We spend a lot of time talking about slots here on the site, which is a natural given the link to Brian Christopher. But we do get questions about other games, like Video Poker, which takes us to this concerned player’s question:
While playing video poker today, it seems like none of the machines were paying out. I put $300 in one machine and got only one 4 of a kind. All the other machines around me were not paying off either. Could the casino, perhaps, lower the payouts because it was the weekend and the casino was pretty crowded?
Lucy M.
Video Poker is a bit of a different beast than slots because the pay table that is displayed gives the information a player needs to know to confirm the payback percentage. If the pay table is the same as it was another day, the payback is the same.
Why is that? Because unlike slots, Video Poker has a finite number of outcomes given the restraint of 52 unique cards (not counting the concept of Joker Poker, where jokers are added). In places where Vegas-style slots are offered, video poker works with a random number generator as well, and the odds of each card coming out are the same, just like the odds of each spin outcome coming out being the same.
The casino cannot impact the machine’s outcome in a way that would depress wins or anything of that nature – they can simply control the payback setting, which based on the odds of given hands occurring and their payouts will determine the house edge. Lowering the payback means a visible change to the pay tables, and therefore you’d know if they made changes. But they can’t do anything to lower the frequency of, say, a four of a kind.
But since you referenced four of a kinds, it’s worth noting that the odds of one are 1 in 423, according to the experts at videopoker.com – that works out to maybe one an hour. Of course, that’s an average, so you can get a clump of them and get on a good run, or not see any for a very long time. You didn’t mention how much you were betting or how long you played, but going a session without one isn’t unlikely, nor is one not popping up at seats around you either.
Now, we do want to emphasize the caveat that this only applies to casinos with Vegas-style slots. If a casino solely is stocked with machines where the outcome is determined externally (Bingo, Historic Horse Racing, or scenarios like New York’s lottery casinos), because the outcome is predetermined, these rules wouldn’t apply.
Like a slot, the cards would have to lead you to the outcome that the external server confirmed. If you were to get paid for a pair, and you throw away the pair, it will magically grant you another one. If it couldn’t get you there with other cards, it would award a “bonus” prize.
Those scenarios are often the exception – video poker players aren’t generally interested in playing card that are effectively a slot, so you don’t see those in many places that offer an alternative to Vegas-style slots. But we’ve seen it, so we know it exists, and mention the caveat accordingly.
Aside from that scenario, casinos can’t control which outcomes players get any more than they can on slots. They only can control the long term payback setting.
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