The video-poker strategies used by the pros have what I think is the optimal balance between accuracy and speed. These strategies were devised with the intent of maximizing winnings per hour. These strategies differ from perfect play by 0.06%. That is, the strategies in this book capture 99.94% of the payback that a computer would achieve making the best play every time. The strategies used by the pros do not look complicated. The reason is we worked together to devise the simplest possible format for presenting the strategies. Each strategy is presented in a compact chart that uses easy abbreviations for the different possible draws. You don't have to memorize the strategy because you can find the correct play for any hand in just seconds. After you have played video poker for a while, you will have memorized the correct strategy for most of the hands you play, and you will have to look at the chart only for advice on how to play an unusual hand.

Proper playing strategy alone is not enough. We also must be able to identify those machines over which we have an edge. The most common beatable machine is a progressive with a high jackpot. Professional Video Poker explains how high the jackpot must be to give us an edge, how to calculate our expected earnings per hour, and how to calculate risk. In the best video-poker opportunity I personally have played, in early 1987, I estimate my time was worth $150 an hour; the pros play quicker than me, and their time probably was worth $200 an hour on that bank of machines. Realistically, today you cannot hope to find $200-an-hour opportunities. But $30-an-hour opportunities are common, and pros still exist.

In the 1991 restyling, all the tables were moved to the left pages; the right pages still contain the text. I think this makes the material easier to use. Since first publishing Professional Video Poker I've done extensive computer work on the subject, which resulted in some changes to this book. The biggest change is the addition of tables of frequencies of final hands for seventeen different payoff schedules.

What People Say

"If you want to know how to play video poker virtually perfectly, and want to have a significant edge over the casino, this is the book to buy. Wong gives professional level strategies that are relatively easy to master. Absolutely must reading for anyone interested in these games." Mason Malmuth, in Gambling Theory and Other Topics.

"Wong's book offers the best combination of accuracy and ease of use that I've seen...the best book available on a very hot topic." Anthony Curtis, publisher of Las Vegas Advisor.

"Again, the master gambler has discovered the exploitable weakness...This book is another stick of dynamite Stanford Wong has lit beneath the casino industry." Arnold Snyder, publisher of Blackjack Forum.