Triple Double Bonus Video Poker

4 September 2021

By Jerry Stickman

A question from Jody on Triple Double Bonus video poker.

Hi again Stickman,

Hope you're having a nice day.

Here I have some Triple Double Bonus Video Poker Questions.

I'm holding the 2h, 2s, 2c, 4d, 4s.

Instead of giving you the whole pay schedule, I'll just give you the part of it that's relevant.

Four 2's with an Ace, 3, or 4 kicker pays 2000-for-5.
Four 2's without a kicker pays 400-for-5.
A full house pays out 45-for-5.

Based on the pay outs, how would you play this hand?

If the full house was to pay 40-for-5, should I play it any differently?

Thanks again for your advice.

All the best,

Jody


Hi Jody,

Alright, when a full house pays 45 for 5 (and four 2’s with a kicker pays 2000-for-5 and four 2’s pays 400-for-5), the total return is a very nice 99.578 percent.

In this situation, the top holds are:

1) Either the 2h, 2s, 2c, 4d -or the- 2h, 2s, 2c, 4s on average pays 53.8298 credits for the five credits played.

2) The 2h, 2s, 2c, 4d, 4s (the initially dealt full house) on average pays 45 credits for the five credits played.

3) The 2h, 2s, 2c on average returns 43.566615 credits for the five credits played.

From there the returns drop off dramatically and other holds should not be considered.

Now let’s see what happens when the pay for a full house is reduced to 40-for-5 but the pays for four 2’s with a kicker and four 2’s without a kicker remain the same. The total return for a game with this pay table is 97.109 percent – a significant drop in the return.

The top holds are:

1) Either the 2h, 2s, 2c, 4d -or the- 2h, 2s, 2c, 4s on average pays 53.617 credits for the five credits played. This is slightly less than when the full house pays 45 credits for five credits played. However, it still ranks as the best hold.

2) The 2h, 2s, 2c on average returns 43.25625 credits for the five credits played. Again, this is slightly less than above, but it is the second-best hold.

3) The 2h, 2s, 2c, 4d, 4s (the initially dealt full house) pays 40 credits for the five credits played. This is the lowest return of the top three.

As with the previous pay table, returns drop sharply for other holds and they should not be considered.

To summarize, reducing the pay for the full house to 40-for-5 from 45-for-5 impacts the order of preference for the second and third holds, but it does not impact the best hold(s) which are – either 2h, 2s, 2c, 4s or 2h, 2s, 2c, 4d.

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Note: Jerry Stickman’s email address has recently changed. See below.

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. He authored the video poker section of Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker! You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com