The comeback machine

20 January 2019

By John Grochowski

Double Bonus Poker once was one of the games I played most, but I’d fallen out of the habit in recent years because pay table reductions had taken the fun out of the game.

In December, when I found a bank of machines with 9/7/5 (9-for-1 on full houses, 7-for-1 on flushes, 5-for-1 on straights) Double Bonus, a 99.11% game with expert play, I just had to give it a go. Other at the bank were playing 9/6 Double Double Bonus, a 98.98% game.

It wasn’t quite up to the 100.17% 10/7/5 Double Bonus that used to be my main video poker game, but it seemed like a breath of fresh air next to the 9/6/4, 96.38% version many casinos have adopted.

Just three hands into my session, I held a 5, 6 and 10 of hearts and discarded a 2 of spades and a 9 of diamonds. I drew two more hearts, and the meter racked up 35 credits with my five-coin bet and 7-for-1 payback.

The player to my left noticed and didn’t entirely approve.

“You got lucky there,” he said, “holding three low cards. I don’t think I’d ever make that play.”

I told him I wouldn’t on his Double Double Bonus game either, but with the 7-for-1 flush payback it was the best play available to me.

He nodded and went back to his own game, while I focused on mine.

It did take some focus getting back into Double Bonus because the strategy calls for plays that would be unusual in different games. Here are a few samples:

9 of clubs, 6 of clubs, 3 of clubs, 2 of diamonds, 10 of spades

In most games, it’s best to discard all five cards and get a complete redraw. But the 7-for-1 return on flushes means that in Double Bonus Poker, we’ll hold three cards of the same suit even if there’s no chance at a straight flush. Average return per five coins wagered in 9/7/5 DB is 1.82 coins if you hold the three clubs vs. 1.64 for the redraw.

Ace of spades, Queen of spades, 8 of spades, 5 of clubs, 2 of hearts

Even with two high cards, three suited cards can be worth our while provided one of the high cards is an ace. Average returns are 2.82 coins on A-Q-8 and 2.74 on A-Q.

Aces limit the number of possible straights. If the two suited high cards are K-Q, K-J or Q-J, it’s better to discard the extra suited card and leave open the possibility of a royal. But with an ace involved, the higher-paying option is to hold all three suited cards.

9 of spades, 9 of clubs, 8 of hearts, 7 of diamonds, 6 of spades

Hold one of the 9s, along with 8-7-6. In most games, we’d make the opposite play and hold the pair of 9s, but the 5-for-1 payback on straights drives a change. Average returns are 4.26 coins on 9-8-7-6 and 3.67 on 9-9.

If you find yourself at a DB game that pays 4-for-1 on flushes, hold the pair instead.

Ace of spades, king of spades, queen of spades, 8 of spades, queen of hearts.

There are three viable plays here: Hold the pair of queens to lock in a paying hand; hold the three high spades for a shot at a royal or hold all four spades. The 7-for-1 flush payback makes the difference. Average returns are 7.55 coins on the four spades, 7.23 on the pair of queens or 6.85 on A-K-Q of spades.

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