Random results are the name of the game

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Updated: January 26, 2012 5:42AM

A shuffle through the Gaming mailbag:

Q. Do video poker machines with progressive jackpots on royal flushes deal fewer small winners to make up for the bigger jackpots?

Ed, St. Charles

A. No, the programming in video poker doesn’t allow for a lower frequency of small-paying hands to pay for the progressive. Progressive or not, the deck is electronically shuffled, results are random and the odds are the same as if you were using a well-shuffled deck of real cards.

A casino that wants its base game to pay less on a progressive game will change the pay tables, just as they do on their regular video poker games. The same casino might have 9-6 Jacks or Better non-progressives that pay 9-for-1 on full house and 6-for-1 on a flush, but drop to 8-5 paybacks on progressives. If they have 9-6 progressives, they’re giving the player something extra above the 9-6 pay table.

Q. My dad is one of those guys who always splits 10s in blackjack if the dealer has a 6 up. He told me, “The way I look at it, when I have an edge, I want my money on the table. I have an edge with a 20 against a 6, but I also have an edge with a 10 against a 6. So I split and get more money on the table.”

You know and I know his edge is a lot bigger if he stands on the 20, and splitting the 10s costs him money. But he did set me to wondering. Is there ever a right time to split the 10s against a 6?

Jason, Oak Lawn

A. If you’re a basic strategy player, no. It’s always best to stand on 20. If you’re a Hi-Lo counter, and the true count is plus-4 or higher in a multideck game, then you add to your edge by splitting the 10s.

There’s an exception in tournament play. If you’re in the late stages in a tournament round and you absolutely have to maximize your wagers, then splitting 10s is one way to do it.

Q. Some Las Vegas advice, please! Is there a place on or close to the Strip that has the good video poker games?

Jen, Tinley Park

A. A short distance off the Strip, LVH — formerly the Las Vegas Hilton — has a number games that return 99-percent-plus with expert play. They’re in the sports book area, on both quarter and dollar multigame machines. I’m partial to the 15-8 Loose Deuces, with a theoretical return of 100.15 percent to experts.

John Grochowski is a local free-lance writer. Look for him on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/7lzdt44); Twitter (@GrochowskiJ) and at casinoanswerman.com.