Everything Becomes Wild
Deuces, Jokers and Both
For many years, the only two versions of Video Poker were the games using a standard 52-card deck with absolutely nothing in the way of wild cards thrown in. The difference between these two versions was that one paid on a pair of Jacks or Better, while the other required 2-pairs to earn a payout.
The 2-pair game was the first on the scene, but the pay-table was very low and expert play could only get a 90% payback, so it posed no threat to reel slots.
To attract players the 2-pair pay table was raised and the overall return improved. However, the hit frequency (percentage of winning hands) was still a drawback because it was too low to sustain player interest.
Accordingly, the pay table was altered to return the bet on pairs of Jacks or Better. That's when the modern era of booming Video Poker started.
The Jacks or Better games had a pay table that allowed expert players to obtain a 99.6% return; in fact, even novice players got above 95% return. Well, you might suppose that the players were quite happy with those machines and you would be right. But the casinos were not, so more tinkering was soon under way.
Cleverly, the progressive Royal Flush jackpot machine evolved. By reducing the pay schedule on Full Houses and Flushes from 9/6 to 8/5, the return was quickly reduced and to attract more players a piece of that pie
was returned to the jackpot. Well, you might suppose that the players were quite happy with those machines, and again you would be right---especially those semi-pros who waited for the jackpot to swell and then took over all the seats.
Well, this really didn't bother anyone, but after all the above-mentioned machines were in place, the marketing people decided to bring out something different--somewhat in the
vein of planned obsolescence. Their new toy was the Joker game, a 53-card deck with one wild card. They started out by paying on two-pair or better (like their ancient predecessors) and with a relatively low return. Of course, they were soon collecting dust in Las Vegas, although they did fairly well in Atlantic City, where Video Poker is in very short supply due to regulations.
True to form, the manufacturers raised the pay table to attract more players and then altered the game to pay on pairs of Aces and Kings, thereby improving the hit frequency. So now we even have Joker Wild (A,K) games paying over 100% all over town. Well, you would think the players would be happy now, but you'd be wrong.
That Joker complicated the game immensely, so average players did poorly on those machines. So the marketing people go back to the drawing boards and out pops the Deuces Wild game, a 52-card deck but now four cards are running wild. The game takes off like a rocket as players find it very easy to learn and they find out that they win often. They may not know why, but that's no concern of the players. The fact is, the game is paying a tad over 100% to expert players on full-pay machines (5 on Quads).
So you can guess what's coming next. Lower the pay table! But, the lower pay table causes players to shun them.
So marketing comes up with a new game--Deuces and Joker Wild. Action galore on this game--terrific high hit frequency. But players find that they have trouble hitting jackpots which are limited to a 4 Deuce + Joker hand, a very rare bird by all standards. After all, there are four ways to hit a natural Royal, one in each suit, and 13 ways to get a 5-of-a-Kind jackpot (Atlantic City style) but only one way to that D-J jackpot. With the pay table sharply cut back by the high hit frequency, that fine balance (players relish) is again destroyed. The players find the tray depleted after a long session of "winning" hands and can't get that 99 percent, not knowing how to play with so many wild cards.
So when and where is this cycle going to end? We might guess that the automobile industry might give us a clue. Maybe some foreign country might come up with a Video Poker to put all the others out of business. Hardly likely; nothing new has ever hit big from abroad. Maybe the Video Poker players will be drifting back to the table games. Possible, but it's more likely that all the gimmicks at the tables spawned the Video Poker boom initially. My guess is that the players will respond by learning how/what to play and will continue to shape the future to their liking.
Post-Script: This article was published in 1992. Since then hundreds of new Video Pokers have evolved, many with paybacks over 100% and very complex strategies. Everyone seems happy so maybe we have to begin to worry .
Home Page