With gambling gaining acceptance from border to border and coast to
coast, from wigwams to riverboats to cruise ships to volcanic
mega-resorts, isn't it about time America chose a national game of
chance? With such legitimization, our national game of chance could
serve to raise huge sums of money in every state, much the same as toll
bridges, pari-mutuel betting and state lotteries.
Popularity:
While popularity alone is far from a sufficient qualification for our
national game of chance, it is certainly to its credit that vast numbers
of Americans enjoy playing Video Poker. Not only is it taking over the
lead in casinos in Nevada and Atlantic City, but it is widely played as
a video lottery terminal elsewhere. Some believe the attraction is the
decision-making aspect of play and others believe the game is preferred
because everyone is familiar with poker as a card game. The fact is,
nobody can cite any single reason for its increasing popularity, which
is in itself a harbinger of a long-lasting love affair by the public.
Integrity:
In just a dozen years, Video Poker has been the subject of extensive
mathematical analysis--supported by powerful computers with
sophisticated software--that has revealed the statistics of the game
with far greater accuracy than any other casino card game. Because it
has been so completely analyzed, there is no way that the integrity of
Video Poker could be biased to depart from a random number basis of
operation.
There are several independent means of verifying that the hands are
dealt out randomly and that the draws of replacement cards is a truly
random process. It is critical that the public perceive its national
game of chance as being cleaner than driven snow. Video Poker is already
at this level of confidence.
Predictability:
One cannot fail to note that Video Poker was not originally an instant
success. The game languished until the payback was raised to the 99
percent-plus level.
The ideal national game of chance should be a high payback (at least
99%) game and one for which everyone can be assured of the payback
simply by inspection of the posted pay-out table. Video Poker is such a
game. Once the composition of the deck is defined and the pay-out table
is posted, then as night follows day, the resulting payback (and the
house "hold") is set in concrete provided the players make reasonably
good choices in their discards. Which brings us to our next feature.
Skill Factor:
Video Poker is ideal in that respect. A full-pay Las Vegas style Jacks
or Better game can return 99.6 percent to expert players, i.e., players
who know what pay-tables to seek out, how to play each hand for optimum
win-potential and what the statistical expectations are.
Players who have just reasonably good knowledge will derive a bit less
in payback. Those with only some degree of card sense will realize a
lower return, but still in the 95-plus percent range. So, everyone has a
good chance to win or at least enjoy the game, which is what most
players would want from our national game of chance.
Learnability:
Even before attaining official endorsement, Video Poker has attracted
numerous writers whose books are widely available. Public libraries
carry this author's books and those of others, including video tapes.
Within a month of release, this author's tutoring program for home
computers was in national distribution. This will enable any player who
is serious about attaining "expert status" to do so at little or no
cost. The public will be quick to rise to the challenge to optimize its
skills. And they will learn because Video Poker is easy to learn from
the type of material that is available.
