- #1
robert Ihnot
- 1,059
- 1
Playing video poker, 9/6 Jacks or Better, has an expected return, computer calculated, of 99.54% with perfect play.
Many players today certainly regard mathematical facts as much more useful than a rabbit's foot. They want to know the odds. During a progressive game, where the value of the Royal Flush goes way up then EVERYBODY wants to play as the mathematical expectation has risen above 100%
BUT a Royal Flush comes about once every 40,000 hands, and at 500 hands/hour, it would take days for the average player to obtain one. So most players don't get one--does this change their mathematical expectation?
The same thing can be said of the lottery, with rollover the expectation might exceed the cost of the ticket, and millions buy tickets. Yet usually only one person wins, and the state lottery does not goes broke either. Is something wrong with how players interpret the concept of mathematical expectation?
Many players today certainly regard mathematical facts as much more useful than a rabbit's foot. They want to know the odds. During a progressive game, where the value of the Royal Flush goes way up then EVERYBODY wants to play as the mathematical expectation has risen above 100%
BUT a Royal Flush comes about once every 40,000 hands, and at 500 hands/hour, it would take days for the average player to obtain one. So most players don't get one--does this change their mathematical expectation?
The same thing can be said of the lottery, with rollover the expectation might exceed the cost of the ticket, and millions buy tickets. Yet usually only one person wins, and the state lottery does not goes broke either. Is something wrong with how players interpret the concept of mathematical expectation?
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