I know we have been through this before but I backdated and could not find the answer so please someone post the answer.
Please explain the different types of VP machines especially the ones that are the most favorable to the player. I was trying to explain what a 9/6 machine was to my son and I really am not sure what it is. I know it has to do with the payout on a royal for number of coins played but please explain further. Is the 9/6 the most favorable payout?? Thanks, Tom Casey

Tom,
This can vary sometimes from game to game.

9/6 JB:
1. JB refers to game of "Jacks or Better"
2. The 9/6 refers to the payout for the Full House and the Flush. These are the payouts most commonly changed to make the game better or worse. Better such as the Stratosphere, 9/7 or 10/6. Worse such as you find all over, 8/5 and lower. The standard 9/6 is 99.54%.

Deuces Wild:
1. The change here is all over the board, MANY OF THE PAYOUTS. But, most common, they will always start with the 4 of a kind which normal standard is a payout of 5.

Double Bonus:
Normal for F/H and Flush is 10/7. Changes will almost always begin here.

Hope this helps.
Rick


[This message has been edited by Rick(RI) (edited December 12, 1999).]

Tom, those numbers are the 1-coin payout for a Flush and Full House. They use the one coin payout because it easier to spot on the paytable, even though the only advantage comes with playing the full 5 coins, and hitting a Royal Flush. All other payouts are even ratios based on the number of coins played on the hand.

The 9/6 or 6/9 as it sometimes called (depending on if you read the paytable from the bottom up, or from the top down), is not the most favorable, although it is more favorable than the more popular 8/5 or 5/8 game. One casino will go higher than 9/6 on select machines, otherwise 9/6 are the most favorable - only among the BASIC Jacks or Better games.

Not that many years ago, the 6/9 games were often hooked to progressive payouts for a Royal Flush. Some had fixed payouts much higher than the modern 4000 coins. 4800 was very popular, as was $1199 (to keep you from being taxed at the $1200 mark) These games, known as 6/9/progressive, 6/9/jackpot, 6/9/4800 could hold a players edge. They are pretty much extinct now, making the 9/6 game less desireable.

Games with a players edge nowadays are called full pay machines. Most commonly in the Double Bonus, and Deuces Wild types of games, game makers will make different versions with various payouts to confuse the player and give the house better odds.

One thing to remember is that these odds are based on playing exactly one hand of every possible combination of cards, and playing that hand correctly every time. It is truly based on the long run, in overall percentages. If you don't play every hand correct, your odds drop rapidly.

While most serious video poker players try to only play full pay machines, and only play correctly, it might not be the best option for everyone. Since your odds drop so rapidly for less than perfect play, a less than correct player might hit more royal flushes based on accident or going for the Royal where a perfect player might play for the Straight or Flush. And the less than perfect player can hit those big ones on any game, regardless of pay schedules. Players who are not serious with the odds are the ones that hit Megabucks and other highly desireable jackpots. Also note that the perfect player never comes close to stacking his own odds favorably until he hits a Royal Flush. Otherwise, he is just playing highs and lows where you play like crazy when luck is high, and quit when luck is low.

My theory is that if you want to play video poker more than a few of rolls of quarters per day, you might want to consider learning perfect strategy. However, if you just want to casually take a chance on a poker machine every once in a while and move on, don't waste your time worrying about it. It's not a thing you can piddle with. It's either sit down and learn which paytables to look for, learn how play every hand in each of those games correctly, play only those games, and play it right every single time, or don't bother. Just sitting at the right machine doesn't help your odds very much.