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Gaming Guru  Weak Three-Card Straight Flushes in 9/6 Jacks1 November 2009
Let me begin by saying what I mean by a weak three-card straight flush. By this I mean any three-card straight flush that has one high card and is double inside or has no high cards and is single inside. A very weak three-card straight flush is one that is double inside and has no high cards. This latter is the weakest hand that one keeps before drawing a whole new hand and won't concern us in this article. If you look at a 9/6 strategy table you will see that a weak straight flush is better than an unsuited KQJ hand. You'll also note that either an AT hand with two high cards or a KQJ9 hand is better than a weak three-card straight flush. This is usually true but not always. Let's look at this. Consider a hand such as AD, QH, JS, TH, 8H. The hand QT8 is not the preferred choice here; the correct choice is to hold the AQJT just as the table suggests. On the other hand, consider the hand AD, QS, JH, TH, 7H. If you look at the AQJT8 example, you'll note that holding the QT8 removes a jack from the possible cards to fill a straight. This is called straight interference and is enough to make QT8 the poorer choice. In the second hand, however the JT7 does not have any straight interference and this fact makes it a better choice than the AQJT hand. Here are the details. For the JT7 hand we have the following:
If we divide the total 2905 by the number of hands, 1081, the result is 2.6873 and represents the average return one can expect when playing the hand this way. On the other hand for the AQJT hand we have this table:
In this case if we divide 125 by 47 the result is 2.6596, the average return we can expect when playing the hand this way. As you can see the QT7 hand is better than the AQJT hand by about 2.77 cents. In general if an AT hand contains two high cards and a weak three-card straight flush, then the straight flush is the better choice if there is no straight interference. The same is true of a KQJ9 hand. 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. A Royal Dilemma4 October 2009
A choice that (unfortunately) one seldom has
when playing 9/6 Jacks or better Video Poker is that of choosing between a
three-card Royal Flush and a four-card Flush. All Basic strategy tables for
9/6 Jacks list the three-card Royal as being better than the four-card Flush.
For the most part ... (read more)
At Risk or In Play?6 September 2009
I recently received the following e-mail from one of my readers:
Hi Don,
I've been reading about the "doey-don't" system of placing both a come and don't come (or pass and don't pass) wager. The books claim that this reduces the house edge on the standard line bet. I think 0.92% is cited. The ... (read more)
Take Down the Eight on the Comeout?14 August 2009
I recently received the following letter from one of my readers.
I'm very interested in the effect on the house edge calculation for a placed 6 or 8 when one is left up on the comeout with a pass line bet. If, say, a $6 place bet on the 8 is left up with a $5 pass line bet, the total amount at risk is $1 and the payoff for a win is $7. ... (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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