Ask the Slot Expert: More slot machine help screen revelations

I found a new (to me, at least) video poker gimmick on a multi-hand machine a few months ago.

It's called 5 Card Plus 2. When you bet 10 coins per hand (Why do these gimmicks almost universally require a double bet?), your hands will sometimes get dealt two extra cards. You get paid on both your 5-card hand, using a standard 5-card paytable, and the 7-card hand, using a special 7-card table.

Unfortunately, not every hand gets the two extra cards. You get the extra cards only if your 5-card hand already has a paying hand under the 7-card paytable or can be improved to have a paying hand under that paytable.

I had a lot of fun playing this machine. It's exciting to get the extra payout on the 7-card hand, especially when you get a premium hand like 4 Aces using the bonus cards.

I noticed that sometimes when I had more than one 5-card hand that ended in the same paying hand, like 3-of-a-kind, some of them got the extra cards and some didn't. I figured that the extra cards that weren't part of the triplet made the difference. Maybe in some hands they can lead to an additional pay in the 7-card hand and in others they couldn't.

I wanted to test this theory and see why the hands that didn't get the extra cards couldn't lead to a 7-card payout. I tried to examine the hands at the casino, but it took too long. I took some pictures of hands when this happened. I'd look at the hands at home, instead.

Before I had a chance to investigate, I noticed more unexpected occurrences of missing bonus cards. When I held a pat 5-card hand, like a straight or a flush, some of the multi-hands would get the extra cards and some wouldn't.

Every hand could lead to the same 7-card payouts. Shouldn't they all have received the extra cards?

I thought about sending an email to the developers to ask why only some hands got the extra cards. I saw that their website URL was in the help screens when I skimmed over the screens.

Maybe if I read the screens more closely I might get my answer.

After the multi-hand boilerplate text about using a separate deck for each hand, the next screen describes the +2 feature.

After the held cards have been selected, touch DRAW to receive replacement cards in all active hands.

If eligible for the Plus 2 Bonus, a +2 may appear with any active hand if a winning 7-Card hand is possible. If +2 appears, two additional cards are drawn for each active +2 Hand.

Any winning hands are then paid according to the relevant pay schedule.

"Eligible" means you made the extra bet. Then you get the +2 if a winning 7-card hand is possible.

Let's look at the text at the bottom of the help screen with the paytables.

Eligible for the Plus 2 bonus at MAX bet.

The probability of two additional cards being shown is greater than or equal to 33.24% if it will result in an additional pay.

After my first quick read of the help, I thought that about one-third of the hands would get the extra cards.

But that's not what the help screens say at all.

Let me repeat sentences from both screens and highlight one word to get to the truth.

If eligible for the Plus 2 Bonus, a +2 may appear with any active hand if a winning 7-Card hand is possible.

The probability of two additional cards being shown is greater than or equal to 33.24% if it will result in an additional pay.

What conditions are necessary to get the extra cards?

• Make MAX bet.
• A winning 7-card hand is possible.
• Then the video poker fairy -- er, RNG -- determines whether this hand will get the extra cards. About 33% of the hands that satisfy the first two conditions get the extra cards.

The third condition explains why only some multi-hands got the extra cards when I held a pat hand.

I don't really like the randomness of the extra cards because any time an event occurs randomly, you run the risk of not getting your fair share of occurrences.

I don't like it, but at least now I understand how the game works.

Slot machines are heavily regulated. Manufacturers are not allowed to lie or overstate the benefits of betting more. Everything in the help screens is the truth and every word is important.

If you would like to see more non-smoking areas on slot floors in Las Vegas, please sign my petition on change.org.

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

Copyright © John Robison. Slot Expert and Ask the Slot Expert are trademarks of John Robison.