Deuces Wild Video Poker. Deuces Wild is a popular video poker variation that is played online and uses a standard deck of 52 cards. In this video poker variant, deuces (2s) are wild, and they substitute any other card on the deck to form a winning hand. A 10/7 Bonus video poker game would pay 10 coins for a full house and seven coins for a flush on a single coin bet, while a 9/6 Jacks or Better refers to payout of nine coins for a full house.
The extra bonus payoff is a plus, but beware the volatility
By Henry Tamburin
The most important fact to remember about DDB is that it's a highly volatile game, meaning the bankroll swings are much greater than a less volatile game such as Jacks or Better. Let me repeat this so it sinks in: DDB is very volatile.
Double Double Bonus (DDB) poker is by far the most popular video poker game. Its popularity stems from the extra bonus payoff that you get with four aces, 2s, 3s, or 4s accompanied with a 'kicker' (a specific fifth card that is in the same hand as the four-of-a-kind). What follows are some facts about the game (good and bad), and some tips to improve your chances of winning.
Kickers
DDB Poker was the first video poker game to implement kickers. In fact, its name 'Double Double Bonus' is the result of the fact that the payoffs for specific four-or-a-kind hands pay double the amount paid in Double Bonus when a kicker is present. In DDB, a kicker is an ace, 2, 3, and 4.
The key hands in DDB that result in a bonus payout are:
| Hand | Payout with Five-Coins Played |
| Four Aces with2, 3, or 4 kicker | 2000 coins |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s withA, 2, 3, or 4 kicker | 800 coins |
Thus, it's possible to be paid the equivalent of half a royal flush (i.e. $500 on a quarter-denomination machine) when you are dealt four aces with a 2, 3, or 4 kicker. How often will this occur? Roughly once in 16,000 hands. This is greater than the once in about 40,000 hands occurrence for the royal flush. This payout of half a royal flush is what makes DDB such an exciting game for players.
Pay Schedules
The following table summarizes the different pay schedules for DDB that you are likely to encounter, and the accompanying ERs (expected returns). The most prevalent pay schedule is 9/6. The expected return for this game is 98.98%, assuming you play every hand perfectly and you play max coins. I would strongly encourage you to not play a 9/5, or even worse, an 8/5 DDB game, simply because the ER is miserable. (Note: I've seen even lower pay schedules for DDB; these games should absolutely be avoided!)
Finally, you'll see I've included a 10/6 pay schedule with a 100.06% ER. Unfortunately, this pay schedule is not readily available in most gaming jurisdictions. You will find them in certain locals casinos in Las Vegas, where the 10/6 pay schedule is offered in $1 and lower denominations. Check www.vpfree2.com for a listing of casinos that offer 10/6 DDB.
Double Double Bonus Pay Schedule
Payout per Coin Played
| 10/6 | 9/6 | 9/5 | 8/5 | |
| Royal Flush | 250* | 250* | 250* | 250* |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Four Aces with 2, 3, 4 kicker | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| Four Aces | 160 | 160 | 160 | 160 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s with A, 2, 3, or 4 kicker | 160 | 160 | 160 | 160 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Four 5 through Kings | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Full House | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Flush | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Straight | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Three-of-a-Kind | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Two Pair | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Pair of Js, Qs, Ks, As | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ER | 100.06% | 98.98% | 97.87% | 96.79% |
*4000 for a five-coin royal flush.
Playing Strategy
You might think the playing strategy for DDB would be identical to Double Bonus (after all, the names are nearly the same). But this isn't the case. The factor that most affects the strategy is the payoff for the flush (rather than the payoff for the full house and straight). The flush payoff for 9/6 DDB is 6 coins times your bet, whereas it's 7 coins in Double Bonus. (In fact, the playing strategy for DDB is closer to 9/6 Jacks or Better, because the flushes in the latter game pay 6 coins times your bet.)
The playing strategy for DDB is unique because of the extra value of Aces and kickers. For example, if you play DDB and you have a full house that contains three aces, you'd break up the full house and hold the three aces. Likewise, if you have a hand that contains two pair and one of the pair is aces, you only hold the two aces. You'll also be going for inside straights more often playing DDB, compared to Jacks or Better.
You'll find an accurate playing strategy for DDB on the video poker page at www.wizardofodds.com, including a list of 39 practice hands to test your playing skills. I'd also recommend that you consider using a video poker software training program on your home computer to practice the strategy—and there's no shame in bringing a strategy card to the casino, either.
Variance
The most important fact to remember about DDB is that it's a highly volatile game, meaning the bankroll swings are much greater than a less volatile game such as Jacks or Better. Let me repeat this so it sinks in: DDB is very volatile.
The reason the game is more volatile is because those juicy four of a kind jackpot hands containing aces through 4s with a kicker occur infrequently, at the expense of a reduced payoff for the more frequently hit two pair, straight, flush, and full house hands. If you don't get lucky and get at least one four of a kind hand during a session, your bankroll will head south rather quickly. Because DDB has a high volatility, it also requires a relatively greater bankroll to get you through those long stretches from one jackpot to the next. Heed my advice and be prepared—emotionally, and financially—for the volatility that is inherent in this game.
Summary
DDB has these characteristics:
- The game offers mini-jackpots for infrequent four of a kind hands with a kicker.
- The ER of the common 9/6 DDB is 98.98%. This means most recreational players will lose in the long run playing this game because it's rare to find casino perks that will increase the overall EV to greater than 100%. If you're in Las Vegas, play the 10/7 DDB game.
- The playing strategy is unique, and you need to learn it before you play (don't use the Double Bonus strategy even if the names of these games sound almost the same).
- The game is very volatile, so expect large swings in your bankroll.
Tamburin's Tip of the Month
How would you play this hand in DDB?
Most players would hold the three aces along with a kicker because they're hoping to draw another ace, which would give them four aces and a deuce kicker for a half-royal payoff. However, making that play is a mistake. With DDB, if your hand has three aces and a 2 through 4 kicker, you shouldn't keep the kicker. The play that has the higher expected value is to hold the three aces and draw two cards.
A Closer Look At Double Double Bonus Poker.
Triple Triple Bonus video poker puts most other Bonus Poker pay tables to shame when it comes to four of a kind hands. It even does better than the similarly named Triple Double Bonus in terms of payouts for quads. To achieve this, however, it lowers the payouts for two pair and three of a kind, two of the most common winning hands in the game.
Video poker manufacturers toy with basic video poker and include special features for when players make extra wagers. Or they might simply add wild cards to the mix. But the most common way of is to change up the pay tables. In Jacks or Better, for example, payouts are based strictly on how likely it is for a player to achieve a hand. The harder it is to get a hand, the more it pays.
Bonus Poker pay tables change that formula just a bit. In particular, these pay tables add a little something extra when you achieve four of a kind. This usually makes this hand second only to a royal flush in terms of its payback level.
Usually, in video poker, the longer the name of the game, the higher the payout will be for four of a kind. You can see this happen as you move through games like Bonus, Double Bonus, Double Double Bonus, and Triple Double Bonus. And of course, there's Triple Triple Bonus video poker.
What Makes Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker Different?
The game takes the basic format of Triple Bonus video poker and turbo-charges it. If you're the type of player who loves jackpot-style payments, this is the variation for you.
There are a couple of quad-kicker combinations which feature payouts that match the payout for a royal flush, which usually stands alone atop the pay table. When playing Triple Triple Bonus video poker, you have more opportunities for a significant payout on a single hand playing this game than any other.
But you have to give something up to pay for those quad payouts. Like many aggressive Bonus Poker pay tables, Triple Triple Bonus video poker gives out only even money for two pair. But it's also the rare video poker game that only pays out 2 to 1 for three of a kind and 3 to 1 for a straight.
That leaves you with a combination of rare hands that pay a lot and common hands that pay off at discounted levels. As a result, you'd be hard-pressed to find a video poker game that is quite as volatile in nature as Triple Triple Bonus video poker.
In the following article, we'll tell you everything you need to know about the game known as Triple Triple Bonus video poker. We'll go into how you play basic video poker, then talk about how the pay tables affect gameplay. We'll also look at your expected payback while explaining how to strategize.
Why You Should Be Playing Video Poker
That heading might be misleading if you're already a casual video poker player who just wants to learn specifically about Triple Triple Bonus video poker. But you might not know why it's so gambler-friendly, to the extent that many gamblers won't play anything else.
Let's take a look at some of the reasons video poker might just be the ideal casino game:
- Video poker comes in many shapes and sizes. Triple Triple Bonus video poker represents only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unique video poker variants. You can find games with special twists, wild cards, and all kinds of bells and whistles, both literal and figurative, that can spice up play.
- Video poker stands as one of the easiest games to learn in a casino. It shouldn't take you long to figure out gameplay if you've played before. Even if you haven't, the concept is pretty simple.
- Video poker doesn't require anyone but you to play it. There won't be any other gamblers getting involved, and you won't have to worry about dealing with casino employees. It's just you and the machine.
- Video poker lets you use some strategy when you play. It's not a mindless enterprise like slot machines tend to be. If you play your cards right, so to speak, your chances of winning rise.
- Video poker gameplay uses the probabilities involved with deck of cards. This means you can estimate how often you can form specific winning hands. Slot machines, by comparison, don't give you any indication of how often you'll win.
- Video poker machines come with a payback percentage attached to them. In other words, you can compare one machine to the next so that you have the chance to choose the most lucrative one. Again, slot machines don't afford you this opportunity.
- Video poker puts up a strong performance in terms of payback. You can expect the average video poker machine to pay off better than the average slot machine. If you're lucky, you might even find a pay table, including one in the Triple Triple Bonus video poker family, from which you can reasonably expect a long-term profit.
- Video poker makes for excellent online play. By this, we mean that someone playing video poker at a top online casino site won't miss a thing compared to the person playing in a casino. As a matter of fact, video poker ranks right up there with slot machines when it comes to popular online casino games.
As you can see, you really do have a lot to look forward to if you're new to video poker. All of the best elements of video poker and table games can be found in a video poker machine. It's an ideal hybrid of the two.
We'll talk about the pay tables that make Triple Triple Bonus video poker special. But first, let's go over basic video poker gameplay.
Video Poker Step By Step
Step 1: The Bankroll
You'll create a bankroll so that you can make wagers and win real money from a video poker machine. When you're playing in a casino, you'll put money into the slot on the machine to start up your bankroll. If you're playing online, you'll need to create a gambling account to get started.
Once you have your bankroll in place, you'll notice that it's represented on screen in units known as credits or coins. Each of these units will be based on the denomination at the machine you've chosen to play.
Step 2: Your Bet
Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker plays in this area like the vast majority of video poker games. You get to wager anywhere from one through five coins per hand. Your payout for winning hands will go up in proportion to how much you bet.
The one exception to that rule is the royal flush. With one through four coins wagered, you'll receive 250 coins for every coin that you wager. But that payback rises to 800 to 1 when you hit a royal flush with five coins wagered.
For that reason, we recommend that you bet five coins whenever possible when playing Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker. This is also known as the 'Max Bet,' and you'll usually see a button labeled that way on the machine. Pressing this button will allow you to speed up gameplay while also utilizing the best possible strategy.
Step 3: Your Hand
Video poker pretty much resembles the table game called Five-Card Draw. The rhythm of play for both games is the same. In both games, you get five cards, choose the cards you wish to discard, then draw new cards to replace them to make the best five-card hand possible.
But there are a few differences. In video poker, you don't have to beat a bunch of different people to win the hand. And you don't have to try and outsmart anybody with your wagers.
Instead, you just have to make one of the winning hands that pay out. These can be found on the machine in a chart known as the pay table. When playing Triple Triple Bonus video poker, these are the basic hands you'll be trying to attain:
- Pair of jacks or better
- Two pair
- Three of a kind
- Straight (five cards of consecutive rank, like 3-4-5-6-7)
- Flush (five cards of same suit)
- Full house (three of a kind and two pair in the same hand)
- Four of a kind
- Straight flush (straight with five cards of same suit)
- Royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit)
When looking at that list, you'll probably realize that, based on the cards contained in a deck of 52, the hands at the top are relatively easy to achieve. The ones at the bottom are rarities. Video poker machines pay off more for rare hands than they do for common hands.
One other thing you might notice is that some of the winning combinations, like a pair of jacks or better or two pair, require only a fraction of the five cards to complete them. Others, such as the straight or the flush, require all five cards.
When you see the five cards for your deal appear on your screen, you'll scan them to see if there are any of these winning combinations in evidence. Even if not, you'll look for potential winning hands that could be formed out of the cards you have. You'll also try to assess which cards won't be helpful to you.
Those latter cards will be discarded and replaced with others drawn from the same deck that was used for your deal. 47 cards will remain from that deck, since you already will have received five. Keep in mind that any card you discard cannot come back to you on the draw.
You'll have to decide which hands you might be capable of making on the draw. And you should also be keeping track of how much those winning hands will pay. Let's look at an example to illustrate this.
Imagine that you receive the following five cards on the deal:
You don't have a winning combination among these five cards. But there are a lot of possibilities that you can pursue on the draw. Your decision about which cards to discard and which to hold will be your chance to control the hand and show off your strategy.
You could hold the pair of tens in the hopes of improving them with the three cards you'll be getting on the draw. Going that route opens up the chances of hands like two pair, three of a kind, a full house and even four of a kind.
With four Diamonds in the deal, you're just one diamond shy of a flush. There are nine diamonds in the deck still out of 47 total cards. Doing some math should tell you that your chances of drawing a flush if you drop the ten of hearts are a little less than 1 in 5.
In the eight, nine, and ten of diamonds, you have three of the cards that you'll need for a straight flush. A look at the pay tables below will show you that the straight flush pays very well. But it will be a long shot draw to achieve that.
Speaking of long shot draws, you would have even less of a chance of drawing the jack, queen, and king of diamonds if you discard the eight and nine of diamonds and the ten of hearts. Yet you might be tempted to try because achieving that would get you a royal flush. And that's a monster payout.
As is the case with so many gambling games, it's a matter of deciding what the risk is compared to the reward that you would receive if things go your way. Many video poker hands will present tricky decisions like this, while others will be much more obvious. We'll explain how to make those decisions when we get to the strategy section.
In any case, once you decide, you press the buttons lined up with the cards you plan to hold (if any). You'll then hit the draw button, which signals the machine to replace your discarded cards with others from the draw deck. At that point, your hand is over and any winnings you've amassed will be added.
You can play hands of video poker in that manner as long as you still have credits in your bankroll to bet. At any point, you can also cash out your bankroll and collect what's left. If you go that route, you'll receive a redemption ticket which you can use elsewhere in the casino.
That's all it takes to play a hand of video poker. When you first start playing, you might have to really take it slow and consider all of the possibilities. But once you've played for a while, you'll be able to process all the information, make your decisions, and complete a hand in a matter of seconds.
Now, let's take a look at Triple Triple Bonus video poker and what separates it from other video poker games. Mainly, it's the pay tables.
Pay Tables for Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
When playing video poker, you won't find a more important piece of information than the pay table. And yet many gamblers won't even acknowledge it. Instead, they'll start playing immediately, not realizing that the pay table should show them the right strategy to use.
Bonus Video Poker Free Games
At its most basic level, a pay table shows you how much you'll receive for each winning hand depending on how much you've wagered. But it also can tell you a lot about the style of play to expect. And, combined with the probabilities, will reveal what kind of payback will come your way.
As we said above, Triple Triple Bonus video poker is closely based on another pay table called Triple Double Bonus. Let's start by looking at the pay table for Triple Double Bonus:
Triple Double Bonus
| Coins/Hands | 1 Coin | 2 Coins | 3 Coins | 4 Coins | 5 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four aces w/ any 2,3,4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any A,2,3,4 | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four 5s through Ks | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two pairs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Pair of jacks + | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
If you know a little about Jacks or Better, which is the most common pay table in video poker, you'll probably see how Triple Double Bonus alters that. Triple Double Bonus distinguishes the amount of payout on four of a kind hands based on the cards that are involved and, in some cases, what the kickers are. (A kicker is the odd card out in a five-card hand that contains four of a kind.)
No matter which cards are involved, however, the Triple Double Bonus pay table pays out more for four of a kind hands than Jacks or Better, which pays 25 to 1 for all quads. But Jacks or Better pays off 2 to 1 for two pair, a common hand that shows up often. Triple Double Bonus pays even money for that hand.
Now, let's look at Triple Triple Bonus video poker. The following table is the full-pay version of the game, which means the level of payback is higher than other pay tables found in the Triple Triple Bonus family:
Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
| Coins/Hands | 1 Coin | 2 Coins | 3 Coins | 4 Coins | 5 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four aces w/ any 2,3,4 | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any Ace | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any 2,3,4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four 5s through Ks | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Two pairs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Pair of jacks + | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Take a look at how this table differs from the Triple Double Bonus one. On the top end, Triple Triple Bonus video poker jacks up the pay for every four of a kind. It tops out at 800 to 1 for both four aces with any two, three, and four kicker and four twos, threes, and fours with any ace kicker.
That latter grouping is separated on the Triple Triple Bonus video poker table. In the Triple Double Bonus table, that particular combination would be lumped in with the four aces with any ace, two, three, and four group. It's just another way that Triple Triple Bonus raises the stakes for quads.
Anytime you see a particular video poker game going over the top in paying out a certain hand, you can expect some hand lower down the pay table will have to take a hit. In the case of Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker, both the straight and three of a kind suffer.
The straight pays only 3 to 1, while the three of a kind earns only 2 to 1. On most video poker pay tables, including Triple Double Bonus, those hands pay out 4 to 1 and 3 to 1, respectively.
By contrast, the straight and three of a kind hands happen with relative regularity during a video poker session. As a result, your bankroll will suffer when you play Triple Triple Bonus video poker if you can't manage a four of a kind now and again.
Get one of those four of a kinds, however, and your bankroll will be in excellent shape. Putting all of that together, we can say that Triple Triple Bonus video poker is an extremely volatile game. You'll have more opportunities for quick, massive payouts, but you'll also have to deal with low ebbs in your bankroll when those quads are absent.
You might not be able to find the full-pay version of Triple Triple Bonus video poker. Here are some of the other pay tables you might encounter:
| Coins/Hands | 1 Coin | 2 Coins | 3 Coins | 4 Coins | 5 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four aces w/ any 2,3,4 | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any Ace | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any 2,3,4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four 5s through Ks | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Straight | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Two pairs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Pair of jacks + | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Coins/Hands | 1 Coin | 2 Coins | 3 Coins | 4 Coins | 5 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 55 | 110 | 165 | 220 | 285 |
| Four aces w/ any 2,3,4 | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any Ace | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any 2,3,4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four 5s through Ks | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Two pairs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Pair of jacks + | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Coins/Hands | 1 Coin | 2 Coins | 3 Coins | 4 Coins | 5 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Straight flush | 55 | 110 | 165 | 220 | 285 |
| Four aces w/ any 2,3,4 | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any Ace | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any 2,3,4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2s, 3s, 4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four 5s through Ks | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full house | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 35 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Two pairs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Pair of jacks + | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Payback Percentage for Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
When assessing the various aspects of video poker, you should think about volatility, which we talked about above, as a short-term concern. In a short session, your bankroll playing Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker is likely either to be way up in the rafters or way down in the doldrums. An even keel is unlikely.
Payback percentage, on the other hand, is more of a long-term concern. Those who want to make Triple Triple Bonus video poker their regular game have to know if the pay table they're playing pays them back well. When you play thousands of hands, your results will likely resemble the payback percentage.
Payback percentage can be computed by combining the probabilities of hitting winning hands with the payoffs for those hands. You can also look online for those figures, or plug the totals of the pay table into a video poker calculator.
Ideally, you can find a payback percentage of 99% or above. That translates to an expected loss (or house edge) of 1% or less. Such small expected losses can easily be overcome if you use the perks awarded to you by casinos or gambling websites.
Once you see that payback percentage drop below 99%, your hopes of making a long-term profit on the game will dwindle and eventually evaporate. Luckily, the full-pay version of Triple Triple Bonus video poker comes in at a robust 99.8%.
You'll certainly want to find that version of the game if at all possible. Once you get into the lesser pay tables that we listed, you'll see that payback drop a few points. And that drop will hurt your bankroll over time.
Casual players shouldn't worry too much about payback percentage. Assuming you make common sense decisions about what to hold and discard, your results will be the product of luck more than anything else.
Double Double Bonus Poker Strategy
If you really want to get serious about Triple Triple Bonus video poker, however, you need to keep an eye on the pay table. In particular, look for the payback amounts for the full house and flush. These are the hands most likely to be adjusted when you encounter a lesser pay table.
Video Poker Strategy for Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
If you do want to play Triple Triple Bonus video poker and match the payback percentages that are attached to each pay table, you have to learn perfect strategy. Notice that we said 'perfect' strategy, and not 'good' or 'adequate' strategy. You need to make the right choices on every hand.
And you have to do it while keeping in mind the specifics of the Triple Triple Bonus video poker and how much each winning hand pays out. Take, for example, the following hand:
Bonus Video Poker
If you were playing a video poker game like Jacks or Better, you'd be making the obvious choice of keeping the two pair. That would pay off 2 to 1 on a common pay table, and you'd still have a chance at a full house.
But the Triple Triple Bonus video poker demands that you play the hand differently. You should actually hold the two of hearts and the pair of aces, dropping the pair of sixes.
Why? Well, remember that two pair pays only even money on a Triple Triple Bonus video poker pay table. A pair of aces, which you already have, pays the same amount.
Remember also that four aces is a massive payout in the game. And four aces with a two kicker pays off a ridiculous 800 to 1, same as a royal flush. That's why you should keep the two around.
You need to be able to figure all of that out in a hurry when you're playing Triple Triple Bonus video poker. Complicated hands like that one might leave you guessing about the right play. And guessing will inevitably lead to wrong decisions.
It might take some time to do this. But, if you do and can learn perfect play on a Triple Triple Bonus video poker machine, it will be more than worth it in the long run.
Here are the two methods of video poker instruction that we recommend the most.
Video Poker Training Software
This is the perfect way to learn strategy for newcomers, since you'll also have a chance to play sample hands and get a feel for video poker as a whole. Make sure you get one that can incorporate the totals on a Triple Triple Bonus video poker pay table. Otherwise, you could end up getting the wrong information.
You can learn perfect play with training software through trial and error. As you play more and more often, you'll start to realize which hands are giving you trouble because the software will tell you when you make a mistake. Eventually, perfect play will become second nature.
Strategy Charts
To use a strategy chart that is tailored to Triple Triple Bonus video poker, you have to compare the cards in your hand to what is on the chart. The chart ranks all of the combinations you might receive on a deal based on their expected value. You can then pick out the cards that you have that are ranked the highest and hold onto them.
The best way to take advantage of a strategy chart is to memorize it. If you try to bring it with you into a casino, you're more likely to get in trouble with management. It's best to memorize it anyway, since you'll be able to play much faster without having to look at the chart on every single hand.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
Advantages of Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
- Some of the biggest payouts for hands besides a royal flush in all of video poker
- Many different ways to score when you end up with four of a kind
- Full-pay version pays off quite nicely
Disadvantages of Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
- High volatility could collapse your bankroll in a hurry
- A lot of the payback is tied up in hard-to-achieve four of a kind hands
- Lesser pay tables will bring down your payback significantly
Conclusion on Triple Triple Bonus Video Poker
Triple Triple Bonus video poker pushes the Bonus Poker concept to the absolute limit. With some four of a kind hands paying as much as a royal flush, it's a real bonanza for quad seekers. But it's not the right game for those who want to play a long session on a small bankroll.
