Most of us occasionally switch from game to game. The strategy for each game, and even each pay schedule, is a bit different. Today I’m going to give you eight different hands with three games each. In each case, two of the games will have the same play and one of them will have a different play. Also in every case, the reason for the differences in how you play the hands is determined by the pay schedules.
The games I chose are common ones. And the correct play of the hands is at the basic level. Even if you take the attitude that learning penalty cards is a waste of time, you should be able to correctly answer these questions.
To successfully complete this test you need to be aware of the pay schedules for the following games. You can find a description of how each of these games is unique in my Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner, or you can see the pay schedules in Video Poker for Winners and certain other computer software programs.
8/5 Bonus Poker (BP)
9/5 Super Double Bonus (SDB)
9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe (BPD)
9/6 Double Double Bonus (DDB)
9/6 Jacks or Better (JoB)
9/7 Double Bonus (DB)
9/7 Triple Double Bonus (TDB)
1. J♥ T♠ 9♣ 8♠ 8♦
a. 9/6 JoB
b. 9/6 BPD
c. 9/6 DDB
2. K♠ T♠ 4♠ 8♣ 6♦
a. 8/5 Bonus
b. 9/6 BPD
c. 9/6 DDB
3. A♣ K♦ Q♥ J♦ 9♦
a. 9/5 SDB
b. 9/6 DDB
c. 9/7 DB
4. A♥ K♥ Q♣ J♣ 7♦
a. 9/6 DDB
b. 9/6 JoB
c. 9/7 TDB
5. A♣ K♣ Q♥ T♠ 5♥
a. 9/6 DDB
b. 9/6 JoB
c. 9/7 DB
6. A♥ Q♠ J♣ 7♠ 4♣
a. 9/6 DDB
b. 9/7 DB
c. 9/7 TDB
7. A♥ K♥ 3♠ 4♠ 5♠
a. 8/5 BP
b. 9/5 SDB
c. 9/6 JoB
8. A♣ Q♣ 3♥ 4♥ 6♥
a. 9/5 SDB
b. 9/6 DDB
c. 9/7 DB
So let’s see the answers
1. This is a 4-card straight with one high card compared with a low pair. In general, when Two Pair pays 2-for-1 (e.g. JoB and BP) you hold the low pair. When Two Pair pays 1-for-1, you generally go for the straight. With 9/6 BPD, even though Two Pair pays 1-for-1, since four 8s pay 80-for-1 rather than the more typical 50-for-1, you hold the low pair. For 1a and 1b, hold the low pair. For 1c, hold the 4-card straight.
2. If you thought you should hold the suited KT in any of these games, you’re incorrect (although that would be the correct play if 9/6 JoB were one of the choices.) In general, KT is barely eligible to be held. Here we have a flush penalty. (While it is officially a penalty card, the better basic strategies include this. On the Dancer/Daily cards, we describe this as KTx, where the x represents a suited card too low to be part of a 3-card straight flush or a 3-card royal flush.) When flushes return 5-for-1, it is always the case that you just hold the king in these hands. When flushes pay 7-for-1, it is always the case that you hold KTx. When flushes return 6-for-1, it varies. With 9/6 DDB, it’s one of the idiosyncrasies of the game that you hold KTx. With 9/6 BPD, since four kings pay 80-for-1 rather than 50-for-1, that’s enough to shift the play to just holding the king by itself. For 2a and 2b, hold only the king. For 2c, hold KT4.
3. When flushes return 5-for-1, AKQJ is better than KQ9 or KJ9. When flushes return 6-for-1 or 7-for-1, you go for the straight flush. For 3b and 3c, hold KJ9. For 3a, hold AKQJ.
4. I hope you realize that QJ is a lot more valuable than AK in all these games, due to the greater number of possible straights and straight flushes. The only real choice here is between QJ and AKQJ. Generally speaking you only hold QJ in JoB when the flush returns 6-for-1. (In our example 9/6 JoB — but the same would hold for 8/6 JoB). The reason these JoB variations only hold two cards is because this is one of the few games where Two Pair pays 2-for-1. Two pair is a fairly common hand when you draw three cards to two unpaired cards (actually it happens approximately 1-in-23 times). When you get those extra five coins every 23 times, it adds quite a bit of value to holding just two cards. When you hold AKQJ, ending up with Two Pair is impossible. For 4a and 4c, hold AKQJ. For 4b, hold QJ.
5. This hand looks similar to the previous one, except this time there are only three high cards in the 4-card inside straight, and in the previous hand there were four high cards. Whether a suited AK is better or worse than a 4-card inside straight with three high cards is often a close play — and it sometimes matters whether the fifth card is suited with the AK or not. We’re neglecting that penalty situation here. In 9/7 DB, straights pay 5-for-1 rather than the more typical 4-for-1. This shifts the correct play to going for the straight. For 5a and 5b, hold the AK. For 5c, hold the AKQT.
6. The choice is between holding the ace by itself or the unsuited QJ. In both DB and DDB it’s correct to hold the QJ. (This is always a shock to many seat-of-the-pants players.) In TDB, it’s correct to just hold the ace because four aces pay so much. For 6a and 6b, hold the QJ. For 6c, hold only the ace.
7. A large factor in whether 345 is greater than AK or not is how much you get for the flush. When the flush returns 5-for-1, it’s usually better to hold AK. When the flushes return 6-for-1 or 7-for-1, it’s usually best to hold 345. In SDB, even though the flush returns 5-for-1, we hold 345. This is an exception to the general rule because straight flushes return 80-for-1 rather than the more typical 50-for-1. For 7b and 7c, hold 345. For 7a, hold AK.
8. AQ is almost always better than 346 except in those versions of Double Bonus where flushes return 7-for-1 and straights return 5-for-1. Even in Super Double Bonus where the straight flush pays extra, since the return on the flush is only 5-for-1, we hold the standard AQ in that game. For 8a and 8b, hold AQ. For 8c, hold 346.
So, how did you do? If you missed on games you NEVER play, then it’s understandable and not too serious that you missed. After all, nobody knows how to play ALL the games. If you missed a hand or two on games you SOMETIMES play, then you need to refresh your skills before you go play those games again. If you missed a hand or two on a game you FREQUENTLY play, it’s time to face the reality that your basic strategy errors are costing you real money.
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excellent tutorial