Video Poker Dealt a straight flush

Just looking for another point of view with this one,
while playing VP at Bally's 2 weeks ago i was dealt a straight flush 9-K of hearts, i held them all and took the $250, but the woman sitting next to me said i was nuts for not trying for the royal.

Was i right to take the money or should i have went for the royal?, i think you would need to be on drugs to throw away the guaranteed $250 on the off chance of getting the $4000.

I have been to Vegas 4 times this year and im still waiting for my first royal, i play $1 DDB

 

You did the right thing.

According to The Wizard of Odds site (great website, by the way) which has a strategy for $1 9/6 DDB VP here:

http://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/strategy/double-double-bonus/9-6/

(scroll down to "Traditional Strategy Table") you will always want to hold a straight flush (and, of course, the royal straight flush).

Yes, you could have dropped the 9 and had hoped to improve to a royal... but think about it this way... 52 cards in a deck... you have knowledge of 5... you are dropping one of those 5... there are 47 cards remaining in the deck... therefore, you would have only had a 1 in 47 chance of improving your hand to the royal. Not great odds. 1 in 47 = about 2.12%.

So, again, you did the right thing.

Here is the complete strategy table for the DDB game, in order:

1.Straight flush, royal flush
2.Four of a kind (hold kicker if appropriate)
3.4 to a royal flush
4.Three aces
5.Straight, flush, full house
6.Three of a kind (except aces)
7.4 to a straight flush
8.High pair (Aces)
9.Two pair
10.3 to a royal flush - KQJ
11.High pair (J,Q,K)
12.3 to a royal flush - AKQ, AKJ, AQJ, KQT, KJT, QJT
13.4 to a flush
14.3 to a royal flush - AKT, AQT, AJT
15.4 to an outside straight with 1 or more high cards
16.Low pair
17.AKQJ unsuited
18.4 to an outside straight with 0 high cards
19.3 to a straight flush (type 1)
20.2 suited high cards
21.4 to an inside straight with 3 high cards
22.3 to a straight flush (type 2)
23.KQJ unsuited
24.4 to an inside straight with 2 high cards
25.QJ unsuited
26.Ace
27.JT suited
28.KQ, KJ unsuited
29.KT, QT suited
30.Jack, Queen or King
31.3 to a straight flush (type 3)
32.4 to an inside straight with 0 high cards
33.Discard everything

 

Earlier this year I was playing $1 9/6 DDB vp at The Plaza. I get dealt A K Q 10 of hearts and J of diamonds. So, I had the made straight for $20. I threw away the J in hopes of getting my first royal. And as fate would have it, I got the J of hearts for $4000! If I had a made straight flush, I would NOT throw it away, but its a definitely something to consider.

 

Should have, could have, would have. Enjoy the win. I would have played it the same way. Congrats.

 

You were right, by a huge margin versus trying for the royal. Almost 3x the EV (50.0 vs 18.6)

You were also right, by an even huger margin versus keeping the straight. Over 4.5x the EV (18.4 vs 4.0)

Well played guys and congrats....

 

You won $250.
Royal Flush pays $4000, which is 16x the $250.
The odds of making the royal flush would be 1 in 47.

Taking a 1 in 47 chance for a 16 to 1 payout is just bad math... thats a 66% house edge.

Or to put that in perspective: if we were betting on the flip of a coin that'd be like you putting up $100 to bet on heads and I only have to put up $35 to bet on tails.

 

The woman said you were nuts?

Fine. If it happens again, tell the Monday morning quarterback to give you $250, you'll dump the nine, and she gets to keep the 1-47 win. See how big her nuts are then.

Hindsight players are rude, you are a winner, and your only regret should be that you questioned yourself after making the right decision.

Congrats on your win.

 

Exactly,
backseat drivers are always right! Bet she'd have clammed up FAST had you offered to "sell her" the hand for $250 so she could do her "hunch". I've found most who kibbitz are WRONG anyway.