1a. Slower Video Poker Play
Posted by: "futrend" futrend@yahoo.com futrend
Date: Wed Apr 2, 2008 11:46 am ((PDT))Recently there was a blackjack article talking about some new
tables with 5 instead of 7 seats. The casinos claimed it is
being done for increased "customer comfort".However, a blackjack expert said, "Do not let them fool you,
it was only done in order to increase the number of hands each
player will play in the same amount of time. Five tables of
7 players will result in less total hands than 7 tables of
5 players since there are two more dealers. The casino is at
the advantage since it is a negative game for the player and
thus this is just a new method of increasing their advantage".
He went on to say this is the same logical for the automatic
card shufflers, just not quite so dramatic of a change!This article made me think of video poker. Is it not basically
to our advantage to play much slower than we tend to play?
I am not talking about those situations in which the player
has a significant play advantage based upon the underlining
game or a certain promotion. I was thinking that the majority
of time the recreational player is playing a game that has a
negative ER, or often times at best, around break even. Would
you say that fast play is a decide disadvantage to the player
and that "slow and careful" play is a much overlooked method
to lower the casino's advantage?
If you are playing at a machine with a player advantage, esp. if based on both EV and cash back and comps, it makes sense (to me) to put as much money thru it as possible as fast as possible to maximize the amount of money you will make.
If playing TOO fast causes errors, one must make an estimate of whether those errors are frequent and severe enough to offset the extra money earned by faster play with errors, or if slowing down and playing more accurately will result in more expected money per hour, by reducing / eliminating the mistakes.
How to calculate this is a problem, since (I think) most players are unaware of at least SOME of the errors they make when playing very fast. Some you catch before hitting the draw button, some you see as the cards flash away AFTER you've hit the draw button, and some you never realize you've made.
Of course, if you're playing a game that has a house edge instead of a player advantage, then the slower you play, the less money you lose - and if you don't play at all, you lose nothing -- so do whatever "feels good" in that situation. If it's too slow to enjoy the game, you might as well play something else.
There is another consideration. At Caesars Indiana, I had a great deal of difficulty finding out what their cash back was on VP. In most casinos, it's pretty transparent, they tell you how many dollars earn how many points, and how many points earn how many cash back dollars, and you can do the math and figure out if cash back is 0.1%, 0.3%, or whatever, of coin in. However, Caesars answer to my question was "it depends on what game you play, what denomination, how much money you play through, and how long you play". I got other answers from other people, but if "how long you play" is REALLY calculated in determining your cash back, depending on how big a factor it is, you will make the most money by playing the slowest and longest (which may be offset by reductions in the cash back generated by the other factors, and I personally would expect that to be the case).
Interestingly, the same principles apply in your blackjack scenario. First of all, the house "hold" is certainly going to be higher if they get more money on the table, assuming non-card-counting players who do not have an advantage over the casino. But the player(s) can control the speed of the game. The dealer won't like it, but you can sit there and think all you want.
The same math applies to analyzing the game of blackjack as to speed, as does the math applied to VP. If you have an edge, you want to get in more hands (when I was card-counting, I'd look for opportunities to play heads up with the dealer, where I could do 300 hands an hour with a fast dealer, I've been timed, more if I'm playing two spots). If you don't, you want to slow down. The casino's increased "hold" from having fewer players at a table so that more deals per hour can be made is offset by fewer players per deal, so less money on the table with each deal -- and further offset by the cost of the floor space, paying the dealer (such as that is), etc. So I'm inclined to think that they won't make that much more, if anything, by having fewer seats at the table.
Re: comps, same considerations. If the casino comps you according to average estimated bet and average hands per hour (which is usually the case, plus some make a judgment as to whether your quality of play is giving them a high, medium, or minimum return on the game), then you want them to estimate your average bet high (be sure to up it, if it seems reasonable, when the pit boss who is "rating" you is looking) and to think you're playing lots of hands per hour. However, if they're giving you credit for 100 hands an hour, for example, as a "typical" play rate, then for comps, you're getting shorted if you play faster, and getting "extra credit" if you play slower. Probably no way to know what they're doing, but that's the way to game the system.
For the most part, I think the bottom line is to play games with a player edge whenever you can, if you're only a recreational player, to play games you enjoy that have the least house edge, and to play at a speed that maximizes your enjoyment, since you ARE just playing for the fun of it.
--BG
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