vpFREE2 Forums

Newbie

#1

Hi, all - just wanted to say that I'm a newbie to this board. My
husband Gary and I were in Vegas from 7/12 - 7/19 and unfortunately
must missed the July Lunch on the 20th. We're VP beginners and I've
been following this board for a couple of months now and have really
gotten some great info. We had a great trip this time, playing
mostly VP and keeping an eye out for the positive pay schedules. We
stayed downtown at Fitzgeralds the first night, then the Rio for 2
and Paris for 3. We took some side trips to Fiesta Rancho and the
Cannery, but had most of our luck and played mostly at the Palms.
for 7 days there, I only spent $70 on gambling and food, so I
considered that a great trip! Gary hit a $12,492 progressive at
Paris, so we're hoping to be invited back there so they can get some
of their money back!

Anyway, thanks for all the info! We're from MI so there's not much
local as far as good pay schedules. Looking forward to the next
Vegas trip!

#2

I've been playing the Deuces Wild version of Multi-strike and my
experience has been that holding a pair (especially on Levels 1 and 2)
is the single biggest killer of being able to advance to the next level.
Has anyone ever evaluated whether-or-not holding a pair in this game is
preferable to drawing a whole new hand (especially on the lower levels,
where advancement is the priority)?

It seems as if I can many times go 10 - 15 hands in a row where holding
a pair turns up nothing, and even when it does result in
three-of-a-kind, full-house, or even four or five-of-a-kind (at least at
the lower levels), those wins aren't nearly enough to make up for the
lost hands where a pair wasn't improved.

Has anyone else had a similar experience or does anyone know of any
articles that exist on strategies for the deuces-wild version which
specifically address this issue? I know that the "Wizard-of-Odds" has a
nice set of strategy tables that places "One Pair" pretty high on each
of the strategy levels, mostly with fairly equal weight. Is holding a
pair always preferred to drawing a whole new hand, no matter what the
level in Deuces-wild Multi-strike?

Ron

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

#3

gms5997 wrote:

Gary hit a $12,492 progressive at Paris, so we're hoping to be invited
back there so they can get some of their money back!

YES!!

Hey, there's got to be at least 60 seconds of a great story there!
(e.g. Did anyone need CPR?). You gotta share!

- Harry

(and for my sake, what stomping grounds in Mich. are you from? I and
my wife are native to Traverse City, and inquiring minds definitely
want to know ...)

#4

Ron McGowan wrote:

Has anyone ever evaluated whether-or-not holding a pair in this game
is preferable to drawing a whole new hand (especially on the lower
levels, where advancement is the priority)?

I know that the "Wizard-of-Odds" has a nice set of strategy tables
that places "One Pair" pretty high on each of the strategy levels,
mostly with fairly equal weight. Is holding a pair always preferred
to drawing a whole new hand, no matter what the level in Deuces-wild
Multi-strike?

I think you can stake your faith on what appears at the Wizard-of-Odds
(no relation :slight_smile: website. It's a VERY reliable source.

If you want to read up on how to analyze this game to develop
strategy, read Bob Dancer's article on this game. It can be linked to at:
http://www.multistrikepoker.com/

- Harry

#5

I've been playing the Deuces Wild version of Multi-strike and my
experience has been that holding a pair (especially on Levels 1

and 2)

is the single biggest killer of being able to advance to the next

level.

Has anyone ever evaluated whether-or-not holding a pair in this

game is

preferable to drawing a whole new hand (especially on the lower

levels,

where advancement is the priority)?

You are using fuzzy thinking, I'm afraid. Consider. When dealt a
hand such as QQ973, the only rational alternatives are: keep the
pair, and throw the hand away. You say that holding a pair is
the "single biggest killer". Well, you are referring to ONLY those
times when you are dealt a single pair with no deuces, which is A
BAD HAND. No matter which way you play it, you will likely NOT
advance. So you should restate, "being dealt A BAD HAND (such as a
single pair, no deuce) is the single biggest killer"...etc. The
reason you notice this is that the majority of the bad hands ARE one
pair-no deuce hands. Therefore, when you fail to advance, quite
often it's because you were dealt this particular bad hand and were
unable to improve.

Let's look at what happens when you draw three to a pair. If you
draw the third card for trips, or a deuce, you will advance, while
getting paid at least even money. Let's just consider this one case:
there are six winning cards out of 47 remaining, and you have three
shots at them. If you miss the first time you have a 6/46 chance,
then you will have a 6/45 chance if you miss the second time. This
adds up to roughly 18/46, or about 39%. Add to this the slight
chance of drawing three identical cards to make a natural full house
and we have about a 40% chance of advancing by drawing three to the
pair.

In contrast, drawing all five cards will produce a winner (advance)
about 25% of the time.

You also have to consider that fairly often, when the pair improves,
it improves to a full house or quads, paying 4-1. So the three-card
draw gains in respect to the five-card draw in this fashion as well,
since the five-card draw very rarely makes a hand better than three
of a kind.

I know it can be frustrating when you fail to advance time after
time with one pair, but a proposition that only wins 40% of the time
can very easily suffer ten- or fifteen-hand losing streaks.

ยทยทยท

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Ron McGowan" <eltonron@i...> wrote:

#6

One comment, "mkl":

Beautiful.

- H.

#7

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Harry Porter" <harry.porter@v...>
wrote:

gms5997 wrote:
> Gary hit a $12,492 progressive at Paris, so we're hoping to be

invited

> back there so they can get some of their money back!

YES!!

Hey, there's got to be at least 60 seconds of a great story there!
(e.g. Did anyone need CPR?). You gotta share!

- Harry

(and for my sake, what stomping grounds in Mich. are you from? I

and

my wife are native to Traverse City, and inquiring minds definitely
want to know ...)

No CPR needed, but I'm sorry to say I missed most of the excitement.
Gary had put $20 into a Can Can Quarters machine - didn't get
anything - but he was waiting for a bottle of water that he had
order. Not wanting to leave before the waitress came back around, he
went to the next machine and after 3 pulls, lined up those top 3
symbols, at which point the machine locked up with his win! Anyway,
he was scheduled to do the 1:30 session at the slot tournament at
Bally's, so he had to run around and find me, which he did, and told
me that I had to take his place in the tournament because he just hit
for 12 grand! so I took a peek at his machine and then left to do
the tournament. I guess it took quite a while for all the paperwork
and double,triple checking the machine. But he left with that big
ol' check in his pocket! I think he was in shock for the rest of the
trip! What fun!

Gary & I are from Dearborn, by the way. Do you still live in
Traverse City?