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Gaming Guru  Three Card Flushes6 May 2012
By Donald Catlin When playing 9/6 Jacks or better Video Poker it is tempting to hold a three-card Flush. After all there are still ten suited cards in the deck so this seems like a reasonable play. Unless there is a possible Straight Flush draw, however, it is the wrong play. Even some hands that are possible Straight Flushes are not always worth holding; these have to be analyzed separately using proper 9/6 Jacks strategy. So let me show you by example that you should not hold three card Flushes in this game. Consider the hand KC, JC, 7C, 8D, 4H. The following chart shows that holding the KJ is better than holding the KJ7.
*Assumes 5 coins played The third and fifth columns show the hand frequencies and the fourth and sixth columns show the number of coins returned to the player. The amount returned to the player per coin played is 9561/16215, or 0.5896, for the KJ and 541/1081, or 0.5467 for the KJ7. Now one might reason that if there were no high cards in the flush then holding the three flush is better than getting a whole new hand. The following table shows that this isn't so. Consider the hand TC, 7C, 4C, 6D, 9H.
Getting a whole new hand has an expected return per coin played of 550558/1533939 or 0.3584. Holding the three flush yields a return per coin played of 335/1081 or 0.3469. One can infer from this example that when dealt a three flush with one high that one should hold the high card. So when playing Video Poker, should you always discard a three Flush? Yes, if the game is 9/6 Jacks. However if you were playing 10/7 double Bonus Video Poker you should hold some three Flushes; a strategy table for the game will tell you when. The lesson here is that you should learn to play one game well and not infer strategy decisions from it for other games. Common sense I guess. See you next month. Don Catlin can be reached at 711cat@comcast.net This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network, John Robison managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. Tom and Ray's Proposition Bet8 April 2012
If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I occasionally discuss a particular proposition wager, sometimes called a sucker bet. One of the classics is discussed in the archived article called "An Earful of Cider"; you might check it out. The reason I occasionally discuss these wagers is ... (read more)
Tossing Aces in 9/6 Jacks11 March 2012
One of the counterintuitive plays in 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker occurs when one is dealt three high cards and one of them is an Ace. The correct play is to just hold the two non-Aces and discard the Ace. When I tell people this they frequently ask me to explain why this makes sense. Of course the ... (read more)
Lay Bets Revisited5 February 2012
One of the interesting and entertaining things about writing these monthly articles is that I occasionally get a letter from an enlightened reader who casts a novel approach to one of the questions I address. Such is the case in a letter I received from one of my readers named David Korsnack. David ... (read more)
The Pass LineI am sure that you are all familiar with the house advantages of the standard casino games: 5.28% for Roulette, 5.22% for Caribbean Stud, 2.85% for Let it Ride, 3.37% and 2.32% on the Ante/Play wager and the Pair Plus wager in Three Card Poker, and 1.41% for the Pass Line in Craps. These figures are regularly tossed around by gaming writers. ... (read more)Blackjack Tournament Play: What's Luck Got to Do With It?This past June I was in Las Vegas visiting with customers of mine and was staying at the Las Vegas Hilton. Ever since the Las Vegas Convention Center got rid of all the convenient (and free) parking I have been staying at the Hilton because of its close proximity to the convention center. ... (read more)Where Are Those Straight Flushes?I have a friend who is an avid 9/6 Jacks player. She knows how to play the game and I recently purchased Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker for her so that she could practice. In one of our conversations she remarked to me that she expected to see more Straight Flushes than actually occur and wanted my take on this. ... (read more)Video Poker Sure Isn't PokerI have several friends who are regulars in private Poker games in my region. Of these, a few make regular trips to Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut to play in the Poker games there. All of these pals have at one time or another tried to entice me to join one of their games or one of their Poker trips and I have always refused. ... (read more)Progressive Blackjack à la Wildhorse.reg { text-indent: 2em; } .eq { font-size: smaller; text-align: center; } .no { font-size: smaller; text-align: right; } Many of you are familiar with the Midnight Skulker, who writes articles on this site as well as for other gambling publications. Well, a few weekends ago the ole Skulker ... (read more) |
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