Tag: super double bonus

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Understanding a Flow Chart in Super Double Bonus

Super Double Bonus is a version of Double Bonus where four jacks, queens, and kings earn 600 coins instead of 250 and the straight flush returns 400 instead of 250. The best-paying version, which returns 45 for the full house and 25 for the flush, returns 99.695% when played well. When combined with a decent slot club and/or set of promotions, this can be a profitable game to play when you find it.

One of the trickiest parts of the strategy is when you are dealt an ace of one suit and a “JT” of another. Depending on the other two cards, sometimes you hold the “JT”, sometimes you hold the ace by itself, and sometimes you hold AJ.

For me to learn this, I created a flow chart which I believe is 100% accurate in this area of the strategy chart — although it presumes you know that a 4-card open-ended straight and a 3-card straight flush with one high card and two insides are both more valuable than the options presented in the flow chart. It follows relatively simple logic — but even relatively simple logic requires more concentration and study than some of my readers wish to endure.

What I thought I’d do is to present my flow chart, give you some sample hands to play, and let you see how you do. Afterwards, I’ll go through the flow chart more slowly and maybe it will be easier to understand.

And if you’re not in the mood for the logic of 9-5 SDB, it’s okay with me if you always play “JT” when you come to these hands. You won’t be giving up a whole lot. For some folks, making these kinds of distinctions cause their heads to hurt. If that’s you, take this column off and come back next week.

A versus “JT”:

 

Is there a flush penalty to the “JT”?

If no, play “JT”  — end

If yes, continue

 

Is the flush penalty to the “JT” a 2-6 and the fifth card suited with the A?

If yes, is it an 8 or 9?

If yes, play AJ — end

If no, play “JT” — end

If no, continue

 

Is the flush penalty to the ”JT” a 2-5 and the fifth card an 8 or 9?

If yes, play A — end

If no, play “JT” — end

 

Is the flush penalty to the ”JT” a 6 and the fifth card a 7, 8 or 9?

If yes, play A — end

If no, play “JT” — end

 

Using the above logic, play these hands:

  1. A♠ J♥ T♥ 2♠ 5♠
  2. A♠ J♥ T♥ 9♠ 7♦
  3. A♠ J♥ T♥ 9♠ 8♥
  4. A♠ J♥ T♥ 3♣ 7♥
  5. A♠ J♥ T♥ 9♣ 5♥
  6. A♠ J♥ T♥ 7♣ 6♥
  7. A♠ J♥ T♥ 7♣ 5♥
  8. A♠ J♥ T♥ 8♣ 2♥
  9. A♠ J♥ T♥ 8♠ 2♥
  10. A♠ J♥ T♥ 7♠ 6♥

Here are the answers. If you easily got them all correct, you don’t need to read any further:

  1. A♠ 2♠ 5♠
  2. J♥ T♥
  3. J♥ T♥ 9♠ 8♥
  4. J♥ T♥ 7♥
  5. A♠
  6. A♠
  7. J♥ T♥
  8. A♠
  9. A♠ J♥
  10. J♥ T♥

If you missed one or more of the above problems, the following explanations may help:

 

Is there a flush penalty to the “JT”?

If no, play “JT”  — end

If yes, continue

This rule is the easiest. Just look for a card suited with the “JT”. If you don’t find one, then “JT” is the play — unless, of course, some higher-ranking combination is in the hand.

 

Is the flush penalty to the “JT” a 2-6 and the fifth card suited with the A?

If yes, is it an 8 or 9?

If yes, play AJ — end

If no, play “JT” — end

If no, continue

We only get to this rule if there is a flush penalty to the “JT” and also a flush penalty to the A. Also, this is the only time we can hold AJ.  Notice that the flush penalty to the J cannot be a 7 or higher as that would make it a higher-ranking 3-card straight flush or 3-card royal flush. Also note that this says that if there is a flush penalty to the A, but it is not an 8 or 9, we hold the “JT”.

 

Is the flush penalty to the ”JT” a 2-5 and the fifth card an 8 or 9?

If yes, play A — end

If no, play “JT” — end

By the time we get here, there is no flush penalty to the ace.

 

Is the flush penalty to the ”JT” a 6 and the fifth card a 7, 8 or 9?

If yes, play A — end

If no, play “JT” — end

By the time we get here, there is no flush penalty to the ace. The only difference in the last two rules is when the fifth card is a 7. If the flush penalty to the J is a 6 (meaning it is not a straight penalty to the A), we hold the A by itself. If the flush penalty to the J is a 2-5 (which are all straight penalties to the A), we hold the J.

 

Do the notes in green help you any? If so, welcome to them.

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What Can I Say?

Emails and letters from video poker players are part of my life, and often I get the same sort of question or request over and over again. Every month or so I get some version of the following:

Dear Bob:

I’m a huge fan of yours. I’m leaving for Vegas in nine days and counting. I want to know where the pros play so I don’t waste my time on inferior games. If you don’t tell me, it’s because you are a selfish jerk and I’ll never buy any more of your products.

(signed) Appreciative Fan

It’s gratifying to know that I have fans, even though I’m a selfish jerk. But there are many reasons I can’t give Mr. A. Fan what he asks. Let’s look at some of them.

  • Games: There are dozens of different video poker varieties returning over 99.5%. With the right slot club and promotion, any of these may be highly lucrative. No one (certainly not me) knows all of these. If I tell you that Super Double Bonus or Joker Two Pair or Double Bonus Deuces Wild or Double Bonus Plus is currently the best game, do you know these games? If not, are you willing to spend dozens of hours becoming proficient at the game before arriving in Vegas? If not, knowing that the game is a good play isn’t useful information to you.
  • Skill Level: How good are you? Even the best players have a very small edge. And that’s on only a small number of games played under the best conditions. If you haven’t practiced beforehand on a game, you have no hope of playing with an advantage. Playing the same games the pros play is only a good deal for you if you have the same skills that the pros have.
  • Denomination: If you play for nickels, you don’t want to hear about dollar opportunities. (There are no professional nickel players, by the way, unless you count 5¢ Hundred Play games.) If you like to play for $5, the best quarter game is irrelevant.
  • Slot Club Tier: Some casinos have slot clubs that pay more for high-end players. Let’s say a casino rebated 0.25% in cash back for the lower 95% of its players in terms of coin-in, but 0.50% for its top players. Whether it’s best playing there or at another casino where the slot club returns 0.33% depends on your tier level. Sometimes it’s worth playing a slightly lesser game in order to get up to the next higher tier level.
  • Reservations: Where are you staying and will you have a car? Vegas is spread out and Suncoast, for example, is more than 25 miles from Sunset Station.  Anyone traveling back and forth on the freeway between these two casinos has planned his vacation poorly. That’s very different from staying at the Venetian and walking across the street to play at the Mirage.
  • Comps: Do you need to play a certain amount at the casino you’ll be staying at in order to get free or reduced-price meals, rooms, shows, etc.? If you need to play $20,000 daily in coin-in to get the amenities you desire, that requires less than one hour if you’re a $10 player, all day if you’re a $1 player, and an impossible burden if you play for quarters.
  • Progressives: At any given time, at least half of the good plays in town are progressives. I don’t play them, generally speaking, but many pros do. There is no source of good information for the value of progressives at any point in time (unless you’re part of a group that shares such information with each other), and no way to know whether a seat will be available when you get there. Even if I knew the $5 7/5 Bonus Poker game at the Golden Nugget was high enough to be interesting an hour ago, I don’t know if anyone has hit it in the past hour.  And I certainly can’t predict what the progressive level will be tomorrow — let alone nine days from now.
  • Promotions: Double slot club points can turn an unacceptable game into a great one. A drawing for a new car is worth something if you’re going to be there during the drawing, but otherwise useless. Receiving a logo jacket for a royal flush isn’t worth so much if you already have a closet full of 30 unworn casino logo jackets. New promotions arise all the time. I frequently don’t know what promotions will be in effect in a few week’s time, and without that knowledge, I don’t know where the best place to play will be.
  • Other agenda: Are you coming to Vegas strictly for the gambling or are you (or any of your travel companions) planning on fine dining, shows, nice hotels, child care, proximity to certain other locations in Las Vegas, etc.? Getting a dining comp at a restaurant you wouldn’t want to eat at doesn’t do you any good. Playing a slightly lesser game might be worthwhile if it comes with nicer meals, shows, and hotel rooms.
  • For the games I consider best, there are only a few machines. It’s in my interest to keep quiet about what I know or I won’t get a seat. I don’t know about the “jerk” part, but being selfish with information can be very profitable.
  • I simply don’t know the best games everywhere. I’m restricted at some casinos, and I’m not scouting for dollar and lower games anywhere. Players who know of great games “somewhere” often don’t keep me in the loop — for the same reason I’m not telling them what I know.
  • There are hundreds of 15-machine bars across the Las Vegas valley. Most have poor games unworthy of serious attention, but sometimes you can find good opportunities there. I scout the ones within eight miles of my home — which is a small percentage of all the bars. I doubt if you’re thinking of flying into Vegas to play at a small bar.
  • I do respond to financial incentives. Pay me $10,000 and I’ll tell you all of my plays — in Vegas and out. Up that to $20,000 and I’ll tell you WHY each game is attractive to me. No guarantee that any of the games will be suitable for you to play.

These are a few of the things to consider in choosing what game to play and at which casino. I can’t answer the “where to play” question for you without all of this information.

I suggest that you’d be better off if you considered these questions before you made your own decision about where to play.

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Comparing Two “Super” Games

Super Double Bonus (SDB) and Super Aces Bonus (SAB) are both variations of Double Bonus. In “regular” Double Bonus, four aces get paid 160 for 1, four 2s-4s get paid 80 for 1, and four 5s-Ks get paid 50 for one.

Each of the variations we’re looking at today keeps that basic structure for the quads, with one exception each. In SDB, four Js-Ks receive 120 for 1 rather than 50 for 1 (and you receive more for the straight flush as well). In SAB, four aces receive a gigantic 400 for 1. In both games, the amount for the full house and flush is adjusted downward until it gets into the “acceptable” range. This means the pay schedule returns enough to attract the players, but not so much that the casinos are afraid of it. The two pay schedules discussed in this article are the highest allowed for these particular games. In many casinos, you’ll find lower pay schedules than these, but that won’t affect the discussion that follows.

 

9/5 Super 8/5 Super
Double Bonus Aces Bonus
Royal Flush 800 800
Straight Flush 80 60
Four Aces 160 400
Four Js-Ks 120 50
Four 2s-4s 80 80
Four 5s-Ts 50 50
Full House 9 8
Flush 5 5
Straight 4 4
Three of a Kind 3 3
Two Pair 1 1
Jacks or Better 1 1
Return 99.69% 99.94%
Variance 38.0 63.4

 

The strategies for the two games are very similar. This is largely because they receive identical amounts for flushes, straights, and two pair — which are the three pay-schedule categories that matter most when it comes to strategy.

In today’s column, I’m going to present four hands that are played differently in the two games. Your job is to figure out both plays. Even if you have never played either game, you have two important clues to help you out:

  1. The plays are different. This is a HUGE clue.
  2. The plays are different because of the pay schedule.

 

  1. 5♣ 6♣ 7♣ 8♣ 9♥
  2. A♥ Q♠ J♦ 9♣ 3♠
  3. A♠ Q♥ 8♦ 4♣ 3♠
  4. K♥ T♥ 8♦ 7♣ 6♠

 

Where dollar and cent amounts are indicated, it assumes you are playing for dollars, five coins at a time.

 

  1. There are only two reasonable plays here. The “chickens” keep the straight and the “gamblers” go for the straight flush. The different returns for quads has no bearing when you hold at least four cards of different ranks, so the determining factor must be that SDB returns more for the straight flush. In SDB, ‘5678’ is better by $2.87, and in SAB, 56789 is better by $1.39. Obviously neither play is close.
  2. With three unsuited high cards including an ace, the “standard” play in both Jacks or Better and Double Bonus is to discard the ace and hold the other two high cards. That’s the correct play in SDB by 10.6¢. In SAB, the much greater return for four aces means that you go for them more. In SAB, holding the single ace is the better play by 20.6¢.
  3. This is very similar to the last hand. In SDB you hold AQ by 2.6¢. In SAB, you hold the solitary ace by 19.6¢. And the reason, again, for the difference is the large amount you receive for four aces in SAB.
  4. This last hand is intentionally tricky, in that there are more than two choices. Holding ‘KT’ is obvious. Holding the inside straight, T876, is also an eligible choice. It takes some experience to know that inside straights with no high cards are worth considerably less than either single high cards or a single high card with a suited ten. Perhaps the hardest option to see is holding the king by itself. Some players can’t bring themselves to break up royal combinations no matter what the pay schedule. Once you realize that the king by itself is a viable option, then since SDB pays more for four kings, holding the single king in that game is the better play by 2.8¢. In SAB, the “normal” play of ‘KT’ is better by 3.0¢.

 

So how did you do? As a test, this wasn’t too difficult. But as a learning experience, there were some important things to remember. First of all, each game has its own strategy and those of you who use more-or-less the same strategy for most games are taking the worst of it. Second, sometimes the reason for the differences in the strategies is obvious once you closely examine the idiosyncrasies of the pay schedule.

Finally, I want to leave you with a hand that’s played the same in both games, assuming you are playing with the best pay schedule. K♥ K♠ 9♥ 9♦ 3♣. Although many seat-of-the-pants players will just hold the kings, in SAB, holding KK99 is better by 79¢. In SDB it’s a closer play because four kings pay so much, but KK99 is still better in that game by 19¢. If you find yourself playing a version of SDB where the full house pays only 40 or less instead of 45, that’s enough to change the correct play to KK.