My
wife enjoys playing the slot machines, a little
too much in my opinion, and as most of us know,
they drain your bankroll pretty quickly, sometimes
as much as 10% of every dollar played. She also
plays poker, mostly Texas hold em, so I decided
to teach her how to play video poker so she could
play longer on the same amount of money than she
can on slots. Correct strategy on some video poker
games returns over 99% to the player. As it turns
out, this whole plan may have been a mistake on
my part. I have tried to teach her correct strategy
at the Texas hold em tables for years, and she has
become a pretty solid player. The problem is the
correct strategy in regular poker can vary greatly
from what is correct in video poker.
In
Texas hold em, or Omaha or 7 Card Stud for that matter,
most of our decisions take many things into account
such as pot odds, position, opposing players, etc. Of
course each game has slightly different variables and
correct strategies, but overall they all operate along
the same lines. On the other hand, video poker has exactly
one central theme of importance. This is the pay table
and the chance to draw to one of the hands on it. As
an example, it is often incorrect to draw to an inside
straight in Texas hold em, but there are many times
it is correct in video poker.
The
moral of the story is this. If you are a video poker
player who wants to learn how to play hold em or
some other table poker game or if you are a table
player who wants to learn video poker strategy,
realize that you have to forget everything you have
learned and look at it as an entirely new game that
requires an entirely new set of skills and strategy.
Of course video poker tends to be a consistent drain
on your bankroll, as the casino still has an edge,
it just isn't a very big one, so I recommend learning
Texas holdem or Omaha strategy and concentrating
on it. You can gain a long-term edge playing them.
Until next week, good luck at the tables (or at
the video poker machines)!
