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Advice & More April 2012

Deal Me In

Where Speed Can Sometimes Outrank Craft

By Mark Pilarski

Some tournaments have both hand and time limits, so you want to play smart, but quick enough to make sure you play all the hands allowed. If the sessions are strictly time-limited, the Quick Draw McGraw player tends to do better.

Dear Mark: My wife and I will be going to Las Vegas soon, and we will be participating in a video poker tournament. The tournament is free, so we thought we would try it. I know this is time-sensitive, and the goal is to get as many points as possible, just like a slot tournament. Any strategy we should use? Ernie W.

Although the typical goal of tournament play, Ernie, is to accumulate the highest amount of credits, video poker tournaments still have multiple sessions that are based on time, or a limited number of hands per session, or both. For the basic strategy player, playing a limited-hand tourney is better, since the Speedy Gonzales player tends to play more hands than the conscientious one does. The move here for a tournament limiting hands is to know the pay table being used and to learn through practice the strategy for that specific table. A call in advance to the slot or tournament manager can sometimes get you that information.

Deviating from basic strategy, though, would not necessarily be a doomsday scenario, because your gambling time line at any tournament is short-term, not a lifetime of video poker play -- but it sure helps to be on familiar terms with what to hold and what to discard.

Some tournaments have both hand and time limits, so you want to play smart, but quick enough to make sure you play all the hands allowed. If the sessions are strictly time-limited, the Quick Draw McGraw player tends to do better. Okay, he was a fictional anthropomorphic horse whose thumbed hooves would make it difficult to press the hold/deal buttons at pace, but the point I am trying to make, Ernie, is not to worry so much about playing every hand correctly, but playing as many hands as you can.

Speaking of playing correctly, on 9/6 or 8/5 machines, you normally would hold a high pair over a three-card royal. In a tournament, go for the royal because if you hit, you are virtually guaranteed a session win. Besides, the expected value (win potential) of three cards to a royal and a high pair is insignificant, but that doesn’t mean you should suspend correct playing strategy completely and go for the royal every hand. Players who do that finish near the bottom, and tournament wins are rare for them.

Here’s a little trick I learned a long time ago from a VP tournament pro. The first combination your eyes see is usually the best combination of cards to hold. For example, sometimes seeing a possible four-card straight with one high card at speed slows my thought process, but a low pair pops right out at me, which just so happens to be the better play.

In addition, if you don’t see something jump out at you straightaway, draw five cards. Far too many players spend excessive time trying to figure out if they’ve got a shot at an inside straight when they could be getting an additional hand or two before the end of the session, had they just moved on.

Myself, in tournaments I play as closely to the correct strategy needed for the pay table and only jump to an aggressive royal flush mode if I am trailing by a wide margin where canny play wouldn’t help. Paraphrasing a quote I once heard; “I don’t see a problem going on an occasional wild goose chase, that's what wild geese are for.”

Win, lose, heck, the best part of any casino tournament is that they are easy on your bankroll, in your case FREE, can come with additional perks and chow at the breaks, and they can be a whole lot of fun. So, have at it, Ernie.

 

Gambling Wisdom of the Week: “If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.” —Author Unknown


For more gambling information, check out Mark at http://www.markpilarski.com/

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