizable at .95% - close to one in 1000
hands. Those hands comprise 15.8% of the game return. Perhaps the
most startling statistic of all is that the 4000 cr. 5-kind jackpot
occurs once in approx. 11000 hands.
The resulting high variance on this game, 70, ensures such a wild ride
that it's likely difficult for players to discern just how "losing" or
"winning" this game is relative to others. The presence of a wild
card lends a perception that there are more chances to win on a hand,
despite the very low hit rate. Certainly the frequency of the
mini-jackpots gives a player a sense that they have a decent shot at
finishing a trip "up", no matter what their experience.
Once when playing quarters a woman beside me was giddy with her 5K
jackpot hit. She excitedly proclaimed that it was her 5th such hit in
her 24 hrs on the property. I enthusiastically congratulated her ...
she then confided that this hit had just brought her even for the
trip. Such a rocky ride would have sent me cowering under a large
rock beneath the boardwalk to hide out with the sand crabs -- she
clearly savored every minute.
------
Were I designing a new vp game for consumption on the East Coast, I'd
look very closely at AC-JW as a model. There's every indication it's
the most profitable vp of all for AC casinos.
Its being largely absent from the LV scene suggests that western
players are a little too savvy to take to the game. However, given
the continued success of the Coast properties despite diminished vp
inventories (there may be fewer players, but I sense the bottom line
has improved), I can't help but to think LV is prime for this game.
- Harry