http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/video-poker-game-how-to-calculate-perfect-strategy.html http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/video-poker-game-how-to-calculate-perfect-strategy.html Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500 Video Poker is one of the most popular slot versions of playing poker. In video poker you are playing against the machine, not other players, like in traditional poker. Your goal in this game is to get the highest ranking five card hand possible.

How to play

First you place a bet and receive five cards. Then you decide which cards to hold and which to discard. You may draw up to five new cards to improve your hand. Finally you obtain replacement cards in exchange for the cards you have discarded. All cards are dealt randomly from one card deck.

Perfect Play

Video Poker is a game where skill is important. With enough practice, you can learn how to play video poker like a professional. Video Poker can be one of the few potentially profitable casino games. Some video poker games are positive expectation games. It means that if you play properly, some Video Poker machines actually offer over 100% payback for perfect play over the long run.

You have the best chance of winning (losing less money) at video poker over the long run if select the holding with the highest Expected Value. Expected Value (mathematical expectation) is the statistically projected average of all possible outcomes for a particular play or game. In other words, EV is the amount one would expect to win or lose if this decision were to be repeated millions of times.

There are 32 ways to hold cards for any dealt five-card hand. For each of these holdings you have to calculate the expected value (EV) of the result and draw to the combination which has the highest EV.

The math used to calculate the Expected Value is not very complicated at all. To compute the EV for the particular draw, you have to multiply the probability of each possible outcome by its value and sum up the results.

The following example explains the above definition.

The dealt hand is 8c 9d 4h 9s 8s in the Jacks or Better (8/5) video poker machine. In this simple example the holding with the highest EV is 89_98. There are 47 cards remaining in the deck. 4 cards would make Full House and 43 others would make Two Pairs. We have a payoff value of 8 for a full house and 2 for a Two Pairs.

EV= 4*8/47+43*2/47=2.51064

Calculating EV is straightforward. But it is a tedious task for a human. Luckily, there are several computer programs designed to evaluate the optimal strategy for each hand as it is encountered. They can catch your mistakes and warn you about them, showing you the difference in EV between your play and the best play. You can use your computer to master your video poker skills at no cost.

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Boris Sandberg is a developer of the BVS Video Poker, a full featured video poker simulator that trains you to use the best long - term strategies when playing video poker. All the most popular video poker machines are included: Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Joker Poker etc.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/spider-solitaire-a-winning-strategy.html http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/spider-solitaire-a-winning-strategy.html Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500 Spider Solitaire is one of the most popular solitaire card games in the world. It is often named Classic Solitaire Game and "the King of all solitaires".

Spider Solitaire is a lot of fun and has to be learned like any game. At first glance, this challenging and time-consuming game seems to be too complicated. But spider solitaire is a very easy game to play once you get the hang of it.

Not every game of Spider Solitaire can be won, but you have a better chance of winning if you plan your strategy carefully. Below you will find several simple rules that can increase your chances of winning Spider Solitaire.

1. Build sequences of cards by following suit

Whenever you have a choice, prefer building in suit (“natural builds”). Natural build may be moved as a unit to be built elsewhere. This allows you to expose a hidden face down card, which you may now turn over, or expose an empty pile.

2. Try to expose hidden cards whenever possible

Uncovering hidden cards leads to a new set of possible moves. Besides, it is a way to get empty pile.

3.Try to make empty piles as early as possible

Move cards from tableaus that have fewer cards. Use empty piles as temporary storage when rearranging cards sequences into “natural” builds as far as possible. Move cards to empty spaces to turn over more cards.

4. Build on higher cards first

Among the “out of suit” builds, start with those of highest rank. The reason for this is apparent. You can not move “out of suit” build as a unit to another pile. So this build is of no use except as a temporary storage for cards from other piles. If we start with low card, the build will be finished with an Ace very quickly and then it will be useless. Starting from higher cards allows us to get maximum advantage from it.

5. Get as many cards exposed and arranged in suit order as possible before dealing the next 10 cards from the stock

Otherwise your chances of winning are significantly reduced.

6. As soon as you remove a suit, arrange the remaining cards into “natural builds”

Use empty piles as temporary storage when rearranging cards.

Spend some time practicing this strategy and soon you will find yourself beating Spider Solitaire faster and more often.

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Boris Sandberg is a developer of the BVS Solitaire Collection, a collection of about 400 different solitaire card games, including Spider Solitaire, Pyramid Solitaire and FreeCell.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/klondike-solitaire--a-winning-strategy.html http://www.articletrader.com/computers/games/klondike-solitaire--a-winning-strategy.html Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500 Klondike solitaire, or simply Solitaire, is probably the best known solitaire game in the world. The rules of this game are known to almost everyone.

Not all games of Klondike Solitaire are solvable. Playing Klondike game involves a lot of guesswork and it is the main reason why you do not win the vast majority of the games.

This article covers some strategy tips that that could be helpful for improving your win/loss ratio.

1. Turn up the first card off the deck before making any other moves. It increases the initial number of possible moves and gives you the opportunity to make a better choice.

2. Always move an Ace or Deuce to the foundation whenever it is possible. This rule seems to be clear and logical and does not need any further explanation.

3. Expose hidden cards. If you have a choice from several possible moves that expose hidden cards, choose column with the largest number of hidden cards.

4. Hold off the moves that are not important. The best move is one that provides you with opportunity to make other moves or expose hidden cards.

5. Do not empty a tableau pile if you do not have a King to put it in. You gain nothing if you get an empty pile. A space in Klondike solitaire can only be filled by a King or a sequence starting with a King, so leave your options open.

6. If you have a choice between a black King and a red King to fill a space with, be cautious in your decision. Look at the color of the blocking cards and make the appropriate color choice. For example, if you have a red Jack that blocks some hidden cards, you have to select a red King and than wait for a black Queen.

There are two basic way to deal cards from the stock in this game: player deals either the cards at a time, or only one card is dealt at a time. The recommendations given above are applicable to both variations. The only difference for the "deal three at a time" variation is that you have to pay close attention to the order of the cards in the order of cards in the deck. Some people suggest dealing all the cards to the waste pile once without making any moves and remember the order of the cards in the deck.

If you play computerized version of Klondike, you can use the unlimited undo function as many times as you want to try different choices and to maximize your chances of winning.


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Boris Sandberg is a developer of the BVS Solitaire Collection, a set of more than 400 solitaire card games, including old-time favorites like Klondike Solitaire, Spider Solitaire and Pyramid.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>