Review of Professional Video Poker
- Title:
- Professional Video Poker
- Author:
- Stanford Wong
- Publisher:
- Pi Yee Press
- Date:
- 1993
- ISBN:
- 0-935926-15-1
- Pages:
- 159
- Price:
- $14.95
May 26, 2001
In the 1980s video poker exploded on to the gambling scene. In a matter
of just a decade, the game of video "Draw Poker" went from being a curiosity
to the dominant game in Las Vegas locals casinos as well as in many other
gambling jurisdictions. The high rate of play, large payouts, and
relatively low house edge all combined to make video poker one of the
most seductive games in the casino. What's less well known is that
certain games under certain circumstances can be beaten by a skilled
player. In Professional Video Poker, noted blackjack
expert Stanford Wong provides information on how to detect and exploit
these situations for certain VP machines.
The book begins with some background, providing information on how
to read payoff tables, some estimates of how many hands a skilled
player can play per hour, an estimate of one's rate loss while waiting
for the royal flush, etc.. This information is familiar to the serious
VP player and is widely available now, but Professional Video
Poker was the first book that described a serious
analysis of this game, so it's responsible for defining a lot of the
language that is now taken for granted.
Next, Wong describes correct strategy for playing "8-5 Jacks or Better
Progressive" machines. These machines pay 8-1 for a full house, 5-1
for a flush, and have a meter that increases the payout for a royal
flush until it is hit.
He details how high the meter must be before these machines become positive
expectation plays for the player, the strategy for these games, and
the rationale behind each specific strategy instance. In general, this
is provided in much more detail than is common in more recent books
on video poker. In my opinion, it's not really necessary, except maybe
for those people who find it useful to understand the "whys" of VP
strategy in order to convince themselves that that they really do need to
follow
it. Wong follows this section with some finer points of strategy, especially
strategic changes as the progressive jackpots get higher and higher.
At the end of the book, Wong provides some auxiliary information, such
as a strategy for 6-5 progressives, 10s or better progressives, and
playing in video poker tournaments. This information is good, and
was written here for the first time. Most of it is still relevant,
although it's been a while since I've seen a 6-5 jacks or 10s or better
progressive
machine, much less one where the progressive meter is in positive territory.
On the last page Wong provides miniature strategy guides suitable
for photocopying and keeping in a wallet-sized format.
This book was groundbreaking in its day, and it covers 8-5 jacks progressive
like no other book. Unfortunately, it is no longer so relevant. These 8-5
progressive machines are not nearly as popular as they once were, and
serious VP players have turned their attention to other games, such as
full-pay Deuces Wild, and Double Bonus Poker. Further, as the literature
has become more familiar with VP issues, the same information is now
covered both generally and in greater depth in more recent books, such
as Dan Paymar's excellent Video Poker: Optimum Play. So,
while this is a breakthrough book, I can no longer recommend that
one should pick it up and read it, unless one is interested in the
minutia of 8-5 jacks progressive machines.
Capsule:
Wong's Professional Video Poker is an example of a one-time
classic that has been superseded by recent works on the same topic. This
was the first serious book on Video Poker, and it remains the most
detailed source of information on playing 8-5 jacks progessive video
poker games. So, if this particular game is of interest to the reader,
then definitely acquire this book.
Unfortunately, it contains little information on other
games, and other books cover the same information and much more. So,
please tip your cap to Stanford Wong for this pioneering effort, but
go read Video Poker: Optimum Play by Dan Paymar instead.
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