MaleSnail
MaleSnail
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November 2nd, 2015 at 7:59:11 AM permalink
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 (payout 8000X and up), you can take an "extra" chance on the first draw and hold for a Royal with even 2 suitable cards. 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 3 days I have won 12 (a dozen) jackpots, taking my play-money chips from $10M to $2.4B. I got a friend to try from scratch, with just the beginner's bonus of $1M, and he already has $1.2B after 2 days. I don't think any "real" casino offers this game at those pays, or they would lose money. Can you offer a mathematical analysis or strategy guide for this odd game?
MaleSnail
MaleSnail
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November 2nd, 2015 at 8:14:48 AM permalink
(I originally posted this two days ago but didn't know what I was doing and it seemed to go into a black-hole, so I picked the topic "Math" as the closest category and am trying again.)
Note that I'm playing 100 hand multi-draw for this game. This strategy seems to perturb the chances whereas it wouldn't in a normal one-draw game. Since you get an almost "free" chance to improve your hand (the cost is zero pay for Jacks-or-better and two-pair) and can often do so, then you get the following 100 draws on a better hand. 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 the jackpot plus the standard 800X payoff.
beachbumbabs
beachbumbabs
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November 2nd, 2015 at 3:11:46 PM permalink
Quote: MaleSnail

(I originally posted this two days ago but didn't know what I was doing and it seemed to go into a black-hole, so I picked the topic "Math" as the closest category and am trying again.)
Note that I'm playing 100 hand multi-draw for this game. This strategy seems to perturb the chances whereas it wouldn't in a normal one-draw game. Since you get an almost "free" chance to improve your hand (the cost is zero pay for Jacks-or-better and two-pair) and can often do so, then you get the following 100 draws on a better hand. 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 the jackpot plus the standard 800X payoff.



Your initial post came off like spam, so it's likely that's why it didn't receive any responses. Partly also, I'm not sure anybody (I'm not qualified to do the math) who can, is interested in figuring the odds for a game that is only dealt for fun. But that's speculation on my part. They answer what they will.

Regardless, please don't keep re-posting the same thing in different threads. People will answer or not. The right persons saw your post in both places, but for their own reasons have not yet responded, and may not ever.
If the House lost every hand, they wouldn't deal the game.
MaleSnail
MaleSnail
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November 3rd, 2015 at 1:33:15 AM permalink
It looks like Double U has taken down this game option so they must have realized the mistake. All in all, I advanced from 10 million to 65 billion chips in 4 days, so it was great fun while it lasted. With a budget like that and careful management, I should able to play for as long as I wish without running out of chips. As an academic exercise, I'd still like to analyze this game to determine the basis of the fatal flaw.
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