Dan Paymar wrote: He's at it again. My "Precision Play" rules, first
published in 1992, were the most accurate strategies available. Using
his own proprietary software, jazbo proved my rules for Jacks or Better
to yield within 0.01% of perfect play. Bob's first "Reports" were
accurate because they were a close copy of mine.
Dan's post slanders both Jazbo and me.
The first strategy I saw by Paymar was the 8th edition of his book,
"Video Poker Precision Play." (Since the editions kept fixing errors in
earlier editions, I shudder to think what the first seven editions were
like.) There were TWO Jacks or Better strategies in this book. The main
one (I think) was a list of what he called Precision Play rules, and in
an appendix there was a hand-ranking, accompanied by footnotes. The
strategies were not identical. There were significant errors and
omission on both strategies, and in some cases the footnotes made the
strategy worse. He is correct that they were more accurate than what
Frome had published. But they were still quite flawed.
As bad as Dan's strategies were (and are), they are still protected by
copyright. If he wants to print his 8th Edition strategies here, I will
gleefully explain to everybody how bad they are. And you can judge for
yourselves whether my strategies copied his work --- other than EVERY
9/6 Jacks strategy is similar to every other simply because there's one
unique way to play every hand. (Except in two cases: With a hand like
4444K, there are two different plays that are both worth 125 coins, and
with an essentially unsuited KQJTT, there are two separate ways to hold
KQJT. Those are the only ties in 9/6 Jacks.)
I recommend to Dan that he does not list his strategy here. He should
have learned from previous encounters that when I criticize his writing,
I do so accurately, and when his actual writings are produced, it's
always embarrassing to him. Also, another Dancer versus Paymar squabble
would be annoying to most people on vpFREE --- not to mention the
administrator.
My reports contained three strategies. The first one (Beginner's) was
somewhat similar in style to Paymar's Precision Play rules, although
with many fewer errors. The highest level, which I called Professional
Strategy, was perfect (something Dan has never published), although the
format Liam W. Daily and I use today to show the same strategy in our
strategy cards and Winner's Guides is much easier to understand than
what I published in 1995.
Bob Dancer
For the best in video poker information, visit www.bobdancer.com
or call 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.
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