Gambling Guide
Last Updated: September 30, 2019
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Video Poker Strategy Maker Sample
Introduction
This page presents sample output for my Video Poker Strategy Maker. In this case, the strategy is for the gold standard game of video poker, 9-6 Jacks or Better. The Strategy Maker can create similar strategies for any pay table for most video poker games.
Perfect Strategy Analysis
The following table shows the results when following perfect strategy (basic strategy and all of the exceptions):
Perfect Strategy Analysis
| Hand | Payoff | Combinations | Probability | Hit Frequency | Variance | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 800 | 493,512,264 | 0.000025 | 40,390.55 | 15.81 | 0.019807 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 2,178,883,296 | 0.000109 | 9,148.37 | 0.26 | 0.005465 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 47,093,167,764 | 0.002363 | 423.27 | 1.36 | 0.059064 |
| Full House | 9 | 229,475,482,596 | 0.011512 | 86.86 | 0.74 | 0.103610 |
| Flush | 6 | 219,554,786,160 | 0.011015 | 90.79 | 0.28 | 0.066087 |
| Straight | 4 | 223,837,565,784 | 0.011229 | 89.05 | 0.10 | 0.044917 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 1,484,003,070,324 | 0.074449 | 13.43 | 0.30 | 0.223346 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 2,576,946,164,148 | 0.129279 | 7.74 | 0.13 | 0.258558 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 4,277,372,890,968 | 0.214585 | 4.66 | 0.00 | 0.214585 |
| Nothing | 0 | 10,872,274,993,896 | 0.545435 | 1.83 | 0.54 | 0.000000 |
| Totals | 19,933,230,517,200 | 1.000000 | 2.20 | 19.51 | 0.995439 | |
Basic Strategy Analysis
The following table shows the results when following basic strategy only (not its exceptions):
Basic Strategy Analysis
| Hand | Payoff | Combinations | Probability | Hit Frequency | Variance | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 800 | 501,787,872 | 0.000025 | 39,724.42 | 16.07 | 0.020139 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 2,182,408,092 | 0.000109 | 9,133.59 | 0.26 | 0.005474 |
| Four of a Kind | 25 | 47,091,616,668 | 0.002362 | 423.29 | 1.36 | 0.059062 |
| Full House | 9 | 229,472,668,332 | 0.011512 | 86.87 | 0.74 | 0.103609 |
| Flush | 6 | 218,710,850,616 | 0.010972 | 91.14 | 0.27 | 0.065833 |
| Straight | 4 | 223,980,621,108 | 0.011237 | 89.00 | 0.10 | 0.044946 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 1,484,028,486,936 | 0.074450 | 13.43 | 0.30 | 0.223350 |
| Two Pair | 2 | 2,577,124,786,320 | 0.129288 | 7.73 | 0.13 | 0.258576 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 4,274,501,705,460 | 0.214441 | 4.66 | 0.00 | 0.214441 |
| Nothing | 0 | 10,875,635,585,796 | 0.545603 | 1.83 | 0.54 | 0.000000 |
| Totals | 19,933,230,517,200 | 1.000000 | 2.20 | 19.78 | 0.995429 | |
Basic Strategy
The following table shows the basic strategy:
Basic Strategy
| Type of Play | Play Details |
|---|---|
| Pat Hand | Full House; Straight Flush; Royal Flush |
| 4 of a Kind |
(more)2222; 3333; 4444; 5555; 6666; 7777; 8888; 9999; TTTT; JJJJ; QQQQ; KKKK...
|
| 4 to a Royal Flush | TJQA; TJQK; TJKA; TQKA; JQKA |
| 3 of a Kind | 222; 333; 444; 555; 666; 777; 888; 999; TTT; JJJ; QQQ; KKK; AAA |
| Pat Hand | Straight; Flush |
| 2 Pair |
(more)2233; 2244; 2255; 2266; 2277; 2288; 2299; 22TT; 22JJ; 22QQ; 22KK; 22AA...
|
| 4 to a Straight Flush |
(more)A234; A235; A245; A345; 2345; 2346; 2356; 2456; 3456; 3457; 3467; 3567...
|
| 1 Pair | JJ; QQ; KK; AA |
| 3 to a Royal Flush | TJA; TJQ; TJK; TQA; TQK; TKA; JQA; JQK; JKA; QKA |
| 4 to a Flush |
(more)2347; 2348; 2349; 234T; 234J; 234Q; 234K; 2357; 2358; 2359; 235T; 235J...
|
| 4 to a Straight | TJQK |
| 1 Pair | 22; 33; 44; 55; 66; 77; 88; 99; TT |
| 4 to a Straight | 2345; 3456; 4567; 5678; 6789; 789T; 89TJ; 9TJQ |
| 3 to a Straight Flush | 345; 456; 567; 678; 789; 89T; 89J; 8TJ; 8JQ; 9TJ; 9TQ; 9JQ; 9JK; 9QK |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | JQ |
| 4 to a Straight | JQKA |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | JA; JK; QA; QK; KA |
| 4 to a Straight | 9JQK; TJQA; TJKA; TQKA |
| 3 to a Straight Flush |
(more)A23; A24; A25; A34; A35; A45; 234; 235; 245; 346; 356; 457; 467; 568...
|
| 3 to a Straight | JQK |
| 2 to a Straight | JQ; QK |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | TJ; TQ |
| 2 to a Straight | JK; QA |
| 2 to a Straight | JA; KA |
| 2 to a Royal Flush | TK |
| Single Card | a Jack; a Queen; a King; an Ace |
| 3 to a Straight Flush | 236; 246; 256; 347; 357; 367; 458; 468; 478; 569; 579; 589; 67T; 68T; 69T |
| Garbage | Discard everything |
Basic Strategy Exceptions
The following table shows the exceptions to the basic strategy:
Basic Strategy Exceptions
| Right Play | Wrong Play | Pattern(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to a Straight: QA | 2 to a Royal Flush: TQ | |
| Single Card: a King | 2 to a Royal Flush: TK | |
| 2 to a Straight: JK | 2 to a Royal Flush: TJ | |
| 4 to a Straight: JQKA | 2 to a Royal Flush: JQ | |
| 4 to a Flush: 2TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 3TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 4TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 5TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 6TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 7TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 8TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 9TJA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TJA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 2TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 3TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 4TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 5TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 6TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 7TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 8TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 9TQA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TQA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 2TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 3TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 4TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 5TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 6TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 7TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 8TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 4 to a Flush: 9TKA | 3 to a Royal Flush: TKA | |
| 3 to a Straight Flush: 79J | 4 to a Straight: 9JQK | 7♣9♣J♣Q♦K♥ |
| 3 to a Straight Flush: 7TJ | 4 to a Straight: TJQA | 7♣10♣J♣Q♦A♥ |
| 3 to a Straight Flush: 7TJ | 4 to a Straight: TJKA | 7♣10♣J♣K♦A♥ |
| 3 to a Straight Flush: 8TQ | 4 to a Straight: TQKA | 8♣10♣Q♣K♦A♥ |
Written by:Michael Shackleford
