November 1st, 2015 at 10:11:24 AM
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Double U online casino-for-fun (no real money) just offered a new version of Video Poker called "Double Hold". It could also be called "Double Draw". There are no wilds and no pays for less than 3 of a kind. Starting there, the pay table up is fairly standard: 2, 4, 6, 9, 25, 50, 800. I believe that the casino has made a mistake in evaluating this game, and I don't think the standard Wizard charts apply for strategy. Empirically, I determined that for large jackpots, you can take an "extra" chance on the first draw and hold for a Royal with even 1 suitable card. Since you get a second draw, you can often recover from an unfavorable draw -- a second chance, where the tables DO apply as-is. As evidence of my successful strategy, I have never won a jackpot at Double U video poker, and in the last 2 days I have won 10 (ten) jackpots, taking my chips from $10M to $1.4B. I got a friend to try from scratch, with just the beginner's bonus of $1M, and he already has $355M after 1 day. I don't think any "real" casino offers this game at those pays, or they would lose money. Can you offer an analysis or strategy guide for this odd game?
November 1st, 2015 at 10:41:08 AM
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Since I'm playing, and thinking, as we speak, I offer another anomaly -- drawing to an inside straight. With an open unsuited sequence of 4, there are 8 favorable cards in the remaining 47 for a straight, while an inside or one-ended straight has only 4 favorable cards. In this variant, however, you get to draw TWICE to fill that hole. I don't know if that makes the options mathematically equal, but it sure makes the chances much better to fill that inside straight with two chances. For 4 to a royal, or even 4 to any straight flush, of course there's no question to hold the four cards regardless of sequence, and in this game, you get 2 chances to hit!
Let me revise that last sentence, since I'm playing 100 hand multi-draw. This strategy also perturbs the chances whereas it wouldn't in a one-hand game. Since you get a "free" chance to improve your hand, then you can play the odds for hitting a specific card or cards in the following 100 draws. For 4 to a royal, the chances of hitting with 100 tries are excellent! Every time I've had that combination, I have hit at least one and sometimes 2 royals, for a huge jackpot plus the standard 800X payoff.
Let me revise that last sentence, since I'm playing 100 hand multi-draw. This strategy also perturbs the chances whereas it wouldn't in a one-hand game. Since you get a "free" chance to improve your hand, then you can play the odds for hitting a specific card or cards in the following 100 draws. For 4 to a royal, the chances of hitting with 100 tries are excellent! Every time I've had that combination, I have hit at least one and sometimes 2 royals, for a huge jackpot plus the standard 800X payoff.