Video Poker - The Game Of Choice
May 18th, 2009
Video poker is not just a game of choices but the game of choice for most new casino players. Although no scientific survey has been done to confirm my assertion, the number of video-poker machines being manufactured and distributed to various casinos around the country (and the world) indicates that it is the game of choice for a substantial minority of all casino players and a growing majority of machine players. More than 50 percent of the floor space reserved for machines in most casinos is taken up by video-poker machines. While most casinos do not distinguish between video poker (or other video games) and slots in their published win and hold figures (all of them falling under the generic "slot" label), most of the casino executives I spoke to agreed that video-poker players are the fastest-growing segment of the playing public.
One Las Vegas slot manager had this to say: "Video poker of all varieties is the most popular form of machine play. As we draw up our plans for future placement of new machines in our expanded floor space, we are running 70/30 video poker to traditional slots. The traditional slots have a huge following but the video-poker generation is coming of age. Right now it's close but in the next 20 years I expect that video poker will outperform the traditional slots and dominate the casino landscape."
Some casino personnel made a point of alerting me to consider who plays what kind of machine as one explanation for the growing popularity of video poker. Stated one casino executive in Atlantic City: "Look at who plays video poker and who plays slots and you'll see that the majority of your slot players are older. These are people who have been coming to casinos for years and are in the habit of slot playing. These same people, the majority of whom are women, rejected playing table games in the past, for whatever reason. The video-poker players on average are younger. Many of the older video-poker players are former table-game players who can't afford the higher stakes at today's table games or don't want to play the table games anymore. Video-poker players, especially the younger ones, tend to be better educated; a substantial minority of them have college degrees or at least some college education. There is no doubt in my mind that if the current video-poker trends continue, video poker will be the dominant casino game in the near future."
Another Las Vegas executive said: "Video poker offers what table games offer but at a lower price. You get to make choices, you get to fully participate in the game. But unlike table games, no one is overlooking your play. No one is second-guessing the choices that you make. It's just you and the machine and only your bankbook knows for sure just how you're doing. Here in Vegas, video poker is a good bet as well. The player knows he is getting a good run for his money. In fact, some video-poker machines pay out more than the table games do if you know the right strategies."
It would not be a stretch of the imagination to postulate that the growth in video-poker play is a direct result of the aging of the video-games generation of the 1970s. The donkey-kongsters of the 1970s have become the video-poker aficionados of today's expanding casino empire. These are people who cut their teeth on the video screen and now have gone on to bigger and better video experiences. As kids their egos and neighborhood reputations were on the line in their video games—now it's their money. What a rush! And their numbers will continue to balloon as each succeeding generation of video-gamesters comes into its maturity. In the future we might see on-line video machines directly linked to casinos where a player can build up credits and debits on some type of credit card—in the privacy and convenience of his own home.
Dr. Marvin Karlins, psychologist, gaming expert, and author of many works both in and out of the gaming field, including the seminal Psyching Out Las Vegas!, addressed this very issue when I spoke to him regarding the phenomenal growth of machine play in today's casinos. "Today's video-poker machines offer the players a good gamble for their money. With the proper strategies on some machines the players can even have a slight edge over the casino. For a gambler it doesn't get any better than that. It also affords the player two very important psychological inducements for playing— anonymity and autonomy—in addition to the possibility of winning some money. There are choices to make but no one to criticize you if you seemingly make the wrong choice. This would especially appeal to people who are somewhat anxious with the thought of approaching table games where you would have to interact with many others—some of whom might be critical of your play."
Online Casino Bonuses Casino GamesOnline Casino Reviews Casino Game
Tags: casino players, poker, poker players, video poker machines
Related posts
Poker Glossary
May 17th, 2009
Action: Any betting, calling, raising, or other act made by a player can be referred to as action. If a player calls your bet, you are getting action.
Active Player: A player who has money in the pot and has not folded his hand.
All In: Placing all of your remaining chips into the pot.
Back Door Flush or Straight: A flush or straight made by catching the last two cards to make the hand.
Bet: To voluntarily put money into the pot.
Bad Beat: When you have a good hand that is a favorite to win beaten by another hand.
Blinds: The large and small blinds are forced bets made before the first cards are dealt.
Board: The community cards turned face up in the middle of the table.
Call: To place money in the pot equal to the previous bet.
Calling Station: A player who will not fold his hand and will call all the pots to the river. This is a weak-passive player who rarely raises the pot. You will make your most money from this type of player.
Case Card: The fourth card of a certain rank. If you held two Kings and a third was showing on the board, the fourth King would be the case King.
Chop: When no players have called the blind bets and the two players in the blinds choose to take their bets back rather than to play out the hand.
Cold Call: To call a raise without having already called a bet.
Drawing Dead: Drawing to a hand that has no chance of winning.
Drowning on the River: Getting beat by a player who makes his hand with the river card.
Flop: The first three community cards turned over at the same time. Fold: To cease play by throwing in your hand.
Hole Cards: Two cards dealt face down to be used as the players starting hand.
Muck: The pile of discarded and folded hands along with the burn cards. To muck your hand means to fold.
Nuts: The nuts is the best hand that can be made from the cards on the board and the cards in a player's hand. If you had an Ace high flush, you would have the nut flush.
Overcard: One or both of your pocket cards that are higher than any of the cards on the board.
Overpair: A pocket pair that is higher than any of the cards on the board.
Paint Card: Kings, Queens, and Jacks, also called face cards. You can easily spot a face card by the amount of colors and distinguish it from the other cards.
Pocket Cards: Your two cards that are dealt to you face down. Also
known as hole cards. Pot Odds: The relationship between the money in the pot versus the
amount of money it will cost you to continue in the hand.
Rainbow: A flop that contains three cards of different suits.
Raise: To make a bet that is double the size of the bet made by the previous bettor.
River: The fifth and last community card turned over on the board. Runner: When the turn and river card make a winning hand for a player that would have been a loser otherwise.
See Back Door.
Set: Three of a kind when you have a pair in the pocket.
Showdown: At the end of the final round when all players remaining in the hand turn over their cards to determine the winner.
Side Pot: A pot that is formed after a player goes all in. This pot cannot be won by the all-in player.
Slowplay: To weakly play a strong hand by calling or checking instead of raising. This is done to conceal the strength of your hand.
Smooth Call: To call a bet rather than raise the pot.
Suited: Two cards in a starting hand that are the same suit. A flop consisting of three cards of the same suit would be a suited flop.
Trips: Three of a kind where a pair is on the board and the third card is one of your pocket cards.
Turn: The fourth community card turned over on the board.
Undercard: A card in your hand smaller than the highest card on the board.
Underpair: A pocket pair smaller than the lowest card on the board.
Best Online Poker Casino PokerJeux Casinos En Ligne Le Meilleur Guide du Casino en Ligne
Tags: blind bets, passive player, pocket cards, poker