Shelley and I went to Rincon during the day Saturday to play a little video poker. We thought being there on Christmas Eve day it would be quiet. We were wrong. The place was hopping. It was a "multiplier day" and there were free play bonuses too, plus the usual holiday travelers were there.
Shelley hit a royal. That's not unusual. She's the royal queen. Her second visit to a casino in 2011 and she hits a royal... on her third play of the day. Me? It's been more than 160-thousand hands since my last royal.
Since this was a "low budget day" at the casino, I played 50-cent Aces and Faces (Shelley was at the machine next to me also playing 50-cents VP).
But the pay table on 50-cent and 25-cent Aces and Faces is a lot different from what is on $1, $2 and $5 Aces and Faces. On the higher denominations, A&F plays like 8/5 Bonus except that the big quads are the Jacks, Queens and Kings instead of the usual Bonus big quads of 2s, 3s, 4s.
But at Rincon on some of the 25-cent and 50-cent Aces and Faces you'll find this pay table:
Royal Flush 250 increases to 4000 with 5 coins played
Straight Flush 50
4 aces 80
4 Js, Qs, Ks 40
4 2s thru 10s 25
Full House 10 (yes, that's right)
Flush 8 (yes, that's right)
Straight 6 (yes, that's right)
trips 3
2 pair 1
Jacks or better 1
You can see a photo of this paytable on our "Video Poker News and Commentary" page at this link: http://alanbestbuys.com/id132.html
Would someone please tell me what the payback is on this version of the game? The calculator I checked showed a payback of about 94% which is miserable compared to the traditional Bonus or Aces and Faces game. Yet, it certainly looks appealing, and the looks can be deceiving. In some casinos, the lower denomination VP games have lesser paytables -- and in some casinos, notably those on the Strip in Vegas, all of the VP games can have poor paytables!
I played this particular game for awhile and found that after about two hours of play I was up slightly on it, and I attribute the wins because of several full houses that converted from two pair. And yes, I did get several two-pair that only paid even money which was a disappointed. I also adjusted my strategy a bit to account for straight draws and flush draws because of the payoffs on the straights and flushes.
Oh, I forgot to mention: this was the same game Shelley was playing when she hit her royal! When Shelley first sat down to play it she commented that the game only paid even money for two pair -- she is a traditional Bonus player and didn't like that two pair was only a push on this game. But, when it comes to a "royal" the paytable for two pair, full houses, flushes and straights don't really matter, do they? LOL
There is another game at Rincon that also needs a strategy adjustment because it is a top heavy game -- and that is Royal Aces Bonus which pays 4,000 coins for quad aces without a kicker and also ups the payouts on straight flushes. But the pay table starts with a pair of aces -- a pair of jacks, queens or kings does not pay. You need either a pair of aces or two-pair just to get your money back. This is a game that needs a total adjustment of your play. The only single high card that you hold is an Ace, straight flush draws become more important too.
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