{"id":120860,"date":"2020-05-05T09:40:12","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T16:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=120860"},"modified":"2020-05-05T11:03:57","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T18:03:57","slug":"a-look-at-9-5-triple-bonus-poker-plus-part-1-of-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/a-look-at-9-5-triple-bonus-poker-plus-part-1-of-3\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look at 9-5 Triple Bonus Poker Plus — Part 1 of 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I\u2019ll discuss the basics of the game. Next week I\u2019ll talk about some Intermediate-Level peculiarities to the game. And in two weeks I\u2019ll discuss some of the advanced penalty card situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>
1 coin <\/td>		<\/td>
5 coins <\/td><\/tr>

<\/td>
<\/td>
<\/td>
<\/td><\/tr>
Royal Flush<\/td>250<\/td>
<\/td>		4,000<\/td><\/tr>
Straight Flush<\/td>100<\/td>
<\/td>		500<\/td><\/tr>
Four Aces<\/td>240<\/td>
<\/td>		1,200<\/td><\/tr>
Four 2s thru 4s<\/td>120<\/td>
<\/td>		600<\/td><\/tr>
Four 5s thru Ks<\/td>50<\/td>
<\/td>		250<\/td><\/tr>
Full House<\/td>9<\/td>
<\/td>		45<\/td><\/tr>
Flush<\/td>5 <\/td><\/td>25 <\/td><\/tr>
Straight<\/td>4 <\/td><\/td>20 <\/td><\/tr>
Three of a Kind<\/td>3<\/td>
<\/td>		15<\/td><\/tr>
Two Pair<\/td>1<\/td>
<\/td>		5<\/td><\/tr>
Jacks or Better <\/td>1<\/td>
<\/td>		5<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t a show-stopper to everybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cproblem\u201d with the game is that four aces (kickers do not matter in this game) pay 1,200 coins. If you\u2019re 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\u2019t 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 \u201conly\u201d gives you 1,199 coins for aces, and that\u2019s a lot more popular with dollar players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019ll only yield 99.38%. That\u2019s a pretty far cry from the original 99.80%, so if you\u2019re 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). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201cspecial\u201d 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\u2660 6\u2660 7\u2660 8\u2660 9\u2665<\/font> but not 5\u2660 6\u2660 7\u2660 8\u2665<\/font> 9\u2660. Numerous 3-card straight flush combinations move up in the strategy chart for TBPP compared to JoB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simplest strategy adjustments for JoB players to make when learning TBPP deal with aces. From aces full (e.g. A\u2660 A\u2665<\/font> A\u2663 5\u2666<\/font> 5\u2660) or aces up (e.g. A\u2665<\/font> A\u2663 5\u2666<\/font> 5\u2660), you just hold the aces rather than the entire paying combination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using these exceptions to 9\/6 JoB strategy on 9\/5 TBPP, you\u2019re probably up to around 99.7%. In the next two weeks, we\u2019ll get you quite a bit higher than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll end with a 10-question quiz. It shouldn\u2019t 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. A\u2665 K\u2665 Q\u2665<\/font> Q\u2660 7\u2666<\/font><\/li>
  2. A\u2663 K\u2663 Q\u2666 J\u2666<\/font> 3\u2663<\/li>
  3. K\u2663 K\u2666<\/font> 3\u2660 3\u2666<\/font> 7\u2663<\/li>
  4. A\u2666<\/font> Q\u2663 J\u2665<\/font> 5\u2660 2\u2666<\/li>
  5. A\u2665<\/font> K\u2660 Q\u2665<\/font> 8\u2660 3\u2666<\/font><\/li>
  6. A\u2660 A\u2666<\/font> A\u2663 3\u2665<\/font> 3\u2660<\/li>
  7. Q\u2665 J\u2665 T\u2665<\/font> 9\u2660 8\u2665<\/font><\/li>
  8. Q\u2663 T\u2666 9\u2666<\/font> 8\u2663 4\u2665<\/font><\/li>
  9. A\u2666<\/font> Q\u2663 J\u2665 3\u2666 2\u2666<\/font><\/li>
  10. 9\u2663 9\u2665<\/font> 8\u2660 7\u2666<\/font> 6\u2660 <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Answers — the cards in red or black are the ones you should hold. The ones in the yellowish color should be discarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. A\u2665 K\u2665 <\/font>Q\u2665<\/font> Q\u2660 7\u2666<\/font>  <\/br>\n2. <\/font> A\u2663 K\u2663 Q\u2666 J\u2666<\/font> 3\u2663<\/font>   <\/br>\n3. <\/font>K\u2663 K\u2666<\/font> 3\u2660 3\u2666<\/font> 7\u2663<\/font>    <\/br>\n4. <\/font>A\u2666<\/font> Q\u2663 J\u2665<\/font> 5\u2660 2\u2666<\/font>    <\/br>\n5. <\/font>A\u2665<\/font> K\u2660<\/font> Q\u2665<\/font> 8\u2660 3\u2666<\/font>    <\/br>\n6. A\u2660 A\u2666<\/font> A\u2663 3\u2665 3\u2660<\/font> <\/br>\n7. Q\u2665 J\u2665 T\u2665<\/font> 9\u2660 8\u2665<\/font> <\/br>\n8. <\/font>Q\u2663 T\u2666 9\u2666 8\u2663 4\u2665<\/font> <\/br>\n9. <\/font>A\u2666<\/font> Q\u2663 J\u2665<\/font> 3\u2666 2\u2666<\/font><\/br>\n10. <\/font> 9\u2663 9\u2665<\/font> 8\u2660 7\u2666 6\u2660<\/font>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    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\u2019ll discuss the basics of the game. Next week I\u2019ll talk about some Intermediate-Level peculiarities to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A Look at 9-5 Triple Bonus Poker Plus --- Part 1 of 3 by Bob Dancer","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[29,2,3],"tags":[428,1992,196],"yoast_head":"\nA Look at 9-5 Triple Bonus Poker Plus - Part 1 of 3 - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/a-look-at-9-5-triple-bonus-poker-plus-part-1-of-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Look at 9-5 Triple Bonus Poker Plus - Part 1 of 3 - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"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. 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