Every casino floor runs on a few popular beliefs. In video poker, these five cost players the most.
1. "This machine is due"
Each hand is dealt from a freshly shuffled deck. A machine that hasn't paid a royal in months is exactly as likely to hit one on the next hand as a machine that hit one an hour ago.
There's no memory, so there's nothing to be due.
2. "Hot and cold machines"
Streaks happen, because random results clump. But a streak tells you nothing about the next hand. What makes one machine better than another is its pay table, which you can read on the glass.
3. "If I'd held differently, I'd have hit it"
Some machines decide the replacement cards when you're dealt, others when you draw. Either way, the odds of every hold are exactly the same. The card you "would have gotten" was never more likely to be yours.
4. "A kicker helps"
In Jacks or Better, holding an extra high card beside a pair feels like insurance. It isn't: it takes away a card you could have drawn to make three of a kind or a full house.
A few bonus games pay extra for specific kickers, but even there the right holds are narrower than most players think.
5. "Fewer coins saves money"
The royal flush pays far more per coin at five coins. Short-coining a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine costs more than a full percentage point of return.
If five coins is too much, drop to a lower denomination and keep the five coins.
