Video Poker Volatility
Abstract
The idea for this book came to me as I was conducting research writing my first book, Video Poker Heaven. It was then I started asking myself the question, “What games do video poker professionals play?” As I was researching what professionals played, I was comparing them to games that I played. That went something like this:
-
Pros rarely play multi-hand games – I play almost exclusively multi-hand games.
-
Pros play progressive jackpot games – I never play progressive jackpot games.
-
Pros play almost exclusively single-hand games – I do not play single-hand games if there are multi-hand games available.
I started asking myself, why are professionals playing games different than I am playing? What’s wrong with me? Is there something in my thinking that needs correcting? After all, they are the professionals.
I posed this question to a gaming executive. His response was, “Most pros play less volatile games, so they don’t suffer wild swings in their bankroll.” I understood his point, but that drove me to question how to determine whether one game is less volatile than another. As it related to video poker, the word volatility was new to me. So, off I went to learn all I could about volatility in video poker.
My goal in writing this book was to find a way to quantitatively measure volatility in video poker and use that to guide me in deciding what games to play.
I’m excited to share what I have learned about volatility in video poker to help readers better understand how volatility can impact their decision-making. My purpose is to make players better players by taking advantage of volatility and not just being a victim of volatility.
In Video Poker Volatility readers will learn:
-
How volatility is defined;
-
How it is measured;
-
How to use it for decision making; and
-
They are presented with an easy-to-use tool to guide them in making decisions on games to play to take advantage of volatility.
The book is subtitled "Understanding Volatility in Video Poker and How to Use It to Your Advantage." That's important since having an understanding of volatility gives players the opportunity to take advantage of that knowledge when making game decisions.
