ALWAYS PLAY MAXIMUM COINS IN A VIDEO POKER MACHINE
Playing fewer than maximum coins is a common mistake that give the casino 2% more money on VP machines! You must remember that all those players who play less than maximum coins are setting up the best payoffs for those who do:
All the progressive payout machines and even most of the others offer more favorable payouts when the maximum bet is placed. On these machines, your expected winnings will increase when you place the maximum bet.
(You can tell if a machine offers a statistical advantage for maximum bets by multiplying the payout for a single coin by five. If the payout for five coins is greater than this then it offers a statistical advantage. For example, if a Royal Flush offers a payout of 500 coins when you bet one coin and 4000 when you bet five coins, 4000 is more than 500 * 5 = 2500 therefore you should always bet five coins.)
If you can't afford to play five coins then look for a lower denomination machine with the same payoff schedule. But even so it's usually better to play one coin than to switch to a lower denomination machine with a worse payoff schedule.
Note that you have the same probability of hitting a royal regardless of how many coins you play. A lot of players say that the machines are set to give more royals with short coin play and others say the opposite. Bothe are
...myths!
The randomizing shuffle stops when the first coin is dropped or the first Bet button is pushed, and the deck is unchanged then until the hand is over. The difference is that when you play five coins you typically win 4000 coins for a royal, which is an 800-for-1 payoff, whereas if you play fewer coins you get only 250-for-1. That costs you about 1.3% to 1.5% of your
payback.(Worse, on some double pay Deuces Wild games, you receive the double pay on four deuces only if you play five coins, so short coin play may reduce the long term payback by five percent or more.) But you still have the same chance for a royal.
