vpFREE2 Forums

Multi Strike with Super Times Pay

#1

Actually from the earlier thread, the STP feature in MS is revenue neutral. (It appears every 10 played hands on average and the average multiplier is 3.)
The 6,4, 2 rule divided by the multiplier determines the amount to add to each possible winner for strategy calculations.

···

----- Original Message -----
From: Harry Porter
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 8/11/2008 8:38:59 PM
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Multi Strike with Super Times Pay

peppermillionaire wrote:

Just a quick post to apologize for the mistake on my part. STP does,
of course, impact return (positively) as the subsequent posters noted.
Brain fart on my part - what I was thinking is that STP doesn't
impact strategy.

No apologies needed ... we all skip an beta-wave every now and then.

But, the odd thing is that STP does impact MS strategy -- that is,
optimal MS-STP strategy differs from optimal MS strategy. (This was
alluded to in a previous thread awhile back.)

- H.

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

#2

howard.w.stern wrote:

Actually from the earlier thread, the STP feature in MS is revenue
neutral. (It appears every 10 played hands on average and the average
multiplier is 3.)
The 6,4, 2 rule divided by the multiplier determines the amount to
add to each possible winner for strategy calculations.

We stepped through a thread re MS-STP last Nov in which it was
discussed that the feature isn't entirely neutral, to the extent that
it opens the door to strategy changes from standard MS that enhance ER.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vpFREE/message/80753

Noted was that optimal strategy would involve paytable adjustments of
36/24/12 to the 5-coin payouts vs those of 30/20/10 for MS (6/4/2 per
coin). As you discuss, there's a division to be made when a STP
multiplier is active on the current level, but it's the entire
adjusted paytable after the 36/24/12 adjustment (not the adjustment
itself) that's to be divided by the STP multiplier.

I'm surprised to see MS-STP ER discussed with any degree of precision.
However, maybe things aren't quite as complex as I perceive.

- Harry

#3

Thanks for all the replies. BTW there are about six to nine of these
machines at Suncoast (maybe more I haven't really checked the entire
casino).

So does the strategy change then if I am on line 2 with a 10X
multiplier or line 3 with a 20X multiplier? Do I revert in these cases
to the line 4/free ride strategy or stay the course to try and get to
the next line?

#4

mguthrie56 wrote:

So does the strategy change then if I am on line 2 with a 10X
multiplier or line 3 with a 20X multiplier? Do I revert in these
cases to the line 4/free ride strategy or stay the course to try and
get to the next line?

The key here is to consider what MS strategy shifts involve -- where a
shift is called for, it's because the advantage in advancing to higher
Levels warrants pushing for hands on the current Level with a high hit
probability over those with high payout.

When you shift the value of playing the current line vs. the value of
advancing to higher Levels, the appropriate strategy shifts. Most
notably, if you significantly increase the value of playing the
current Level, then strategy will shift towards standard strategy.

Determining the exact strategy changes for each level as multipliers
change takes detailed analysis. But you can go with a general rule of
thumb that when you have a strong multiplier, it's likely that you
play a standard strategy (i.e. line 4/free ride strategy).

However, if I recall correctly, MS-STP multipliers are relatively weak
(I think I remember them running 2x-5x) -- in which case your examples
aren't applicable. For weaker multiplier values, determining when you
might switch to line 4/free ride strategy (or perhaps, something in
between) involves a bit of guess work, in absence of doing a fair
amount of detailed analysis. The thread from last November that was
referred to earlier included speculation along those lines.

···

-------

All of the above said, it's my guesstimate that playing MS-STP with
standard MS strategy will likely cost you no more than .05%-.10% vs
optimal MS-STP strategy. Rather than making some rough guesses about
strategy shifts, it might be preferable to just stick with standard MS
strategy ... things are complicated enough as it is.

- Harry