video poker strategy

[dad]

I would like to know your opinion on how to handle this video poker hand: a pair of 8's, K, Q, and a 6. This is on the type of poker machine that pays out 1 credit for having a pair of Jacks or better.
What would you do with that hand?

[Skip Intro]

1. Are the K and Q of the same suit?

for that matter, what are the suits of the cards?

[mary195149]

2. you are supposed to keep the 8's

[dad]

5. really???

Do you by any chance have a link which details the odds in different poker situations like this??

[Skip Intro]

6. Nof if four of the cards are of the same suit

At least, if I were one card away from a flush, and all I had to lose was a weak pair...

But then again, I rarely came out on top with video poker.

But I swear, sometimes you could just feel what was happening, and what was going to happen. Wierd feeling, and I liked it a lot. I loved getting on a roll, or a streak. Very pleasurable.

But then, the fundies made the machines illegal here. Freedom stops with your money.

Now all we have is the boring lottery.

What were we talking about?

[dad]

7. You don't happen to be from SC, do you?

I've been working as a consultant at the casino in Cherokee, NC

[Skip Intro]

8. Man, I've always wanted to go there!

I've just never had the money and the guts and the time all at once

What do you do there and is there a DUer special?

Hey, how did you know I was from SC? Please tell me you peaked at my profile, and that its not just obvious.

c'mon, please

:)

[dad]

11. -

Hey there. No I have never looked at anyone's profile, ever! Don't have time for that, haha. I guessed based on your "fundies making video poker illegal" comment. SC is just a different kind of place. At least y'all still get liquor by the mini bottle drink. At the casino in Cherokee, there is no alcohol served (it is a dry county)!!
I am working with the company who provides their time and labor management software. Basically I am a techie who works with payroll type stuff.

[dad]

3. K and Q of different suit

[delete_bush]

4. only a guess, but if your only interest is in winning then

it would seem your chances are better keeping the K or Q. There would be 3 cards left in the deck and you would be drawing 4 cards, vs. 2 cards left (the 8's) and drawing 3 cards. If you're trying to maximize the payoff, then you would have to know the relative odds of each situation vs. the potential winnings.

[lazarus]

9. gotta have all suits

Suits are just as important. Also, what is the payout for flushes, etc.

You've got lots of odds to consider.

[fishnfla]

10. here's what I do:

keep the 8's and either the cowboy or the lady as a kicker. You'll have a chance at 3 of a kind, 2 pair, or a full house even. I dont play for odds as much as a higher payout, its the only way to make $$$$

Edit: of course you can get the face card pair for even odds payout with the kicker.

[Twillig]

12. Since it's jacks or better,

and if all you want to do is get jacks or better with a pair then toss the eights and keep the k and Q. That will give you six cards left in the deck to pair up the K or Q.

If you want a higher payoff and feel lucky keep the eights and toss the rest. That gives you only two cards in the deck to make 3 of a kind of course. But it's all about going for a higher payoff.

About Kickers: drawing three cards to a pair is just as good as drawing two cards to a low pair and a kicker in terms of getting two pair. In both cases you are getting two cards to pair up with a third. And when you keep the kicker you give yourself one less chance to make that three-of-a-kind.

Don't keep a kicker is the lesson here. In video poker it doesn't matter what kind of two pair you have if all you have to do is beat a pair of jacks. If you keep the king kicker throwing out the Q and 6 and draw junk and a 6, you'll be much chagrined.

So, in my non-expert way, I'd keep the eights and hope for three-of-a-kind since it's a bigger payoff. Breaking even on the payoff just means that you haven't lost yet.

I could be wrong. :-)