Stack The Deck VP

Today, (December 11th only), the Videopoker.com game of the day is a new one called "Stack the Deck".

The basic gist is that if you get dealt certain hands, (varying by game), the deck will be "stacked" with extra cards. For example, in TDB you would get extra cards in these occasions, (and this is taken from their page so don't blame me if it sounds confusing, 'cause it is):

1) 4 OAK: 5 cards of the same rank in one suit
2) Full House: 3 cards of the same rank as the triplet but in the missing suit
3) 3 OAK: 3 cards of the same rank but in the missing suit
4 Four to a royal: 5 cards of the rank and suit to complete the royal flush

The DW bonuses are centered more on Deuces

So if you are dealt As Ks Qs Js 3d you'd have five 10s inserted into the deck.

Try it, you'll figure it out.

There are also extra pays for things such as a "baby royal" and 5 OAK.

I don't know what the variance is but it must be huge. Playing 10 play I'd be up and down 1,000 in no time at all. Getting a royal or quad deuces does come quite frequently, but in between them it's a killer.

Here is a screen shot that shows the basic board


Notice the pays are higher on FH, flush, and straight.

And in this bonus deuces game it shows the addition of 4 deuces for having 2 on the draw:

I hate games where the feature hurts you so much they need to add to the base pays. It confuses people.

Normally 10 / 6 double double is over 100%.

I'm not sure about this game but with games like flip and pay, 10/6 double double is a 97% game.

So disappointing...

Quote: prozema

I hate games where the feature hurts you so much they need to add to the base pays. It confuses people.

I agree. When I see 60 for the FH, 40 for the flush and 30 for the straight, along with the other extra pays I start to wonder just how bad it is.

But it's still kind of fun to play for free :)

And right now, 12/18 - 12/24 it's the videopoker.com game of the week.

I see it's a contest game now, so I gave it a try.

The pay table is crazy for JoB.

3oak - 20
straight - 35
flush - 55
FH - 60

I suspect it will require an alternate strategy considering the 7 coin per line bet and the unusual pays.

That means players need one helluva an incentive to learn a new strategy. If the house edge is ~1-2%... There are any number of games people can do that on where the strategy is already known.

Just tried deuces. With the 70 coin bet, I wonder if the hold two pair if FH = 20 rule still applies.

I did like it when it added 4 deuces to the deck when I was dealt two deuces. That's much better than only getting extra cards on 3oak in the JoB game. It did make me wonder if keeping 2 deuces or 2 deuces +a pair was the right hold.

I noticed the pay table in the Help screen is not as lucrative as the one in the game (e.g., in JOB, 3K is 15 in the Help and 20 in the game). Do they increase the payouts for the contest? I'm curious what they'd be in an actual casino.

I think this game is like flip and pay where the feature is overpriced and the manufacturer compensates by boosting payouts in feature mode. Without the feature, the game is 8/6 Jack's or better with the addition of a baby royal (9-k suited).

I suspect casinos have pay table options that are worse than what video poker.com has as a play for fun game.

I've not seen any placements in any of my local casinos.

This game definitely needs an alternative strategy. I doubt it's worth learning it.