Interesting, but I'm not sure you can extrapolate that to the regular slots.
I have 100's of hours experience on them and have not noted that happening. Pretty small sample I admit.

The video poker game of choice for locals is called Double Double Video Poker.

On a standard video poker game, you get the same amount if you hit four of a kind anything - perhaps a bit more if it is Aces.

On Double Double machines, for a maximum play of 5 coins, you get:
400 coins for four 2's, or four 3's, or four 4's. If your fifth card is an Ace, or one of the remaining 2, 3 or 4 cards, you get 800 coins! (That extra bonus card is called a "kicker")
With four Aces, you get 800 coins, but if you get the "kicker" as well, that jumps up to 2000 coins!
Believe it or not, getting that "kicker" happens often enough to make it the favorite game of locals.

The major downside of Double Double is that you get the same return from one pair of Jacks or better as you do with two pair. So you have to use some different strategy when playing...for instance, if you get two Aces and two fives drawn to you, most locals would only keep the Aces - hoping for two more Aces (and perhaps the kicker) rather than keeping all four cards and shooting for the less profitable full house.

The best rule of thumb for finding the best video poker machines is to see how much you get for a full house. 45 coins is excellent (there are a few machines that pay 50, but rare to find) and 40 is good, but 35 is not such a great deal.

Without meaning to sound sexist, many local women prefer playing Deuces Wild (some local men as well) and they seem to do quite well at it. Again, it takes a different strategy when playing, but those who prefer the game claim they can play Deuces Wild for a longer time and keep winning a little bit, allowing them a longer play time chance to hit something bigger.

Almost no locals play standard Video Poker...and keep an eye out for those progressive video poker machines! Some of those jackpots get really high (even for nickels and quarters) and the first hint is to see swarms of people playing at those banks of machines.

If you are referring to 9/6 Double Double Bonus Poker; the expected return (ER) is 98.98% but the variance is 41.98; which makes it a risky game.

Some games are have a postive ER; but you always have to weigh the variance of a given game (since the higher the variance the higher the volatility).

That being said, Loose Deuces Wild has a Variance of 70.70 and a ER of 100.15%; but a much safer game is 8/5 Bonus Poker with an ER of 99.17% and a variance of 20.90.

Probably the biggest complaint is finding the full pay machines in the denomination that you want on the strip --- but, in all cases, the ER on the worst video poker is much much better than slots (which can have an ER in the low 80% range) -- that is why the casinos give you fewer comps for VP play (in comparison to reel slot play).

Of course, the above VP numbers assume you are playing perfectly, which folks seldom do --- especially with some of the more esoteric games.

My suggestion would be to learn one strategy well (like 9/6 JoB which works well for 8/5 BP) and stick to that; and learn to identify the good full pay machines (which are often right next to the short pay (bad) machines).

It can definitely be a bit boring for some people.

One thing to keep in mind is that VP machines are very strictly regulated in terms of using a "virtual" deck of cards. Therefore, VP machines make their margins by changing the payout. A common type of VP machine is a 9/6 Jacks or Better, where a full house pays 9 and a flush pays 6. Many casinos, though, particularly on the low-denom machines, "short" the machines, with a full house paying 8 and a flush paying 5, bringing your percentage down from 99.5% to just over 97%. It may not seem like a lot, but those few percentage points will have a drastic impact on how long you play.

One of the above posters mentioned Las Vegas Advisor, to which I also subscribe. Through LVA, I bought "cheat sheet" index cards, which give you the mathematically correct move to make for any situation on several types of VP machines, as well as the pay schedules you should look for. They're worth the $10 or so that they will cost you.

Mike

Excellent analysis. I can give a first hand account. My last trip to Vegas, while playing roulette, the double zero hits. (of course AFTER, I had removed my chips). The next spin...double zero hits again. The third spin...you guessed it, double zero again. Finally on the 4th spin...double zeros !
At this point people are going crazy....the dealer insists that in his 20 plus years, he has never seen it hit 4 times in a row. Folks from other tables come flocking over...and all of a sudden, hundred dollar bills are being placed on the double zero. (There must have been over 3k on that number alone).
On the next spin....the ball bounces out of the double zero slot...and lands on another number.
Patrons walk away unhappy...and the pit boss has a huge grin on his face.

[QUOTE=scott1212;7082476]In my gambling adventures I have experienced a few exciting hot runs, but never, ever an exciting cold run...

I used to really like playing slots but obviously usually walked away in the red. For my last trip to LV, I decided that I'd try out VP and found it more enjoyable than the plain jane slots. Some of the funkier slots with the extra features are kind of fun though.

My comments and experiences as a beginning VP player:
- I only had a few weeks before my trip so I decided to learn only one version. I chose JoB to keep it simple so I didn't have to remember other complexities.
- Practiced using a free online java version so I could build my speed when playing basic hands
- Printed a mini-strategy guide to take with me for ambiguous hands. Didn't have to whip it excessively but no one seemed to bat an eye when I did.
- Have to play max coins of course at a rate you can handle (quarters for me).
- Free slot credits are good for VP machines too.
- Finding full pay JoB was pretty difficult. (Found a slew at the Hilton.) Ended up playing as low as 9/5 or 8/6 (I think??) on occasion. Found wide ranges of pay rates when walking through a casino so choose carefully.

The result: Had some luck and ended up ahead by about $300 for under 10 hours of play, over three days, at multiple locations. I did play some slots and had a little luck but it wasn't as fun anymore. I'm definitely a converted VP player.

The Hilton does indeed have a nice selection of decent video poker in the sportsbook area. It never ceases to amaze me to see all of the people playing VP in the adjoining main casino where the pay schedules are almost all inferior to the sportsbook.

Anyone who knows any math would know to keep the two aces and discard the other pair. Never keep the kicker.

In fact, in DDBVP, if you draw a full house aces over any pair, dump the other pair -- your expected payback is better.

[QUOTE=indyscott;7093449]Fair point.

I guess the cold runs make the hot runs more exciting, then.

Just for the info, the odds of 4 00's in a row is 1/38 to the 4th power-1 in
2,085,136, so it's not surprising that the dealer has never seen it happen.

I don't understand why the slot return is set so much lower. What are the casinos thinking? I know it's Vegas, but the Peppermill in Reno advertises
99% return on slots, and, as someone mentioned, the regulators have pretty
strong oversight.

Do they advertise that ALL their slots are 99%? Usually, most casinos (especially off-the-Strip) have certain banks of machines with payouts of 99% and even 100%...but that doesn't mean ALL of the machines in that bank of slots. It means one, maybe two of the machines are set to pay out that high percentage (good luck at figuring out which machine it is)...but even that doesn't mean you will win every single time...for instance, if someone just hit a large jackpot, that machine might get very tight until the payout is back to an even 100% and no longer in the minus %...so you could be feeding your money (and still lose) in the loosest of machines, in order to make up for the recent payout(s).

DM, please forget that part of my comment - it was totally dumb. I have seen where overall payout is near top for the Peppermill and substantially
better than the strip proper. But, why do the regular slots pay out so much
less than most of the poker? I guess they figure the innocent suckers will
play them.

FWIW, the Nevada Gaming Commission categorizes VP a "game of skill", and slots a "game of chance", and as such they are subject to different rules regarding payouts and winning percentages. It's kind of interesting, kind of weird, definately a Las Vegas "thing". The exact details escape me right now, but we can google it to get the details!

I remember now! As a game of skill, the odds of winning at VP are required by law to be the same, whether you wager a nickel, a quarter or a dollar.

As a game of chance, casinos are allowed to vary the odds of winning according to the wager: $.05 cent slots 70% payout, $.25 85% payout, $1.00 slots 94% $5.00 slots 99% payout, etc, for example: basically, whatever they want.

Good Luck!!!