Video Poker VideoPoker.com Pro Membership or Bob Dancer software--are they worth it?

I'm looking to improve my video poker skills in Jacks or Better and Bonus Poker. One thing is I'm curious as to how much my skill can be improved: the main things I have problems with are where there are a lot of high cards (e.g. how many to keep when there are no pairs and only one set is maybe suited) and insider straights (i.e. when to try to form a straight if there is a gap). I know Bob Dancer's software sounds pretty good but $50 is quite a lot especially if there isn't much to improve.

I see there's a Pro Video Poker membership on VideoPoker.com that's $12 a month and offers "pro training". I was wondering if anyone has experience with that. Thanks.

ETA: I see that vpfree2.com has a hand evaluator, but it only has games with certain pay tables added. It would be nice to be able to get strategy for an arbitrary pay table as I don't always play full-pay depending on where I'm staying.

 

i might gonna sound like a jerk to you but in my opinion:
if 50$ for a lifetime VP software it's a lot for you.. i guess you shouldn't focus on improving your VP skills. you maybe shouldn't even play VP.
you could just play slots without learn any strategy .
if you are playing it for entertainment reasons only (which i can understand) and you know simple rules that's enough.

if you are gonna play VP for more than few hours a year at 0.25$ level (on max bet) at least and you are interested in improving your skills.. you should understand that play it better even with 1% will cover your 50$ "fee" with few hours of play only .
let's say you play 0.25$ max bet - on an average of 500 hands a hour which is 625$ a hour and you gonna play for 8 hours which gonna be 5000$ coin in. just get better in 1% will save you 50$ in one single day of 8 hours play or 2 or 4 days if you play 2 to 4 hours a day.

 

Free trainers:

https://www.freeslots.com/poker.htm

https://wizardofodds.com/play/video-poker/multi-hand/

Free hand analyzer for any paytable you give it:

https://wizardofodds.com/games/video-poker/hand-analyzer/

 

My experience on VP PRO membership of videopoker.com & bob dancer's software which called VPFW (video poker for winners):

*Both of them have some kind of free trail i believe (i got like a week of free use on each of them at the time i tried them first. i think they now giving only 1000 hands free try at VP PRO , VPFW might still got a free week trial).
*VP PRO got ultimate x and quick quads trainer which VPFW doesn't have .
*VP PRO you pay 12$ every month, VPFW you pay 50$ lifetime.
*VP PRO have an option of "replay" which let you play exactly the same hand that you played wrong after a while and if you play it correct 3 times in a row it's doesn't appear again as you "learn your mistake" which VPFW doesn't have.
*VPFW got a bankroll calculator which VP PRO doesn't have.
*VPFW can only be used on computer . while VP PRO can be used on computers and cell phones.

 

Also consider Frugal Video Poker (google for download). It's free and you can change the pay tables for each game, have the software make a basic strategy, print out the strategy and go from there. I'd recommend actually printing out the strategy and spending a few days learning it. Funny things have happened on my end: people would actually cut their live poker action and raise their eyes from the BJ tables to watch me play!

 

$10 one-time investment for WinPoker app on the iPhone...may be worth looking at...easily paid for itself for my play. Doesn't have U-X or QuickQuads however.

 

Man just play and try to observe your losses and you will be fine. Use the mindset that I always want to go for the highest payout but most of the time I should be happy to break even or win marginally on hands.

Give yourself serious feedback about your play. Be consistent. Don’t alter play because of a bad machine. Remember you are playing the long run not the session. Don’t be afraid to switch machines. Have enough bankroll to withstand the dry runs. In this game you can go 5-10 hands and get 0 return.

Experience is the best guide. Start playing nickels and after you lose $50 bucks you will get the hang of it.

 

I have had WInPoker for several years, and I am pleased with it. I mostly use it when I am waiting for appointments or flying.

I also have VP.com gold, as I like to play every morning with my coffee. I think it's great site, and I definitely get my money's worth (especially since DH gifted it to me and re-ups it every year ) I am showing $6.95 a month for the pro. After the holidays I will try the Pro trial and see what I think.

Playing online has definitely improved my game.

 

Although there are some differences between the various kinds of software and trainers, by *far* the most important thing is getting a trainer and using it all the time. There is no way around it. If you want to be sucessfull (or lose less) on video poker, you have to put in the hours of study and with a trainer. Without a trainer, you don't realize how bad you are. If you play short paytables, then a trainer is even more important because often the strategy for shortpay games is even more complicated than fullpay (but the best strategy is not to play these games!)

 

How much do you play? How much do you want to play? Do you play vanilla games or crazy variants like Ultimate X that require a lot of strategy?

Personally, I don't pay $100 a year for VP because I don't intend to play crazy games, I generally just play JoB, BP, BPD, and NSUD. But is it worth it to pay $10 one time for a good app or program that trains you? Absolutely.

But what really matters is, will you use the trainer or not? If you do, any of them are probably worth it. If you're lazy, it won't matter what you pick.