Understanding The issues
Video Poker Long Run Volatility
People often talk about casino games and issues of 'expectancy', which
is really just talking about the house edge and how much you're expected
to win or lose. The catch is, when people quote a house edge they are
almost always referring to a number that is only valid over the 'long
run'. Remember our talk about payback volatility earlier? It can sometimes
be a blessing, as you'll be there at the right time and have a great payback
percentage for your session, but it will most often be a curse, as you
can play with perfect strategy and still lose your bankroll over the course
of a session.
Bankroll Blues
In Video Poker, your bankroll is your boss. Or at least it can be if you
let it. If you know how to play a machine perfectly, have your strategy
all worked out, know for certain that if you give it a good shot, you'll
walk away up, if you have all of this going for you, you can still bust.
Fat Tony has talked a lot about volatility already, and that's because
it's important to understand. With everything else on your side, if you
don't have a large enough bankroll to weather the ups and downs your bankroll
will undergo, you can't win.
How Many Coins?
To Max or not to Max: The everlasting question. So Video Poker gives us
a choice, just Slots does, of how many coins per hand we want to play.
Is the question as clear-cut as in Slots though? Most of the time, just
like slots advice, Video Poker players say you should always play the
maximum number of coins on every hand. In Slots failing to do so robs
you of the possibility of hitting the largest available jackpots. Even
if you hit the combo, you simply don't get paid. Avoiding that heartbreak
situation alone is enough to convince most.
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