World's Fastest Video Poker Player -- December 01, 2017
For years I had been toying with the idea of establishing a speed record in video poker and hosting a such a challenge at Wizard of Odds. Through the years, I asked several video poker players I know if they would be interested in establishing a starting point for the record. All of them declined for reasons of not being fast enough. A comment frequently heard was, "You should have asked me 20 years ago when I was in my prime." What a drag it is getting old (trivia time -- who am I quoting?).
After it came out that Stephen Paddock, the infamous Las Vegas shooter, was an advantage player at video poker I felt it gave the pursuit of excellence in the game a bad image. So I decided to get serious about shedding some positive light on the game by finally getting something going with my video poker challenge.
First, I posted about it at Wizard of Vegas, seeking a challenger. This discussion can be found in the thread LOOKING TO ESTABLISH A RECORD FOR FASTEST VIDEO POKER PLAYER. Fortunately, a tall young man who goes by "Ken" saw the challenge and wrote to me accepting it. We later met at the Santa Fe Station and I recorded him playing two machines at an amazing speed of 2,544 hands per hour. Many people posted on the forum requesting a separate record for a single machine. So I asked Ken to do another challenge on a single machine, which he later did at a speed of 1,537 hands per hour.
Not long after that, another challenger, who goes by Dr. Antonius, came along who claimed he could play a single machine significantly faster than Ken's speed. We later met up at the M casino and he played one machine at an incredible speed of 2,262 hands per hour. The discussion of this can be found in my Wizard of Vegas forum thread SINGLE MACHINE CHALLENGE #2
Videos of every challenge can be found on YouTube as well as my new Wizard of Odds page Video Poker Speed Records. If you think you can beat either of these records, as evidenced by playing for ten minutes, with deductions in speed made for any errors made, then please contact me. I offer a small $100 to anyone who can set a new record and is willing to participate.