Casino Player October 2022

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VP Payback If all cards are completely random on a video poker machine,why is the payback larger on aces, 2, 3 and 4? Thank you for a wonderful magazine that keeps us all informed on what is going on in the gambling world. —Tom B. Via the Internet The cards are, indeed, as completely random as a computer program can make them. Over the long term a specific hand such as four aces will occur just as often as random math dictates. In the Jacks or Better game, all four-of-a-kinds are paid the same amount—25-for-1. In Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double-Double Bonus Poker and other “bonus” video poker games based on Jacks or Better, aces, 2s, 3s and 4s are paid more than four 5s thru kings. De pending on the game, it can be a lot more. In order to pay a larger amount for cer tain hands in a random game, other hands have to be paid less.In Jacks or Better, two pairs are paid at 2-for-1. However, in Double Bonus, two pairs are paid 1-for-1—in other words, you get your bet back. Since this is a frequently occurring hand, it provides enough for the higher pays on four aces, 2s, 3s and 4s. Other hands are also paid less depending on the game. But rest assured the hands that occur are random.The money for the higher pays comes from shorting the lower pays. For more detailed information on pay table changes and the results get the book Every thing Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold’em,Omaha Hi-Lo,and Pai Gow Poker! by Frank Scoblete. I provided information for most of the section on video poker. It explains in much more detail how minor pay table changes in the lower, more frequent hands al lows for the higher paying, less frequent hands.

Perfect Play I’m a long-time subscriber to both of your great magazines,which I really enjoy.You always write about playing “perfect technique” or “perfect style.” I realize that “perfect”as a word has a defi nite, precise meaning, but when applied to the various types of gambling it leaves me a little baffled.How do you define perfect? Is it in terms of what the most profitable outcome would be or is it in terms of what the most likely outcome would be? Is holding three cards to a possible royal more perfect than holding, say, a pair of jacks? This might make a more interesting full length article as opposed to a quick answer in your letters column as I’ve talked with other read ers who also are a little confused yet interested in just what“perfect”means.Thanks for the help and for a couple of terrific magazines. —Bob Boston,MA When referring to perfect play, we’re usually talking about specific, mathematically based responses or reactions to an event. To put it another way, perfect technique, style or play means following the prescribed strategy for a specific game in order to yield the best possible results. The most profitable outcome does not necessarily mean perfect. It’s certainly possible to employ less than perfect strategy—sometimes drastically—that may still result in a very prof itable outcome.That’s called luck. Decision Time I have subscribed to Casino Player and Strictly Slots for years. I have a question. I know the RNG decides what you win or lose.The results of a three-reel slot are determined when you hit the spin button,max button or pull the handle. Cor rect? I was talking to a man last week at Borgata inAtlantic City.He disagreed with me.He said the RNG’s result is determined the moment you hit one coin, not when you hit spin,max or pull the handle. I would like to hear your answer. —Joseph Oakdale,NY He is wrong, and you are right. In 1985, he would have been right and you would have been wrong. In the earliest microprocessor-con trolled slot machines, the computer would freeze the results of the random number gener ator—a number relating to the results on each reel is generated once every hundredth of a sec ond—when the first coin was dropped. However, by the 1990s, most people played regular slot machines by wagering credits, not dropping coins. Slots manufactured within the

past 15 years or so are all designed so the com puter freezes the numbers generated by the RNG—the ones that determine the results— when the spin is initiated.That’s done by pulling the handle, hitting the spin button, or hitting the max-bet button. Hope this clears things up.However, as we always note when answering questions like this, it doesn’t matter.Whether the RNG’s results are harvested when you bet a coin or spin the reels, the end result is the same:You win, or you lose.Don’t worry about it. Playing the Percentages In reading the “New Slots” section, I often wonder, how is the payback percentage range calculated? Is it the wager amount that changes the percentage? I see in the August issue games range from pennies to $2. I have seen in previous issues games that went as high as $10. Would anyone play $10 on a “penny” machine? Just asking! —John R. Oceanside, NY The payback percentage numbers are a theoretical calculation of a game’s return to the players. It is the percentage of all wagers on a game that is returned to all players of that game as wins. The percentages are manipu lated by the number of winning and losing results in the program. When creating a slot game, the programmer assigns a number to each possible reel result, and then assigns more numbers to each symbol according to how much the winning combinations pay.High-pay ing symbols get a few numbers; lower paying symbols and blank reel spots get many. The programmer then simulates hundreds of thou sands of spins to arrive at a theoretical payback percentage.By manipulating the num bers, they arrive at different payback percent ages for the same game.They offer six or seven payback programs on each game, and the casino picks one. The wager amount has no bearing on the percentage; it is set at the factory. However, generally, casinos will pick higher-paying programs for the higher denominations. On your second question, yes, there are a lot of players who will wager $10 a spin on a penny game.These obviously are folks with big bankrolls for slots, who know that they’ll get the most out of the game by wagering the maximum. And on many games these days, that max is 1,000 credits. (Note: in the penny denomination, they’re wagering that $10 on a game that generally returns a paltry payback percentage—normally less than 90 percent.)

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