Acres case study: Video poker players gain edge

According to a case study introduced by Acres Manufacturing, advantage players, who comprise 1% of casino regulars, are manipulating loyalty programs. Due to this, the casinos are faced with unnecessary losses in revenue.

Acres Manufacturing is a Las Vegas company that utilized a Video Poker Analyzer to come to this conclusion. An evaluation was conducted by the VPA, which studied over three million card hands played by more than one thousand selected card players.

According to the latest poker news, the process involved every game of poker having a five-card hand being dealt out. Players could choose the cards that were to be exchanged or not. Following that, Acres’ VPA studied every player’s choice in a mathematical sequence. Attaching a dollar value for every miscalculation, a skill rating was adopted to analyze profit and loss potential pertaining to every handheld and played.

According to Noah Acres, their VPA case study has unveiled the threat perception from advantage players regarding the profitability aspect of casinos, which is greatly affected. This is through the loyalty program that casinos introduce, which they manage to manipulate. Acres suggests casinos initiate some alternate programs that challenge the lesser skilled players to stem the losses.

The video poker play results carried out at the local casinos in Las Vegas, along with deep poker games, concluded that only 1% of the casino regulars are under the umbrella of advantage players. However, casino losses, reaching 25.64%, were attributed to them while the study was ongoing.

Added to that, more than two-thirds of advantage players earned profits while playing during the period. As this lot made up for 26% of video poker coin-in, casino loyalty programs offered every advantage player a sum over that of the higher margin players. 

In the case of the VPL, it is boosted by Acre’s Foundation hardware, which is adaptable to every advanced slot machine and casino management mechanism. 

As per Acres, the results signify that a casino operator using the VPA may witness a 45% hike in its video poker earnings via the exclusion and reduction of ungainful advantage players who are the difference makers.