vpFREE2 Forums

Video Poker Machine Plays Itself

#1

Anyone ever see this? I never have. I was in a bar in Las Vegas, and it was a typical IGT bar top, not an old machine. The first couple times I just kind of shook my head and wondered wtf just happened? I thought that maybe the draw button on the screen was sticking, so I started holding my cards and pressing the draw button on the counter instead of the one on the screen. Then I watched the machine do it some more. It dealt a new hand by itself, and then drew all five cards before I could press to hold any. I called the bartender over, but in the meanwhile I tried to quickly press the cards to hold as the machine continued to play by itself.

The bartender came over, and I guess he quickly saw that this could be a disaster, and quickly reached his hand over and cashed me out. Then he got on the phone with someone to tell them about it.

I've never seen a machine go crazy like that before. I'm glad it didn't throw away quads or a straight flush by itself.

#2

Sooo... the deal/draw button was stuck? Or was it something else?

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On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 5:38 PM, bobbartop <bobbartop@yahoo.com> wrote:

Anyone ever see this? I never have. I was in a bar in Las Vegas, and it was
a typical IGT bar top, not an old machine. The first couple times I just
kind of shook my head and wondered wtf just happened? I thought that maybe
the draw button on the screen was sticking, so I started holding my cards
and pressing the draw button on the counter instead of the one on the
screen. Then I watched the machine do it some more. It dealt a new hand by
itself, and then drew all five cards before I could press to hold any. I
called the bartender over, but in the meanwhile I tried to quickly press the
cards to hold as the machine continued to play by itself.

The bartender came over, and I guess he quickly saw that this could be a
disaster, and quickly reached his hand over and cashed me out. Then he got
on the phone with someone to tell them about it.

I've never seen a machine go crazy like that before. I'm glad it didn't
throw away quads or a straight flush by itself.

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

#3

It had to be something else. It happened with the screen buttons, and also with the physical buttons. It was bizarre.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Jason Pawloski <jpawloski@...> wrote:

Sooo... the deal/draw button was stuck? Or was it something else?

#4

At least your machine totally freaked out and was easy to catch. The real problem is the machines that do that only occasionally, they are much harder to catch. And as you probably already know, tossing the occasional hand shaves a lot off that "expected theoretical return". You need to watch your credits carefully, if you're playing 5 credits per hand and play one hand, you should only be down 5 credits, plus whatever you "win". If there's more, you've just been tossed an automatic play hand and the return is not great on hands where your cards are automatically held (or tossed). On 9/6 Jacks, all cards held return is 30.4361745% . Another thing to watch out for is machines that pause after you hit a hand which tends to cause players to hit the redeal button several times (tapping) until the machine finally responds. Sometimes that button tapping gets you a redeal alright, but also an unintended draw with no cards held.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "bobbartop" <bobbartop@...> wrote:

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Jason Pawloski <jpawloski@> wrote:
>
> Sooo... the deal/draw button was stuck? Or was it something else?
>

It had to be something else. It happened with the screen buttons, and also with the physical buttons. It was bizarre.

#5

It had done it to me a couple times earlier. I wasn't drunk, but it took me a while to recognize what was going on. I thought it was me.

I guess I don't have enough experience overall, because this seemed to me to be like lightning striking. I've had pretty good experience with machines functioning properly, perhaps I've just been lucky so far. I'll keep this in mind in the future. Thanks.

···

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "nightoftheiguana2000" <nightoftheiguana2000@...> wrote:

At least your machine totally freaked out and was easy to catch. The real problem is the machines that do that only occasionally, they are much harder to catch. And as you probably already know, tossing the occasional hand shaves a lot off that "expected theoretical return". You need to watch your credits carefully, if you're playing 5 credits per hand and play one hand, you should only be down 5 credits, plus whatever you "win". If there's more, you've just been tossed an automatic play hand and the return is not great on hands where your cards are automatically held (or tossed). On 9/6 Jacks, all cards held return is 30.4361745% . Another thing to watch out for is machines that pause after you hit a hand which tends to cause players to hit the redeal button several times (tapping) until the machine finally responds. Sometimes that button tapping gets you a redeal alright, but also an unintended draw with no cards held.

#6

It was the ghost of Si Redd. He is rolling over in his grave after seeing the
horrible pay tables.

···

________________________________
From: bobbartop <bobbartop@yahoo.com>
To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, April 12, 2011 9:14:50 PM
Subject: [vpFREE] Re: Video Poker Machine Plays Itself

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, Jason Pawloski <jpawloski@...> wrote:

Sooo... the deal/draw button was stuck? Or was it something else?

It had to be something else. It happened with the screen buttons, and also with
the physical buttons. It was bizarre.

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