Video Poker Drawing -- August 9, 2005

Recently, I've found myself enjoying both backgammon and video poker. While I've mostly played backgammon just for enjoyment, I've managed to perform quite well against my friends. However, I'll save my experiences with backgammon for future discussions and focus on video poker for now.

For nearly a year, I've been gathering with a small group of seasoned gamblers twice a month. We talk about the best gambling options in our area and explore various topics related to gambling mathematics. These discussions often revolve around video poker opportunities in Las Vegas. Initially, I felt somewhat out of place since I wasn't prioritizing video poker. But after hearing the constant conversations, I couldn't resist any longer and began to seriously engage with the game starting April 4.

Approximately 75% of my gaming sessions have taken place at the Palms. Until last week, they featured the 'Not so Ugly Ducks' deuces wild games, boasting a return of 99.73% with optimal strategy. I primarily played the $1 and $2 five-play machines. The Palms slot club offers comps at a rate of 0.25% to 0.75%, varying by regular days, double points, or triple points promotions. Additionally, they send mail offers to my home, which I can redeem for cash or free play on slots and video poker in the casino. The criteria for receiving the premium mailers remains somewhat unclear, but I've consistently received the $320 or $400 offers monthly since I began, alongside numerous food and other discounts. I've also participated in many drawings from which I've won $750. However, it all pales in comparison to the recent change where the good 'Not so Ugly Ducks' machines were replaced with the lower-quality 'Ugly Duck' machines, now only yielding a return of 98.91% with perfect play.

Most of my remaining gameplay has taken place at the nearby Suncoast and Rampart casinos, where I've taken advantage of days offering double points and gift certificates. Again, I've primarily played 'Not so Ugly Ducks' at both venues, betting either $2 or $5 on single lines.

Since April 4, I've averaged about four hours of gameplay each week, totaling about a million dollars in action. I'm thrilled to share that I hit my first royal flush while betting $2 on a single line game at the Rampart, winning $8,000. This remarkable hand occurred just minutes into my session. I also secured another royal flush on a $1 bet per line in a five-line game at the Palms, netting me $4,000. You can view images of these wins above and below.

I've lost track of how many four-deuces I've hit, but I estimate it to be around 30. Overall, I'm down $11,080 on the cash side; however, this loss is somewhat mitigated by the comps and rewards I've accrued. I've benefited from $3,000 in gift cards from Suncoast, travelers checks from Palms, and cash back and drawing wins there as well. Additionally, I still have about $2,000 in comps owed to me at the Palms. While I'm presently at a loss and have invested considerable time, given the volume of play, I believe I'm just about one standard deviation below expectations.

After dedicating four months to playing 'Not so Ugly Ducks,' I've decided to contribute a Java game and strategy specifically to the site regarding this game.

The site already houses a wealth of video poker information, but I’d like to share some further lessons I've absorbed over the past four months.

1. Press the buttons with confidence. Once, I was dealt a pair of sixes but didn’t press one of the buttons firmly enough, resulting in me only keeping one. That mistake ended up costing me $7.91 in expected value from a $25 bet. Even though that happened months ago, I still feel frustrated with myself about it.
2. Avoid playing when you're tired or have been drinking. There were instances where fatigue or having a beer might have led me to make some minor errors while playing.
3. Arrive early for any drawings. I could write an entire article about this lesson. At the Palms, there was a $100,000 drawing that turned into a chaotic situation. A large crowd gathered, and the winning numbers were announced over a low-quality megaphone; most of the audience couldn't hear, me included. To complicate matters, the public address system made announcements about a black car during the drawing, further disrupting the process. I couldn’t be certain if my number was called due to the poor audio quality, and even if I did hear it, maneuvering through the crowd within the 90-second limit presented a challenge. The air of this experience tells you to arrive well in advance for significant drawings to secure a front-row spot.
4. Monitor and manage your mail offers carefully. I received a $200 mail offer from the Rio based on my play at Harrah’s in Laughlin, but I completely overlooked collecting it. I also missed out on a $40 offer from the Rampart, conveniently located near my home, and I failed to pick up my four car wash tokens from the Palms in July, despite visiting multiple times throughout the month.
5. Gather all relevant details and avoid making assumptions. Recently, I had 106 tickets in a $10,000 drawing with only around 4,000 tickets in the drum, leading to an expected value of $265. (I can't disclose the location because of confidentiality.) When I received my 106 tickets, both my name and the ticket number were printed on each stub. By habit, I tore off the stubs and placed the tickets into the drum. A friend later pointed out that it wasn't necessary to detach the stubs. Upon checking the drum, I saw he was correct; everyone else kept their tickets intact. I inadvertently discarded about 20% of each ticket's area, which likely reduced my chances of being drawn by the same percentage, costing me approximately $53 in expected value. Not that it matters since I didn't win that drawing, but this experience highlights the importance of not making any assumptions, particularly regarding drawing tickets.

With the recent removal of decent games at the Palms, I might significantly reduce my video poker play. It wasn’t worth my time to begin with, but I did enjoy the process and gained a lot of knowledge about the game.

What's new on the site

In addition to the new strategy and Java game for 'Not so Ugly Ducks' outlined above, I've completed new sections on:

• 3-Way Action (the video version)
• Ace$ Bonus Poker (a variation of video poker where four aces, in the right order and position, yield the same payout as a royal flush),
• Top Bottom Keno (a game where players aim to cover all numbers at the top or bottom of the card),

I also plan to revive the 'Ask the Wizard' column shortly after a four-month break.

From Michael Bluejay..

Here’s why you had to visit the website to read this newsletter.

I get it; it’s inconvenient to come to the website for the newsletter instead of receiving it directly in your mailbox. However, here’s the issue: A significant portion of our subscribers wasn’t receiving the newsletters because their spam filters mistakenly classified it as spam. To address this, we’re piloting a new approach wherein you receive a plain text notification about the newsletter’s availability, allowing you to visit the site to read it without any issues. We will monitor how many of you actually take the time to come here for the newsletter. If previously spam filters caused 4,000 of our newsletters to go unnoticed, and now everyone is informed but 5,000 of you still don’t bother to click over to read it, we will revert to the previous method of sending the actual newsletter via email directly.

Free book by the Wizard

In each newsletter for a while, one fortunate subscriber will receive a complimentary copy of the Wizard's latest book. Gambling 102 The previous winner was subscriber #458, Bill Blackburn, who I hope is enjoying his copy as we speak. Congratulations to this issue's winner, Tom Mags. Well done, Tom!

This month's Internet tip from Bluejay: Preventing spambots from accessing your email address.

It’s vital to safeguard any email addresses on your website. Many webmasters overlook this detail, which often results in their addresses falling into spammers’ hands. Here’s how this occurs and what you can do to prevent it.

Similar to how humans can browse a website, automated programs can also visit sites. These programs are commonly referred to as robots, or bots for short. This is how search engines determine what information is present on different pages, as they dispatch bots to continuously scan the internet for content.

Conversely, there are malicious bots called spambots. These bots scour the web to find email addresses, and when they locate one, it gets added to a spam list. If you publish a regular email address on a web page, spammers will undoubtedly acquire it. It’s not a question of whether they will; it’s a question of when. Generally, they’ve most likely already obtained it right after you published the page.

So, how can you prevent spambots from picking up your email address? A variety of strategies exist, but each comes with its disadvantages, usually causing some inconvenience for your website visitors. I cover all the standard methods on my page about combating spambots , but let me share what I believe to be the most effective general strategy: using JavaScript.

JavaScript allows you to mask an email address so that it doesn’t appear as a typical email to a spambot. While it is possible to program a spambot to recognize disguised addresses, currently, the majority of them are too unsophisticated to do so. There are plenty of unprotected email addresses accessible online, and very few people undertake the task of hiding their addresses using JavaScript. Therefore, bot programmers haven't found the need to enhance their bots' intelligence. If many individuals begin to use JavaScript to conceal their email addresses, that could change; but for now, using JavaScript to obscure an email address offers considerable protection.

Here’s how you could code the address sample@Wnternetradiomercedes.com :

<SCRIPT language=\"JavaScript\">a=\"sample\"; b=\"Wnternetradiomercedes.com\";
document.write(\"<A href=\"mai\");
document.write(\"lto:\"+a+\"@\");document.write(b+\"\">\");
document.write(a+\"@\");document.write(b);
document.write(\"</a>\");
</SCRIPT>
<NoScript>sample(at)Wnternetradiomercedes.com</NoScript>

Find the Top Online Casinos in Your Area

Calculator for Jackpot Lottery Ticket Sales

Exciting slot tournaments featuring huge prize pools

Recently, I have been exploring both backgammon and video poker. While my backgammon play has been mostly casual and just for entertainment, I have actually fared quite well against my friends. I plan to delve deeper into that in a future newsletter, but for now, let's concentrate on video poker.

function mail(user,domain) {
document.write(\"<A href=\"mai\");
For nearly a year, I've been meeting with a small circle of professional gamblers about twice a month. We gather to share insights on lucrative gambling chances in the city or discuss topics related to gambling mathematics. These discussions often revolve around video poker strategies in Las Vegas. Initially, I felt disconnected since video poker wasn’t my main focus. However, after being drawn in by the conversations, I decided to take it more seriously starting April 4.
document.write(user+\"@\"+domain);
document.write(\"</a>\");
}

Approximately 75% of my gaming has been at the Palms. Until recently, they featured the 'Not so Ugly Ducks' deuces wild game, which had a 99.73% return rate when played with the best strategy. I primarily played on the $1 and $2 machines that offered five hands. The Palms slot club rewards players with comps that range from 0.25% to 0.75%, based on whether it’s a regular day, double points, or triple points. They also send promotional mail to my house, which I can exchange for cash or free-play credits for slots or video poker at the casino. While it’s a bit unclear what amount of play qualifies you for the top-tier mailers, I’ve consistently received offers of $320 or $400 every month since my start, along with numerous discounts on food and other amenities. Additionally, I’ve participated in various drawings where I’ve won $750. However, this all became irrelevant very recently when they replaced the 'Not so Ugly Ducks' with the lesser 'Ugly Duck' machines, which only return 98.91% for optimal play.

Most of my other gambling has taken place at the nearby Suncoast and Rampart casinos, where I’ve enjoyed taking advantage of double points and special gift certificate events. Once again, I played the 'Not So Ugly Ducks' at both of these locations, betting either $2 or $5 on single lines.
<NoScript>sample(at)Wnternetradiomercedes.com</NoScript>

From April 4 to the present, I’ve averaged around 4 hours of gameplay each week, managing to bet through about a million dollars total. I’m pleased to report that I hit my first royal flush while betting $2 on a single line game at Rampart, winning a whopping $8000. This lucky hand came just two minutes into my session. I also managed to secure another royal flush on a $1 bet per line in a five-line game at the Palms, which netted me $4000. You can view photos of these wins above and below.

Previous Internet tips:

• I've lost track of how many four-deuces I’ve got but it's around 30. Overall, I’m down $11,080 on the cash front, although this is somewhat offset by the comps and bonuses I’ve received. For instance, I’ve gotten $3000 worth of gift cards from Suncoast, travelers checks from the Palms, and cashback and drawing prizes from the Palms. Additionally, I still have about $2000 in comps waiting for me there. So while I’m down in the grand scheme, given my volume of play, I believe I'm only marginally off from what would be expected.
• After dedicating four months to the 'Not so Ugly Ducks', I decided to contribute some insights to the site specifically about that game.
• Firefox offers tabbed web browsing
• The www is optional
• The website already contains a wealth of video poker information, but I’d like to share a few extra lessons I've gathered over these last months.

Advertiser Spotlight: Poker.com

Press the buttons decisively. There was a moment when I was dealt a pair of sixes, but I didn’t apply enough pressure to one of the buttons, resulting in keeping just one. This blunder cost me $7.91 in expected value on a $25 bet. Even though this happened months ago, I’m still quite frustrated with myself over it.

Play when you’re fully alert and sober. There were instances when I played while tired or after having a drink, and I suspect this led to a few minor mistakes on my part. guide to hand strength Arrive early for drawings. I could pen an entire article on this, but a $100,000 drawing at the Palms turned chaotic due to the massive crowd. The winning numbers were announced over a cheap megaphone, and many attendees, myself included, couldn’t hear. To complicate matters, the public address system interrupted with announcements about a black car during the drawing, which continued while numbers were being read. I’m unsure if my number was called due to this confusion, and even if I had heard it, the crowd may have made it impossible for me to reach the front in the allotted 90 seconds. The takeaway here is to arrive well in advance if you have a stake in an important drawing, so you can secure a spot up front. NETeller Keep track of your promotional mail. I received a $200 mailer from the Rio, based on my play at Harrah's in Laughlin, but I completely forgot to collect it. I also missed out on $40 from the Rampart, which is just around the corner, and failed to pick up my four car wash tokens from the Palms for July, despite visiting several times that month.

Pay attention to the details and avoid assumptions. Recently, I found myself with 106 tickets for a $10,000 drawing with around 4000 tickets in the drum, giving me an expected value of $265. (I can’t disclose the location due to confidentiality.) When I received my tickets, my name was noted on both the ticket body and stub. Out of habit, I tore off the stubs and put the tickets into the drum. Later, a friend pointed out that others had submitted their tickets whole and intact. My action resulted in losing about 20% of the ticket area, which likely lowered my chances by the same percentage, costing me roughly $53 in expected value. It’s worth noting that I didn’t win that drawing, but the key lesson is that one should never assume anything, especially regarding what needs to be done with a drawing ticket's stub. Holdem strategy With the recent removal of the good games at the Palms, I anticipate significantly reducing my video poker playing. It wasn’t particularly worth my time anyway, but I did enjoy myself and learned a great deal about the game in the process.

In addition to the newly crafted strategy and Java game for 'Not So Ugly Ducks' mentioned earlier, I have just finished additional sections on:

(a variation of video poker where getting four aces in the correct arrangement pays out similarly to a royal flush)

(a format where players attempt to cover all the numbers positioned at either the top or bottom of the card)

Written by: Michael Shackleford