Mainstreet 4oak bonus card

When you hit a natural 4 of a kind at the Mainstreet Station in downtown Las Vegas, they give you a scratch card which has always been worth $2 for me. But there are some questions I wonder about:

First, what game is most likely to hit 4oak when play optimally? (That is, how do I optimize getting the cards without impacting my strategy.)

Second, should I change strategy when playing for these cards?

And finally, what game would have the best long-term return if we count these cards as a bonus $2 on the 4oak?

Oh, these are on 25-cent + machines. So assume a 25-cent machine. They have a separate set of cards for lower denominations, but I assume they are worth much less than $2.

I wouldn't worry too much about which game to play. In a game like 10/6 DDB (where the 4OAKs pay higher, so you make strategy changes to hit more of them) you hit a 4OAK 0.2394% of the time. In 9/6 JoB, which has smaller 4OAK payouts, you hit them 0.236255% of the time.

So, you are looking at a difference of about 0.006%. $2 = 8 * 25c = 1.6 bets. 1.6 * 0.006% < 0.01%.

What this means is that choosing a different game is likely to make a difference of less than 0.01% to the payout. Just pick the game with the best pay table.

(Note that the bonus itself is worth about 0.4%, so it's a good thing to get, but the point is that it's worth about 0.4% no matter which game you play it on... so you can safely just pick the one with the best pay table and play optimally)

Yeah, 4 of a kind probabilities in non-wild games are quite close to one another. Of the games MSS offers, the best overall return would still easily be 10/7 DB.

And actually, for this particular game, yes, you should change your strategy versus standard 10/7 DB if you are playing quarters. If you assume the average value is $2.50 (no idea if thats a good estimate), you should change strategy at 50c at well.

The strategy change is that you hold only a pair of Aces instead of two pair like you would in standard 10/7 DB.

Generally though, the strategy doesn't change. But the equity between Two pair and Aces in 10/7 DB is very, very close, so the scratch-off will push going for quads ahead.

Quote: tringlomane

The strategy change is that you hold only a pair of Aces instead of two pair like you would in standard 10/7 DB.

That's great. I'm always tempted to make that change in DB anyway. Thanks!