Extraordinary NFL Results --

[mickeycrimm]

I didn't have a computer or any way to calculate VP when I started. I knew that 9/6 jacks was 99.54 and FPDW was 100.7, card counting was about a 1-2% advantage, and progressive slots and VP were good, but I couldn't afford to play those games. $20 was a lot of money to me, luckily for me I always had a Job where my meals were free.

With Flush Attack I didn't need any math to clearly see it was a huge +EV situation. The first time I played it was a few-hour session and I made a whopping $70. It wasn't the amount of money I made that thrilled me, it was the why and how I made that $70. I hit nothing good other than a few flushes during Attack mode. Once I factored in the low bankroll needed I could see the potential and taste the freedom. It was many months later, perhaps a year when Card Player Magazine published the exact numbers and strategy. I wasn't far off on the strategy or my estimation.
After a few obviously good promotions having to wing strategies and estimating values, I realized I needed a computer and some VP software. My first VP software was inaccurate when cross-referenceed with whatever I found published.

I finally got a copy of VP tutor, it took like 48 hours to run a game. I spent hours making my own strategies checking each had individually. The next computer I purchased got calculating games down to an hour.

I remember how thrilled I was when I got a laptop that did it in 15 minutes(a huge investment close to 4k). Now I could run out to my car and calculate games or situations on the fly. Eventually, a portable printer so I could print my own "payroll checks"

Whenever it came to reel slots there was a substantial amount of educated guessing on the values.

I didn't computerize until 2002. For video poker I did everything with a calculator and scratch pad, except for the few games you could buy strategy cards for.

I remember that Lenny Frome article on Flush Attack in Card Player Magazine.

I did my first empirical study on a slot machine in 96/97. It was on my first slot play, the quarter Piggy Bankin' game. I started out playing when there was at least 50 coins in the bank. Since I was making a healthy profit I kept lowering the number. I wondered just how low I could go so I collected stats on 20K spins.

The main game had a 69% return.
The bank averaged breaking every 90 spins.
The Piggy Bank started at 10 coins so was worth 10/90 = 11.1%
1 unit was added to the bank every 11 spins, 1/11 = 9.1%
That totals to a payback of 89.2%
So a bank with 21 coins in it put the game at 100% plus 9% meter movement. I stayed well above 21 coins in the bank.

A few years later par sheet information showed the quarter pigs returned 89%, which was the number I came up with. I've been using the same methodology on slots ever since. When you don't have any other information an empirical study is called for.