Lately, video poker has not been kind to me. In fact, I have been on a losing streak that video poker guru, Bob Dancer, would say has nothing to do with luck. He maintains that if you use perfect strategy and play the best possible pay schedules, in the long run, you will come out ahead. He’s correct, but right now I feel picked upon by the video poker gods since I love video poker, but haven’t been able to come out ahead, no matter how long, or how often I play.
Sheer frustration has set in, so to break the cycle, I have been deserting my favorite game and sampling other casino offerings. Slots are OK for a brief period of time. I like playing bonus rounds and trying the progressives for a chance to win millions, but darn it, the slots eat my bankroll faster than video poker while I’m on a losing streak. I have turned to the table games to alleviate my stress. They allow me to decompress and regain my perspective when I’m totally annoyed with video poker.
Although many casino visitors avoid the table games because they’re intimidated, they shouldn’t be. The table games, if you choose wisely, can make your bankroll last longer by stretching out your gaming time. Over the years, I have tried most of them with some loved a lot and some to be avoided at all cost. A few have become my fallback to video poker when I need to calm down before I physically attack my poker machine with my bare hands.
I like to play craps, but it’s not relaxing if I’m already stressed out. Also, you stand at most crap tables, and sometimes, I feel like sitting down with a drink of my choice and just chilling. I also like roulette for a short time and a finite amount of money, but I usually don’t play this game unless I’m way ahead and don’t mind risking a few bucks. The house edge on this game is more than 5% on the zero/ double zero game which is most common in the U.S. casinos. Conversely, Pai Gow poker, three-card poker, and Let It Ride have lower house edges, allow for slower action, and are not intimidating to new players. They are my current favorites until something else comes along to tempt my bankroll and challenge my patience and skill.
PAI GOW
POKER: I try to be a knowledgeable gambler, but even complete novices will find Pai Gow poker to be one game that beginners can learn easily and grow to love. This game lets you stay at the table for a long time with a minimal bankroll. A lot of the decisions are pushes so although you aren’t winning any money, you aren’t losing any either.
Last winter when I was in Vegas, I played in a Pai Gow tournament and I’d only been playing the game a short time. I didn’t disgrace myself and made it to the second round. The dealers, even though it was a tournament, were still allowed to set the players’ cards. This game is the exact opposite of blackjack where you aren’t allowed to show your cards, or even breathe heavily in your neighbor’s direction, lest it be mistaken for cheating. Also, you’re not exposed to the snarly attitude of some blackjack players who hate playing with amateurs.
Pai Gow poker is the Americanized version of the Chinese game Pai Gow which uses dominoes/tiles. I have spent some time watching the Chinese version, but I have never attempted it because it’s much more complicated than the Americanized version. In the Chinese version each player and the dealer get four dominoes with which to make two hands. “Pai Gow” is generally translated as meaning “make nine” or “card nine.” That’s because, except for a few exceptions, the best a hand can score is nine. To find the value of a hand, add the total number of pips on the two tiles and then drop the tens place. For example, a 2-3 tile with a 5-6 tile will be six (5 + 11 = 16, drop the tens, so you get 6). The dominoes are placed in two tiers, the lower value one is called the front hand, and the hand with the higher value is called the rear hand.
The nuances of this game include the value of identical pairs and special pairs. Anyone who wants to play Chinese Pai Gow needs to get a basic strategy book and find out what gongs, wongs and gee joons are. I like to watch this game because of the action of the dealer. S/ he randomizes the tiles/dominoes on the table and then arranges them into eight stacks of four tiles each. This is known as the woodpile. Next, various ritualistic “shuffles” are made, with the tiles in the woodpile rearranged in standard ways that result in a new woodpile. There’s a lot of hand action that is fascinating to watch, but play… I don’t think so. At least I haven’t tried it yet.
The basics of the Americanized version of Pai Gow though are easy to learn. The players and the dealer each get seven cards. The task is to make two poker hands: a two-card spread and a five-card spread. The best hand is always in the five-card spread with the second best hand in the two-card set. If you get a joker, it can be played as an ace, or in a straight, or flush. The player needs to make sure the best hand is in the five-card spread. If you set your hands wrong, you automatically lose your bet.
The best thing about this game is that the dealer will help you set your cards if you are confused. Just ask. Or while you are learning, set them as you think they should be, and then say, “Is this right?” Even the other players at the table are allowed to help, unlike in blackjack where woe will be heaped upon you if you dare to ask another player for advice.
You play against the dealer by comparing the two poker hands. If your hands are higher, then you win your ante. Or vice versa, you lose, if the dealer has better cards. If the dealer wins one and you win one, it’s a push. There are a lot of pushes so this enables the player’s bankroll to last a lot longer.
There are various other side bets that a player can make such as the Bonus and Envy bets, but nothing complicated. The bonus bet allows the player to wager an extra amount to get a higher payout if her/his cards are straights or higher. The Envy bet allows a player to collect on another player’s hand if any player at the table gets a high ranking card spread. This can lead to big bucks if a straight flush, or five aces, are dealt to anyone except the dealer.
LET IT RIDE: Let It Ride was first played in the Nevada casinos in 1993. The ShuffleMaster company owns its copyright although it was developed by Roger Snow who is ShuffleMaster table games product manager. This game has a house edge of 3.5%, which makes it one of the better games for players. I like this game because the players are not pitted against the dealer. In Caribbean Stud, with over a 5% house edge, and also in blackjack, it’s the players’ cards against the dealer’s cards. This puts the player in an adversarial position. In Let It Ride the players and dealer are allies. That is, the dealer’s cards can actually help a player’s hand and make for a big win.
This game is played in three hands. A player wins if his last hand contains a pair of 10s, or higher, poker hand. The higher the hand (think royal flush), then the higher the payoff will be.
To start, the player puts chips of equal value on each of the three circles on the table in front of him. Each player gets three cards and the dealer gets two, face-down, which are community cards. In round one, each player looks at his cards and decides to take back one of his stakes, or let it ride, which means the stake carries over to the second bet. In the second round, the dealer shows one of the community cards and each player again decides to take his second bet down or let it ride. In the third and final round, the dealer turns over the last community card and each player uses the two community cards with his three original cards to make a poker hand. The third stake cannot be taken down, no matter what the player holds in his hand.
Every hand that is lower than a pair of 10s loses. Every hand that is higher wins and gets paid for each stake that is left in the game, whether it is one, two, or all three bets. The common payout is 1:1 for a pair of 10s all the way to 1000:1 for a royal.
When I first started to play this game, I always pulled my chips in round 1 if I didn’t have 10s or higher or three cards that could be used in a flush. I didn’t go for straights because my reasoning was that straights were harder to get. In round 2, I would let it ride if I had 10s or higher or four cards to either a straight or flush in conjunction with the community card. I have since learned that you should stay in round 1 if you have a three-card straight, but I still don’t do it. What can I say? I don’t like straights, unless I’m going for a straight flush or a royal flush.
Speaking of straight flushes, I remember one painful time vividly. I was at a table by myself and I received three cards to a straight flush, nine of spades high. “Let it ride,” I said. The dealer turned over the community card and it was the seven of spades. I now had four to a straight flush … I needed the eight of spades for a terrific payoff of 200:1. I held my breath as the dealer slowly revealed the last card. It was the queen of spades, not my eight. As is customary, the dealer had buried two cards in the discard pile. She asked if I wanted to see. Of course, I did. She flipped the first discard over and there was my eight of spades, I had lost by being just one card off. I mumbled that old gambler’s lament “if only,” picked up my chips, and left.
THREE CARD POKER: Three card poker was also developed by ShuffleMaster and Roger Snow. This game actually consists of two games. Pair plus is a bet on just what it says: that the cards the player receives will contain a pair or better. This bet is independent of the ante and play bet. The payoffs, in ascending order, are for a pair, flush, straight, three of a kind, and straight flush. There is no such thing as a royal flush in this game. It is with this pair plus bet that the player who gets an adrenaline rush from the big hit can make some serious cash by getting a straight flush, or three of a kind. The straight flushes all pay the same, usually 40:1. The threes of a kind are the next highest payout of 30:1.
The very first time my husband and I played, we hadn’t been at the table five minutes when he was dealt a straight flush. As soon as he looked at his cards, everyone at the table knew what he had because he told them. He raked in a big stack of chips and smirked at me. I continued to play quietly as I usually do. Another few minutes passed and lightning struck again. I picked up my cards, took one look, and laid them back down. I never said a word. When the dealer got to me, I flipped my cards, and said, “Straight flush.” The dealer replied, “Boy, talk about a poker face, you didn’t even blink when you got that.” It was my turn to smirk.
Another player at the table was upset. He growled, “Boy, talk about beginner’s luck. I’ve been here for hours and played for days and haven’t had a straight flush yet.” What can I say? Beginner’s luck is a powerful thing. We sat down at just the right time and place and we got lucky. Sooner or later, it happens to every gambler. I always enjoy the moment, but don’t count on them happening often.
The other possible bet in Three card poker is called the ante/play option. For the ante/play bet, the player places his bet before the three cards are dealt. After viewing his cards, the player either folds and loses his ante, or raises by placing a bet equal to the ante money. After that, the cards are compared to those of the dealer. As in Caribbean stud, the dealer must qualify his hand. That is, the dealer’s hand must contain a queen high or better. If the dealer does not qualify, the player is paid even money on his ante, and the game continues. If the dealer does qualify, then his hand is compared to each player’s hand. If the player’s hand is higher, the player gets paid even money on his ante and play bets. Or, the player loses both bets if the opposite is true.
A player may also make a side bet on the ante/play in case of that especially good hand here such as the previously mentioned straight, three of a kind, or straight flush. As for ties between the dealer and player, the rules vary. In some cases, the player gets his initial money back; in others the player is paid even money on his bet. As always, a new player needs to watch the game for a while, ask questions, and read any literature available at the table.
The table games I have mentioned are fun to play, especially with my husband alongside. We can while away some time and earn comps faster than usual. Video poker play, because the casinos consider video poker a game of skill, accumulates comps and cash back at a much lower rate than most other casino games. My husband, although he does join me at video poker, is more easily frustrated with it than me. He tends to wander off to try his luck elsewhere long before I give it up.
Video poker will always be my game of choice, but whenever luck deserts me, my whining is annoying others, and I can’t even get a pair, much less anything else, I will escape to the table games to regroup. As Governor Schwarzenegger said in his movie The Terminator, “I’ll be back.” So will I … after I get over being angry with the video poker machines, which after all are just machines, and couldn’t care less about my feelings.
Until next time, may Lady Luck blow you kisses as you dance out the door with dollars. Win big.
