Maximum Coins, Maximum
Jingle
2 June 2006
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
What is the benefit of playing the full coin
amount in either video poker or slots? Emily K.
Next time you’re front and center of a one-armed
bandit, give the paytable a once-over and you’ll
note that when five coins are wagered, all
winning hands, except for the royal flush, are
paid out multiplied by a factor of 5. The royal,
Emily, commonly pays mucho more.
By not playing the maximum coin amount on most
video poker machines, your overall return is
affected. For example, playing short reduces the
long-term payback by up to 1.5% on a
Jacks-or-Better machine. It’s even worse on some
double-pay Deuces Wild games where you receive
double pay on four deuces, but only if you
insert five coins. By playing less than the
maximum coin amount on this machine, your
long-term payback is hacked by over five
percent.
As for slots, Emily, note on the paytable the
proportional difference in the size of your
payoffs. Example: One coin inserted pays 500
coins; two coins bring back 1000; and for three
coins, a whopping 4000 is returned. Your
windfall, Emily, comes when three coins are
played.
Playing the maximum coin amount almost always
pays off better, overall, than any of the lower
multiples. By pressing Max Coin, Emily, you
receive the best payoff odds available on that
particular machine.
Dear Mark,
I believe it is easier to beat blackjack as a
single player, whereas a dealer told me it makes
no difference how many players are on the game.
Was she right? Sheldon D.
She’s bright and right, Sheldon. The number of
players on a game makes a duck’s egg difference
in terms of the game being beatable. The house
edge remains the same if there are one, two,
three, or even five players on the table.
However, because the speed of play slows with
multiple players, you end up playing fewer hands
per hour, and since the casino has a built-in
edge on all play (except play by card counters),
you will, theoretically, lose less money. So,
Sheldon, for most players, a multiplayer game is
more favorable, not less.
By the way, Sheldon, playing decisions made by
other players at your table will not affect your
expected return. If some nincompoop on third
base splits tens, yep, it’s annoying, but
statistically it makes zero difference to you
over the long haul.
Dear Mark,
In draw poker, why does it seem tough to catch
an open-ended straight let alone an inside one?
What are my chances of completing straights?
Alex B.
The arithmetic, Alex, says your inklings are
incorrect. The proven odds of completing
straights, such as drawing one card into an open
ended straight, are 1 in 6. Drawing two cards
into an open-ended straight has1 chance in 23,
while drawing a single card to make an inside
straight racks up at 1 in 12.
As for that elusive straight, drawing one card
to an open-ended straight flush is 1 time in 24
and drawing one card to a royal flush is 1 time
in 47 tries.
Dear Mark,
Does a straight ever beat a flush in poker? Doug
L.
In poker, Doug, a flush outranks a straight with
but one exception. In Three Card Poker a
straight actually does beat a flush.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “Whether he likes
it or not, a man's character is stripped bare at
the poker table; if the other poker players read
him better than he does, he has only himself to
blame. Unless he is both able and prepared to
see himself as others do, flaws and all, he will
be a loser in poker, as in life.” -- Anthony
Holden, author of Big Deal (1990)
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