Review of

Title:

Video Poker Optimum Play

Author:

Dan Paymar

Publisher:

ConJelCo

Date:

2010

ISBN:

1-886070-32-6

Pages:

224

Price:

$19.95

Note: This is a review of the 2010 edition of Dan Paymar's Video Poker Optimum Play. It is an updated version of a review of a previous edition of this book.

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@jetcafe.org

June 14, 2011

By my count the 2010 publication of Video Poker Optimum Play represents at the third edition of this classic on the game of video poker. This book has evolved considerably since I reviewed the first edition almost thirteen years ago. Moreover, the video poker landscape has changed significantly. This seems like a good time to revisit both the book and the world of video poker.

The theme to Dan Paymar's approach to video poker is that simplicity, where possible, is a virtue. The focus of his video poker philosophy is on what he calls "precision play", a list of simple to understand rules for a few common video poker pay tables that can bring the reader close to mathematically optimal play with a minimum of effort. In the first edition, Paymar focused on three games: full pay Jacks-or-Better, full pay Deuces Wild, and full pay kings-or-better Joker Wild. These are still the three games that receive the most attention in the present edition.

This time out Paymar also provides strategy tables, although not precision play rules, for several other popular games, including All American Poker, full pay Double Bonus, 9/6 Double Double Bonus, not-so-ugly Deuces, and Pick'em Poker. Overall this is a good selection of games, although at the time the current edition was released All American Poker had essentially become extinct. I don't know why there isn't a a precision play rule set for NSU Deuces or Double Double Bonus. It seems to me that it wouldn't be significantly more difficult to do so for these games than for full pay Deuces or Jacks-or-Better.

There is a lot of additional information of value to video poker players other than the precision play rules and strategy tables. Paymar provides great information on bankroll considerations, including risk of ruin and calculating the value of promotions. These sections along with the strategies for a significant number of the most popular games make the book well worth while to any video poker player who aspire to play better than those who lose money quickly banging away at the machines.

Not everything in the book is great, however. The fact that the book has been upgraded multiple times has a down side as well. First, in many places the book is out of date. The chapter on slot club promotions reflects benefits that no longer exist as of 2010. Many of the games referenced have been consigned to history. There aren't that many 102% promotions just lying around these days. Current machines allow for much faster play for experts than the 600-800 hands per hour reflected in parts of this book. Some sections are very much up-to-date. Some are still stuck in the 90s, and it's difficult for those who aren't already familiar with the current video poker landscape to be able to tell which is which.

Moreover, as sections have been updated they repeat material that is discussed elsewhere in the book making chunks of it excessively repetitive. The overall flow the book had in its first edition is disrupted by changes made to parts of chapters without regard to how it fits into its overall tone. Basically, Paymar ought to sit down and do a front-to-back rewrite of the book to regain the logical progression of information found in the first edition and hopefully update some antiquated sections.

On the big picture issues regarding "luck", the long run, and video poker player superstitions Paymar gets it exactly right. Even among bright people who are serious video poker players many misconceptions abound about how these machines work and what they should expect. There are places, though, where Paymar doesn't quite get it right either, most notably on the subject of machine random number generation. This is a very tricky subject, even for those well versed in the worlds of both mathematics and information technology, so this is neither terribly surprising nor unforgivable. The bottom line is that the vast majority of video poker players would be much better off if they were to read, understand, and believe what the author has to say about these subjects.

I'm also not a huge fan of the extent to which Paymar flogs the dead horse that is his end of the "precision play plus faster play" vs. "strive for perfect play" argument. We get it. It's well worth spelling out, once. It's good that the author makes his case, but then he should leave it up to the readers to decide how precise a strategy they would like to pursue. I agree that a simple strategy like precision play is the best way to learn, and that one can still be a successful video poker player without going beyond that. As players practice more and become exposed to more precise but complicated strategies, they'll each decide what complexity level is best. Personally, I'm turned off when someone repeats a perfectly good mantra so often that it comes off as evangelism.

Video Poker Optimum Play is a truly indispensable video poker book. I like the fact that the current edition contains more useful information than previous editions. This makes the new one more valuable, and serious video poker players who have the first edition should at least consider upgrading. Unfortunately, in places the updated information seems to largely come at the expense of a cohesive arc to the book, and it could really use a rewrite to eliminate some out-of-date and unnecessarily repetitive sections. I like the improvements to the latest edition, but it could have been better.

Capsule:

Dan Paymar's Video Poker Optimum Play is an indispensable book for video poker players and probably the best place to learn. The latest edition contains more useful information than previous editions, but the upgrades don't seem to take into account the overall flow of the book. Some information is fresh, while some is very much out of date. The current edition is well worth reading, but I'm looking forward to yet another revision where the whole book is brought up to the standards of the best parts.