This game returns a robust 99.80% with perfect play, is found in a number of Las Vegas casinos, and for some reason I have neither taught nor written much about the game. That is about to change.
Today I’ll discuss the basics of the game. Next week I’ll talk about some Intermediate-Level peculiarities to the game. And in two weeks I’ll discuss some of the advanced penalty card situations.
1 coin | 5 coins | ||
| Royal Flush | 250 | 4,000 | |
| Straight Flush | 100 | 500 | |
| Four Aces | 240 | 1,200 | |
| Four 2s thru 4s | 120 | 600 | |
| Four 5s thru Ks | 50 | 250 | |
| Full House | 9 | 45 | |
| Flush | 5 | 25 | |
| Straight | 4 | 20 | |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 15 | |
| Two Pair | 1 | 5 | |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 5 |
The variance on this game is 44.3, which is comparable to that of Double Double Bonus. This is certainly a higher variance than many players prefer, but at the same time DDB is the most popular video poker game around, so the variance isn’t a show-stopper to everybody.
The “problem” with the game is that four aces (kickers do not matter in this game) pay 1,200 coins. If you’re playing for dollars, that comes with a W2g. Getting a W2g has tax consequences. Getting a W2g with a royal (every 38,821 hands on average) isn’t so bad because $4,000 cushions the blow. But to also get them on aces (every 4,250 hands) is annoying. IGT makes a version that “only” gives you 1,199 coins for aces, and that’s a lot more popular with dollar players.
The $2 game, not found nearly as often, also includes W2gs on four 2s-4s (every 1,895 hands). I do not know of a version that avoids this by paying only 599 coins for this jackpot.
The strategy for 9/6 Jacks or Better is similar — but not exceptionally so. If you use 9/6 JoB strategy for 9/5 TBPP, you’ll only yield 99.38%. That’s a pretty far cry from the original 99.80%, so if you’re going play this game, you should spend some time studying first. A closer match for strategy would be 9/6 DDB (or better yet, 9/5 DDB).
A “special” feature to the game is that straight flushes pay twice as much as they do in most other games. This changes the correct play on hands like 5♠ 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♥ but not 5♠ 6♠ 7♠ 8♥ 9♠. Numerous 3-card straight flush combinations move up in the strategy chart for TBPP compared to JoB.
The simplest strategy adjustments for JoB players to make when learning TBPP deal with aces. From aces full (e.g. A♠ A♥ A♣ 5♦ 5♠) or aces up (e.g. A♥ A♣ 5♦ 5♠), you just hold the aces rather than the entire paying combination.
From unsuited AK, AQ, or AJ, in TBPP, hold the ace by itself. An unsuited QJ is slightly better than holding the ace by itself (there are exceptions in the more advanced strategies), but A by itself is better than KQ or KJ unsuited.
Finally, since two pair returns even money in TBPP and double money in JoB, this makes a big difference in how you play 4-card inside straights. Generally speaking, you go for these inside straights more often in games where two pair gives you single money. Four-card inside straights with four high cards (i.e. AKQJ), three high cards (e.g. AKJT), two high cards (e.g. QJ98), and no high cards (e.g. 3467) are eligible to be held. Four-card inside straights with one high card (e.g. J987) are never held in this game.
Using these exceptions to 9/6 JoB strategy on 9/5 TBPP, you’re probably up to around 99.7%. In the next two weeks, we’ll get you quite a bit higher than that.
I’ll end with a 10-question quiz. It shouldn’t be too tough to figure out, assuming you know 9/6 JoB strategy and apply the exceptions pointed out above. Some of these are played the same in both games. If you are dealt the following cards, select the correct cards to hold when playing TBPP:
- A♥ K♥ Q♥ Q♠ 7♦
- A♣ K♣ Q♦ J♦ 3♣
- K♣ K♦ 3♠ 3♦ 7♣
- A♦ Q♣ J♥ 5♠ 2♦
- A♥ K♠ Q♥ 8♠ 3♦
- A♠ A♦ A♣ 3♥ 3♠
- Q♥ J♥ T♥ 9♠ 8♥
- Q♣ T♦ 9♦ 8♣ 4♥
- A♦ Q♣ J♥ 3♦ 2♦
- 9♣ 9♥ 8♠ 7♦ 6♠
Answers — the cards in red or black are the ones you should hold. The ones in the yellowish color should be discarded.
1. A♥ K♥ Q♥ Q♠ 7♦ 2. A♣ K♣ Q♦ J♦ 3♣ 3. K♣ K♦ 3♠ 3♦ 7♣ 4. A♦ Q♣ J♥ 5♠ 2♦ 5. A♥ K♠ Q♥ 8♠ 3♦ 6. A♠ A♦ A♣ 3♥ 3♠ 7. Q♥ J♥ T♥ 9♠ 8♥ 8. Q♣ T♦ 9♦ 8♣ 4♥ 9. A♦ Q♣ J♥ 3♦ 2♦ 10. 9♣ 9♥ 8♠ 7♦ 6♠
Thanks Mr. D. I enjoy your blogs on correct play. Always learn something.
About a dozen years or so ago, they had plenty of 8-5 TB+ at Terrible’s, one of my favorite spots. In all those machines, I found ONE with 9-5, at the $1 and $2 denom. Only one in the whole joint. I loved Terrible’s back then.
At the time, I do remember you discussing the game in one or two of your weekly columns, because I remember taking notes and practicing.
Now the game is all over the place. In Vegas, anyway. Looking forward to your writing about it.
Getting a Royal approximately once every 38,000 hands. And that’s with “perfect play”. Horrible, just horrible. With just mildly bad luck, you could play on endless machines and never see it. The whole thing is a scam.
Not really if you play 10,000 hands per day. Try a ten-play machine where you get royals every day.
Mr. August, your post doesn’t make any sense.
First of all, if you play incorrectly, you tend towards more royal flushes rather than fewer. Second, what is the horrible part? 2% of your return is a rare event. Why is that horrible? Third, why is this a scam? What is the deception? Finally, play on endless machine and never hit a royal is just not true. Even allowing for hyperbole, your statement is incorrect. And your statement should really talk about how many hands you play, not how many machines. Play 114,000 hands and you have a 5% chance of hitting no royals. This means you have a 95% chance of hitting at least 1. That is nowhere near endless machines and no where near no chance of hitting a royal.
In fact, if you play 26,300 hands ( at 500 hph, 52 hours of play) you are equally likely to hit zero royals as you are to hit 1 or more royals.
That is correct, Jimmy. I am an out-of-town player but have had 150 royals in 20+ years. Just think about the number of royals locals have had.
Royal flush happens rarely, you won’t see it happing a lot. Whenever it happens, it’s always unexpected.
Thank you Bob. Always enjoy the reading. I like to find the KoB version. It may be higher variance but I find I have better luck for some darn reason rather than JoB version. Paytables slightly better also.
The KoB version is called Triple Bonus Poker. I haven’t seen that game in Las Vegas for some time — although I haven’t been looking.
The pay schedules on both games can be determined by slot director. The best KoB version returns 99.588%, which is quite a bit worse than the game spoken about in the article. Also, it returns 7-for-1 for the flush, which many players are not used to, so more of the plays seem “weird.”
Jimmy: that is way over James’ knowledge base. He is more concerned on when to hit that 16 on BJ and when not to based on feel of the game or dealer………anything beyond that is way over his head.
This is the best game available to me. Yet, the $1200 signer on all quad aces is a real downer. I thought about asking the slot director to use the $1199/aces version, but figured he’d do one better and make the game 8/5.
If I didn’t file as a professional gambler, I would definitely request that the $1,200 jackpot be reduced to $1,199. W2Gs are a bigger burden under the most recent tax law than they were previously.
This is not a request that will label you as a sharp player. Ordinary players hate to get W2Gs too.
I tried changing to Win Poker 9/5DDB to match the pay schedule for TBPP and I ended up getting a return % of 97.85 and when playing it says to hold an Ace unsuited face card
Bob:
Are your Strategy Cards available for this game and any other games that were not included in your original Strategy cards? If so, I would like to purchase them.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Robert Harrison