Ask The Slot Expert

Dear John,

In one of the casinos that I play in, there is a machine called Super Aces. It is a 7/5 machine with a progressive royal starting at $1000 and a progressive for four aces starting at $500.

Suppose you are dealt a full house consisting of three aces. Would you throw away the other two cards and go for the fourth ace or keep the pat hand?

I had a discussion with a person who said go for the fourth ace. I said keep the pat hand.

Thank you,
Marty

Dear Marty:

Your friend is right. The better play is to go for the four aces.

The pat full house is worth 35. If you draw two cards to the three aces, there are 968 ways to stay with three-of-a-kind, 67 ways to draw another full house, and 46 ways to draw 4 aces. The expected value of this option is 36.9 when the progressive is $500. And it rises along with the progressive.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos!
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@home.com.

For more information about slots and video poker, we recommend: