MULTIZ321 said:
John,
Thanks for your elucidation of casino Pay Back percentages.
I seem to recall reading that some machines have a greater than 100% payback percentage (e.g. 104%) - would that be true? If so, I'm sure there wouldn't be too many of those.
Richard
Richard,
Some of the "Full Pay" Video Poker machines have payback percentages greater than 100%. Full Pay is defined by the pay table. There are none as high as 104% that I am aware of unless it is a progressive machine that has a very high jackpot for the Royal Flush. Both Full Pay Jokers Wild and Full Pay Deuces Wild have payback percentages of 100+% with maximum coins ( 5 coins ) bet.. Full Pay Jokers Wild and FP Deuces Wild have the following pay-tables.
FP Jokers Wild ( 5 coins bet )
Royal Flush = 4000 coins
5 of a kind = 1000
Wild Royal Flush ( with joker ) = 500
Straight Flush 250
4 of a kind = 100
Full House = 35
Flush = 25
Straight = 15
3 of a kind = 10
Pair of Kings or Aces = 5
Deuces Wild ( 5 coins bet )
Royal Flush = 4000 coins
4 Deuces = 1000
Wild Royal Flush ( with deuces ) = 125
5 of a kind = 75
Straight Flush = 45
4 of a kind = 25
Full House = 15
Flush = 10
Straight = 10
3 of a Kind = 5
The key hand for the Full Pay Jokers wild is the 4 of a kind which must be = 100. Most VP machines on the LV strip pay only 75 but may have a Royal Flush payout of 4700 which does not compensate for the 4 of a kind.
The Key hand for the Full Pay Deuces Wild is also the 4 of a kind which must be = 25. Again there may be other changes but this is the key hand.
Of course, the next question would be, how can the casino win if the payback percentage is 100+%. It is really quite simple. The Video Poker payback percentages are based on playing optimal strategy which 90% of players do NOT know. You can learn the optimal strategy for every Video Poker machine. There are probably 20 different varieties of Video Poker. There are books, strategy cards that you can carry in your pocket, and also Video Poker tutor software such as Bob Dancer's Winpoker which I have on my PC. I know the optimal strategy for 5 varieties of Video Poker including the above 2 varieties.
Full Pay Video Poker machines are slowly disappearing because more people are learning the proper strategy. You can still find them at many of the locals casinos in Las Vegas and elsewhere. The Silverton in Las Vegas has Full Pay Jokers Wild in the older section. Some of our casinos in California have Full Pay Machines.
One last thing, progressive machines can have a payback percentage higher than 100% but only help you if you win the Royal Flush.