Expert contributor Bob Dancer writes:
Insofar as the return on a video poker game and the correct strategy for playing it are concerned, it doesn't matter whether you're playing single-line game on a stand-alone machine, the same game on a multiple-game machine (with or without multiple denominations on the same machine), Triple Play, Five Play, Ten Play, Fifty Play, Hundred Play, Spin Poker, Spin Poker Deluxe, or even Matrix Poker (if you can find it). A 9/7 Double Bonus game in any of these styles returns 99.11% when played perfectly (for example, you should play AhQsTs9h3h exactly the same on each of these games -- namely, hold the three hearts). There are considerations relative to bankroll, as playing a dollar Five Play machine is considerably less risky than playing $5 single play, even though they both take $25 per play.
Now, with that said, there are three video poker games with Triple, Five, or Ten Play versions where the strategy doesn't change, but the return does, compared to single-line games:
* The first is Super Times Pay, where you play 6 coins per line, receive payouts based on 5 coins per line, but get random multipliers that more than make up the difference.
* The second is called Big Times Draw Poker, where you play 10 coins per line and get paid for 5 coins per line times a multiplier based on the highest card in your drawn hand. This game isn't found in all jurisdictions yet, but it'll be coming soon.
* The third is called Double Pay. In this game, you get paid for what you receive on the draw (at a slightly higher percentage return than the base game) then you play one of the dealt hands exactly as you would a regular Triple/Five/Ten Play hand.
Many other games look somewhat like Triple, Five, or Ten Play, but are different enough that an altered strategy is needed to play them. Examples of these are Multi Strike, Max Out Poker, Trade Up Poker, and Bonus Hand Poker, among others. Understand that these are not simple multi-hand games; don't confuse the two.
On a personal basis, I prefer to play multiple-hand games to the same game on a single line. For example, given a choice between a $5 single-line or a $1 Five Play with the same pay schedule, I like the $1 Five Play. This is strictly a personal choice (based on more fun and less risk). Yours doesn't have to be the same.
Bob is author of Million Dollar Video Poker, the Winner's Guides to Video Poker, and the novel Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. He also has a range of awesome video poker strategy cards and software.
