vpFREE2 Forums

Please explain "equation"

vpFae wrote:

After considering the public and private responses to
the appropriateness of the terminology in the vpFREE
Video Poker Equation, the Administrator and I have
decided against making any changes and will continue
with: EV = [ER] X [coin-in]

Unfortunately, that means that I will not be able conform to your
"standard" for any posts I may make. Since I have several books, 13
years of newsletters and a popular analyzer/trainer program based on
the same definition of EV used by Stanford Wong, Arnold Snyder, Lenny
Frome, and most definitions I have found on the internet, I will have
to continue using EV as a term that is relative to the bet size
rather than a number of coins or a dollar amount. Thus,

Player's Advantage (or "Edge" if you prefer) = EV - 1

and

Expected Gain = ( EV - 1 ) x Action

where Expected Gain and Action are both in the same monetary units
(e.g., dollars, francs, pounds, gilders, coins, etc.), and Action is
the total of all wagers over the period in question. This allows the
same value for EV to be used with any monetary units. If EV = 1, then
we can expect zero gain or loss average in the long run. If EV < 1
then "Expected Gain" will be negative, indicating an expected loss.

For this to work correctly mathematically, EV can not have any units.
For example, if our unit of measurement is "coins" and EV were a
number of coins, we would have

Coins = (Coins)^2

which would be meaningless. Thus, EV must be expressed as either a
decimal number or a percentage without units.

This is not to criticize the administrator or anyone else here, but
only clarification so that all of my past and future writings will be
intelligible to the reader.

Dan

ยทยทยท

--
Dan Paymar
Author of best selling book, "Video Poker - Optimum Play"
Editor/Publisher of VP newsletter "Video Poker Times"
Developer of VP analysis/trainer software "Optimum Video Poker"
Visit my web site at www.OptimumPlay.com

"Chance favors the prepared mind." -- Louis Pasteur

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

vpFae wrote:

>After considering the public and private responses to
>the appropriateness of the terminology in the vpFREE
>Video Poker Equation, the Administrator and I have
>decided against making any changes and will continue
>with: EV = [ER] X [coin-in]

Dan Paymar replied:

Unfortunately, that means that I will not be able conform to
your "standard" for any posts I may make.

Sure you can. Old dogs can learn new tricks. You and I are
about the same age and I frequently find new and better ways
of doing things.

As I've already pointed out, it's really very simple. When you're
talking about video poker expectations, ER is the term that is
expressed in percentages and EV is expressed in dollars.

A little history:

Several years ago, all of the following type statements were
commonplace in video poker circles:

The EV of 10/7 DB is 100.17%.

The ER of 10/7 DB is 100.17%.

The EV of that play was $324.

THE ER of that play was $324.

My EV was $23 per hour.

My ER was $23 per hour.

ER and EV were being used interchangeably, and although
that may (or may not) have been technically correct, it was
very confusing.

In an effort to end the confusion, vpFREE took the formula
for computing gambling profit or loss and converted it to
video poker terms:

Profit (or loss) = [Edge] X [Action]

was restated as

Expected Value = Expected Return X Coin-in

After extensive discussion and a poll, this equation and the
supporting terminology were endorsed by vpFREE and are
now being used by vpFREE. The terminology is detailed in
the vpFREE FAQ along with an analysis of the ramifications
of the equation.

Our recent revisiting of this situation reaffirms my belief that
the vpFREE equation, and its terminology, makes good sense.

vpFae