Getting bored with my other games, I dug out my copy of Microsoft Casino a couple of days ago. I usually play Blackjack and Pai Gow Poker, which is what I used to play when I went to Vegas, back when I was still able to travel.

But eventually those get boring, too. I did some experimenting with Video Poker in the game, and noticed something odd:

I can win this particular game consistently. I think the payoff matrix in it is wrong. The problem is that with four wild cards in the deck, it isn't all that hard to get 4 of a kind, and that's a huge payoff. You can adjust the price-per-point, and for a while I was playing it at pseudo-$10 per point, playing five points per hand. When I first dragged out the game, I began with about $3000 simulated. Now I'm up to $23,000, and that was with just a couple of hours of play.

I've gotten 4 Aces at least once, and I've gotten 4-of-a-lesser-kind several times. Each of them was a huge payoff. In fact, every single time I've played it I've ended up a big winner.

In theory this whole thing is a simulation of how gambling is actually done in Vegas including the payoffs, at the three specific casinos they simulate -- Treasure Island, Mirage, and Bellagio, which are all part of the same company. So how did they get the payoff matrix for this one game so badly wrong? If it's really like that in Vegas, I need to force myself to schedule a trip!!!

UPDATE: After I wrote this I started playing it again, and just got another 4-of-a-kind. In this game I've also gotten a straight flush. Right now my balance on the machine is about $4000, and my total is up to $27000.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Gaming at 06:13 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 309 words, total size 2 kb.