Two Doubles Poker

Two pair is a hand that contains two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank and one card of a third rank (the kicker), such as J ♥ J ♣ 4 ♣ 4 ♠ 9 ♥ ('two pair, jacks and fours' or 'two pair, jacks over fours' or 'jacks up'). It ranks below three of a kind and above one pair. Who wins when two players have a flush? For example, say the first player also has two pair, one in their hand (two 3's), and one on the board (two 8's). The second player has AQ, with the same pair on the board (two 8's). Player one completes the flush with one of the threes in their hand. Player two completes the flush with the ace in their hand.

Super Double Bonus Poker is a common video poker variation which pays off more for certain varieties of a 4 of a kind. Like almost all other variants, the game is loosely based on 5 card draw, but it's played on a machine.

This page includes details about how to play, what the odds are, how the pay tables affect the odds, and what the appropriate strategy for playing is. We've also included details for Super Double Double Bonus.

How to Play Super Double Bonus Poker

Two Doubles Poker Rules

All video poker games have essentially the same gameplay. They're almost all based on 5 card draw, for one thing. The main differences have to do with the pay tables and hand rankings in use. These affect the correct strategy for which cards to keep and which ones to throw away.

Two Doubles Poker Game

To play, you start by choosing how many coins you want to bet. You can choose anywhere from 1 to 5 coins, but you should always bet 5 coins. That's because the top payout for the game goes up when you play for 5 coins. The royal flush is the best possible hand, and it pays 250 to 1 unless you're playing for 5 coins. In that case, it pays 800 to 1.

The game then deals you a 5 card hand on the screen. You can keep or discard any combination of these cards. In the most basic version, you play one hand, but recent games allow you to play as many as 100 hands at one time.

After you've chosen the cards you're going to keep (if any), you press the deal button again. The computer deals you replacement cards for the ones you decided to discard.

The game then compares each hand to the pay table and awards you credits appropriately.

But video poker is not the same as standard poker. In this game, the payouts for a 4 of a kind vary based on the ranking of the 4 of a kind. They also vary based on your kicker. You'll notice that a straight flush is a better hand in this game than some 4 of a kind hands, and some 4 of a kind hands are better than a straight flush. (This is a significant difference from standard poker.)

Here are the specific hand rankings for Super Double Bonus Poker:

• Royal Flush – Also known as an ace high straight flush or a royal straight flush, it is the highest hand in poker. It contains a suited ace, king queen, jack and 10.
• 4 of a Kind (Aces) – Also known as quad aces, this hand is 4 aces of all 4 suits.
• 4 of a Kind (Jacks, Queens, Kings) – 4 each of jacks, queens or kings of all 4 suits. Also known as quad jacks, quad queens or quad kings.
• 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, 4s) – 4 each of deuces, 3s or 4s. Also known as quad 2s or quad deuces, quad 3s, or quad 4s.
• Straight Flush – 5 sequential cards with matching suits.
• 4 of a Kind (5s through 10s) – 4 matching ranked cards from 5 to 10. They can also be referred to as a quad followed by the rank, such as quad 10s.
• Full House – Also known as a boat, a full house is 3 cards of one matching rank and 2 cards of another matching rank.
• Flush – 5 suited, non-sequential ranked cards.
• Straight – 5 sequential rank cards of different suits
• 3 of a Kind – 3 cards of matching rank with 2 other cards that are non-sequential.
• 2 Pair – 2 cards of the same rank and 2 other cards of antler matching rank along with one kicker card
• 1 Pair (Jacks or Better) – 2 matching jacks, queens, kings or aces. The hand will contain 3 kicker cards.

Super Double Double Double Bonus Poker follows the same general framework for card ranking but has some minor differences. The rankings for this game are:

• Royal Flush
• 4 of a Kind (Aces) w/Ace, 2, 3, or 4
• 4 of a Kind (Aces) w/Jack, Queen or King
• 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, or 4s) w/Ace, 2, 3, or 4
• 4 of a Kind (Jacks, Queens, or Kings) w/Jack, Queen, King, Ace
• 4 of a Kind (Aces)
• 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, 4s)
• Straight Flush
• 4 of a Kind 5s through Kings)
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• 3 of a Kind
• 2 Pair
• 1 Pair (Jacks or Better)

As you can see in Super Double Double Bonus Poker, the rankings include the kicker cards (the unmatched card) in the hand rankings. That's where the second double bonus comes in.

All bonus poker games focus on higher pay outs for 4 of a kind hands, and Super Double Bonus Poker is no exception. In this case, all 4 of a kind hands pay out more than a straight flush, which is usually ranked higher than 4 of a kind in traditional poker. Because of this, the lower ranked hands pay out less than a standard hand of Jacks or Better poker.

Here's one common pay table for Super Double Bonus Poker:

We also mentioned that you can expect a different pay table for Super Double Double Bonus Poker. This is because of the addition of kicker cards in the pay tables. The pay table for this game is:

Casino games like blackjack and craps measure odds in terms of the 'house edge'. But when you're dealing with gambling machines, the odds are measured in 'return to player' or 'payback percentage'.

The house edge is the percentage of each bet that the casino expects to keep over the long run (thousands of bets). The expected return is the percentage of each bet that the casino expects to pay back to the player in winnings over the long run.

• If you're playing blackjack, and the house edge is 1%, the casino expects you to lose an average of $1 for every $100 you bet.
• If you're playing video poker, and the expected return is 99%, the casino expects to pay you $99 in winnings every time you bet $100.

In both cases, if you play long enough, your losses should start to resemble the mathematically expected results.

You can also use these numbers to compare games by how much you expect them to cost you to play. You multiply the amount you're betting by the average number of bets you're making per hour. Multiply that by the house edge, and you have an expected hourly loss rate.

The expected return for Super Double Bonus Poker ranges from 96.87% to 99.69%. The most common variant of the game will pay 98.68%. These numbers assume that you're using perfect strategy. If you don't play well, you can expect your return to drop by 4% or more.

Super Double Bonus Poker Strategies and Tactics

In video poker, pay tables drive the strategy. The reason for this is that you want to optimize your game play to make the most amount of money on each hand. It can also help with risky decisions you have to make while playing.

Super Double Bonus Poker uses a modified Jacks or Better strategy that targets potential 4 of a kind hands more. The strategy resembles the strategy for Bonus Poker.

Here's a simplified strategy for Super Double Bonus Poker that's 99% accurate but still playable:

For royal flushes, straight flushes and any 4 of a kind, you should stand pat (don't draw a card).

If you have the following hands, take the following actions:

• 3 Aces – Keep the aces and draw 2 new cards
• 4 to a Royal Flush – Keep the 4 cards and draw 1 new card
• Full House – Stand pat unless you have 3 aces, 2s, 3s or 4s. If you do, discard the pair and try to draw to make the 4 of a kind.
• Flush – Stand pat in this hand unless you only have 1 non sequential card. This that is the case, discard the odd card and try for the straight flush.
• Straight – Stand pat unless you're 1 card off from making a straight flush, then discard the odd card.
• 3 of a Kind – Keep the 3 cards and draw 2 new cards.
• 4 to a Straight Flush – Discard the odd card and draw a new card to try and make the straight flush.
• Pair of Aces – Keep the aces and draw 3 new cards.
• Two Pair – Hold both pairs and draw 1 new card.
• High Pair (Js, Qs, or Ks) – Hold the pair and draw 3 new cards.
• 3 to a Royal Flush – Hold the 3 cards and draw 2 new cards.
• 4 to a Flush – Hold the 4 cards and draw 1 new card
• KQJ10 Unsuited – Discard the odd cards and draw a new one.
• Low Pair (2s through 10s) – Hold the pair and draw 3 new cards.
• 4 to an Outside Straight – Hold the 4 cards and draw 1 new card
• 3 to a Straight Flush – Hold the 3 cards and draw 2 new cards.
• AKQJ Unsuited – Hold these cards and draw 1 new card
• 4 to an Inside Straight with 3 High Cards – Hold the 3 cards and draw 2 new ones.
• Unsuited JQK – Hold the lowest 2 and draw 3 new cards.
• Unsuited JQ – Hold and draw 3 new cards
• KQ, KJ Unsuited – Hold and draw 3 new cards.
• J10 Suited – Hold and draw 3 new cards
• AK, AQ, AJ Unsuited -Hold and draw 3 new cards
• Ace – Hold and draw 4 new cards.
• K10, Q10 Suited – Hold and draw 3 new cards
• J, Q or K – Hold and draw 4 new cards
• Nothing – Draw 5 new cards

This strategy works for Super Double Bonus Poker, but needs to be adjusted for Super Double Double Bonus Poker. The main adjustments will be the kicker cards on 4 of a kinds. Since the kicker cards figure into the pay tables, aim for the best kicker card you can get to get the highest pay out.

With a focus on 4 of a kind hands, Super Double Bonus Poker has the potential for big pay outs and more ways to win. Super Double Double Bonus Poker is similar but pays extra for the kickers in play.

You can find free versions of this game to play online. This is a good idea. Get familiar with the game and how it plays before risking real money.

How to score big payouts while avoiding the pitfalls

By Henry Tamburin

The larger payoffs come at a price; namely, the payoff for two pair is only even money (or 1 to 1). By transferring some of the game's payouts from the more frequent two pair to the less frequent four-of-a-kind, it becomes a much more volatile game.

Double Double Bonus Poker (DDB) is the most popular video poker game in the country. That's because it's possible to hit several big payouts besides the royal flush, and this draws players to the game. Unfortunately, there are also some pitfalls to playing DDB, which most players are not aware of.

Table 1 summarizes the different pay schedules for DDB that you are likely to encounter. The first thing that should jump out at you is the amount of the payoffs for four-of-a-kind hands. They are rather large payoffs, especially if the fifth card in the hand (the 'kicker') is a specific card.

For example, the payoff for four Aces is 160 times your bet but if the kicker is a 2, 3, or 4, the payoff jumps to 400 coins. (That's a 2000-coin payoff, or one-half the payoff for a royal flush, betting the maximum of five coins.) Likewise, the payoffs for four 2s, 3s, and 4s increases from 80 to 160 coins times your bet with an Ace, 2, 3, or 4 kicker. These mini-jackpots are the magnet that attracts players to this game.

What most players don't understand is the larger payoffs come at a price; namely, the payoff for two pair is only even money (or 1 to 1). By transferring some of the game's payouts from the more frequent two pair to the less frequent four-of-a-kind, it becomes a much more volatile game (more about this shortly).

Tabl1 also summarizes the ER for the different DDB pay schedules (bottom of each column). The best DDB game pays 10 coins for a full house and 6 coins for a flush per coin played (see Table 1). The Expected Return (ER) for 10/6 DDB is 100.07%, meaning the player would have a tiny advantage over the house if he played every hand perfectly.

There are many casinos in the Las Vegas area that offer 10/6 DDB. (Just go to either www.vpfree2.com or the video poker page on www.lasvegasadvisor.com to obtain a list of casinos that offer 10/6 DDB at different denominations.) Unfortunately, 10/6 DDB is not readily available in other areas of the country. (Partly the reason for this in that in some gaming jurisdictions, casinos can't offer a game where the ER is over 100%). Nevertheless, it behooves you to find a casino that has at least the 9/6 DDB pay schedule, which has a 98.98% ER. (I wouldn't recommend playing the 9/5 or 8/5 DDB games because the ERs are woeful. Again, check www.vpfree2.com for a list of casinos outside Las Vegas that offer 9/6 DDB.)

The high volatility of DDB results in most players going broke rather quickly if they are not lucky enough to hit one of the high payoff hands. In other words, most players play DDB undercapitalized. For example, supposed you were to play 9/6 Double Double Bonus instead of the much less volatile 8/5 Bonus Poker (BP). Both games have roughly a 99% expected return (ER) but the variance for 9/6 DDB is much higher (41.99) compared to 8/5 BP (20.90) Let's assume you have a $200 bankroll and you want to play for two hours (1000 hands). By using the bankroll function in the Video Poker for Winners software program, you can determine what your chances are of going broke for each game. The results are:

Playing the low-volatile 8/5 Bonus Poker, you will lose your $200 stake only 2.55% of the time on average (that's roughly 1 out of every 40 sessions).

Playing the more volatile 9/6 Double Double Bonus Poker, you will lose your $200 stake 28.66% of the time (that's roughly 11 out of every 40 sessions you'll tap out).

This means you are 11-times more likely to tap out with your $200 bankroll if you play 9/6 DDB instead of 8/5 BP. The point is this: Video poker games that are highly volatile (such as Double Double Bonus) require more bankroll to prevent going broke. (Also, your 'emotional' bankroll will be tested in games that are highly volatile because you can experience some long 'dry spells'.) Let me repeat this so it sinks in: DDB is very volatile.

Assuming you have the bankroll and the stomach to play DDB, you should master the playing strategy before you risk any money. The playing strategy for DDB is tricky because of the importance of the ace (see my Tip of the Month). You'll find a playing strategy for DDB on the video poker page at www.wizardofodds.com. You should also consider practicing the strategy at home with video poker training software until your playing accuracy is at least 99% before risking money in a casino. (I recommend Video Poker For Winners or Optimum Video Poker training software, both available on my web site.) I also recommend that you purchase the DDB strategy card by Dancer and Daily and take it with you when you play so that if you are not sure how to play a hand, you can refer to the strategy card.

TABLE 1

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Schedule

Payout Per Coin Played

Two Doubles Poker Games

Poker Two Doubles

* 4000 coins for a five-coin royal flush

Tamburin Tip of the Month

Two pair is a hand that contains two cards of one rank, two cards of another rank and one card of a third rank (the kicker), such as J ♥ J ♣ 4 ♣ 4 ♠ 9 ♥ ('two pair, jacks and fours' or 'two pair, jacks over fours' or 'jacks up'). It ranks below three of a kind and above one pair. Who wins when two players have a flush? For example, say the first player also has two pair, one in their hand (two 3's), and one on the board (two 8's). The second player has AQ, with the same pair on the board (two 8's). Player one completes the flush with one of the threes in their hand. Player two completes the flush with the ace in their hand.

Super Double Bonus Poker is a common video poker variation which pays off more for certain varieties of a 4 of a kind. Like almost all other variants, the game is loosely based on 5 card draw, but it's played on a machine.

This page includes details about how to play, what the odds are, how the pay tables affect the odds, and what the appropriate strategy for playing is. We've also included details for Super Double Double Bonus.

How to Play Super Double Bonus Poker

Two Doubles Poker Rules

All video poker games have essentially the same gameplay. They're almost all based on 5 card draw, for one thing. The main differences have to do with the pay tables and hand rankings in use. These affect the correct strategy for which cards to keep and which ones to throw away.

Two Doubles Poker Game

To play, you start by choosing how many coins you want to bet. You can choose anywhere from 1 to 5 coins, but you should always bet 5 coins. That's because the top payout for the game goes up when you play for 5 coins. The royal flush is the best possible hand, and it pays 250 to 1 unless you're playing for 5 coins. In that case, it pays 800 to 1.

The game then deals you a 5 card hand on the screen. You can keep or discard any combination of these cards. In the most basic version, you play one hand, but recent games allow you to play as many as 100 hands at one time.

After you've chosen the cards you're going to keep (if any), you press the deal button again. The computer deals you replacement cards for the ones you decided to discard.

The game then compares each hand to the pay table and awards you credits appropriately.

But video poker is not the same as standard poker. In this game, the payouts for a 4 of a kind vary based on the ranking of the 4 of a kind. They also vary based on your kicker. You'll notice that a straight flush is a better hand in this game than some 4 of a kind hands, and some 4 of a kind hands are better than a straight flush. (This is a significant difference from standard poker.)

Here are the specific hand rankings for Super Double Bonus Poker:

• Royal Flush – Also known as an ace high straight flush or a royal straight flush, it is the highest hand in poker. It contains a suited ace, king queen, jack and 10.
• 4 of a Kind (Aces) – Also known as quad aces, this hand is 4 aces of all 4 suits.
• 4 of a Kind (Jacks, Queens, Kings) – 4 each of jacks, queens or kings of all 4 suits. Also known as quad jacks, quad queens or quad kings.
• 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, 4s) – 4 each of deuces, 3s or 4s. Also known as quad 2s or quad deuces, quad 3s, or quad 4s.
• Straight Flush – 5 sequential cards with matching suits.
• 4 of a Kind (5s through 10s) – 4 matching ranked cards from 5 to 10. They can also be referred to as a quad followed by the rank, such as quad 10s.
• Full House – Also known as a boat, a full house is 3 cards of one matching rank and 2 cards of another matching rank.
• Flush – 5 suited, non-sequential ranked cards.
• Straight – 5 sequential rank cards of different suits
• 3 of a Kind – 3 cards of matching rank with 2 other cards that are non-sequential.
• 2 Pair – 2 cards of the same rank and 2 other cards of antler matching rank along with one kicker card
• 1 Pair (Jacks or Better) – 2 matching jacks, queens, kings or aces. The hand will contain 3 kicker cards.

Super Double Double Double Bonus Poker follows the same general framework for card ranking but has some minor differences. The rankings for this game are:

• Royal Flush
• 4 of a Kind (Aces) w/Ace, 2, 3, or 4
• 4 of a Kind (Aces) w/Jack, Queen or King
• 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, or 4s) w/Ace, 2, 3, or 4
• 4 of a Kind (Jacks, Queens, or Kings) w/Jack, Queen, King, Ace
• 4 of a Kind (Aces)
• 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, 4s)
• Straight Flush
• 4 of a Kind 5s through Kings)
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• 3 of a Kind
• 2 Pair
• 1 Pair (Jacks or Better)

As you can see in Super Double Double Bonus Poker, the rankings include the kicker cards (the unmatched card) in the hand rankings. That's where the second double bonus comes in.

All bonus poker games focus on higher pay outs for 4 of a kind hands, and Super Double Bonus Poker is no exception. In this case, all 4 of a kind hands pay out more than a straight flush, which is usually ranked higher than 4 of a kind in traditional poker. Because of this, the lower ranked hands pay out less than a standard hand of Jacks or Better poker.

Here's one common pay table for Super Double Bonus Poker:

We also mentioned that you can expect a different pay table for Super Double Double Bonus Poker. This is because of the addition of kicker cards in the pay tables. The pay table for this game is:

Casino games like blackjack and craps measure odds in terms of the 'house edge'. But when you're dealing with gambling machines, the odds are measured in 'return to player' or 'payback percentage'.

The house edge is the percentage of each bet that the casino expects to keep over the long run (thousands of bets). The expected return is the percentage of each bet that the casino expects to pay back to the player in winnings over the long run.

• If you're playing blackjack, and the house edge is 1%, the casino expects you to lose an average of $1 for every $100 you bet.
• If you're playing video poker, and the expected return is 99%, the casino expects to pay you $99 in winnings every time you bet $100.

In both cases, if you play long enough, your losses should start to resemble the mathematically expected results.

You can also use these numbers to compare games by how much you expect them to cost you to play. You multiply the amount you're betting by the average number of bets you're making per hour. Multiply that by the house edge, and you have an expected hourly loss rate.

The expected return for Super Double Bonus Poker ranges from 96.87% to 99.69%. The most common variant of the game will pay 98.68%. These numbers assume that you're using perfect strategy. If you don't play well, you can expect your return to drop by 4% or more.

Super Double Bonus Poker Strategies and Tactics

In video poker, pay tables drive the strategy. The reason for this is that you want to optimize your game play to make the most amount of money on each hand. It can also help with risky decisions you have to make while playing.

Super Double Bonus Poker uses a modified Jacks or Better strategy that targets potential 4 of a kind hands more. The strategy resembles the strategy for Bonus Poker.

Here's a simplified strategy for Super Double Bonus Poker that's 99% accurate but still playable:

For royal flushes, straight flushes and any 4 of a kind, you should stand pat (don't draw a card).

If you have the following hands, take the following actions:

• 3 Aces – Keep the aces and draw 2 new cards
• 4 to a Royal Flush – Keep the 4 cards and draw 1 new card
• Full House – Stand pat unless you have 3 aces, 2s, 3s or 4s. If you do, discard the pair and try to draw to make the 4 of a kind.
• Flush – Stand pat in this hand unless you only have 1 non sequential card. This that is the case, discard the odd card and try for the straight flush.
• Straight – Stand pat unless you're 1 card off from making a straight flush, then discard the odd card.
• 3 of a Kind – Keep the 3 cards and draw 2 new cards.
• 4 to a Straight Flush – Discard the odd card and draw a new card to try and make the straight flush.
• Pair of Aces – Keep the aces and draw 3 new cards.
• Two Pair – Hold both pairs and draw 1 new card.
• High Pair (Js, Qs, or Ks) – Hold the pair and draw 3 new cards.
• 3 to a Royal Flush – Hold the 3 cards and draw 2 new cards.
• 4 to a Flush – Hold the 4 cards and draw 1 new card
• KQJ10 Unsuited – Discard the odd cards and draw a new one.
• Low Pair (2s through 10s) – Hold the pair and draw 3 new cards.
• 4 to an Outside Straight – Hold the 4 cards and draw 1 new card
• 3 to a Straight Flush – Hold the 3 cards and draw 2 new cards.
• AKQJ Unsuited – Hold these cards and draw 1 new card
• 4 to an Inside Straight with 3 High Cards – Hold the 3 cards and draw 2 new ones.
• Unsuited JQK – Hold the lowest 2 and draw 3 new cards.
• Unsuited JQ – Hold and draw 3 new cards
• KQ, KJ Unsuited – Hold and draw 3 new cards.
• J10 Suited – Hold and draw 3 new cards
• AK, AQ, AJ Unsuited -Hold and draw 3 new cards
• Ace – Hold and draw 4 new cards.
• K10, Q10 Suited – Hold and draw 3 new cards
• J, Q or K – Hold and draw 4 new cards
• Nothing – Draw 5 new cards

This strategy works for Super Double Bonus Poker, but needs to be adjusted for Super Double Double Bonus Poker. The main adjustments will be the kicker cards on 4 of a kinds. Since the kicker cards figure into the pay tables, aim for the best kicker card you can get to get the highest pay out.

With a focus on 4 of a kind hands, Super Double Bonus Poker has the potential for big pay outs and more ways to win. Super Double Double Bonus Poker is similar but pays extra for the kickers in play.

You can find free versions of this game to play online. This is a good idea. Get familiar with the game and how it plays before risking real money.

How to score big payouts while avoiding the pitfalls

By Henry Tamburin

The larger payoffs come at a price; namely, the payoff for two pair is only even money (or 1 to 1). By transferring some of the game's payouts from the more frequent two pair to the less frequent four-of-a-kind, it becomes a much more volatile game.

Double Double Bonus Poker (DDB) is the most popular video poker game in the country. That's because it's possible to hit several big payouts besides the royal flush, and this draws players to the game. Unfortunately, there are also some pitfalls to playing DDB, which most players are not aware of.

Table 1 summarizes the different pay schedules for DDB that you are likely to encounter. The first thing that should jump out at you is the amount of the payoffs for four-of-a-kind hands. They are rather large payoffs, especially if the fifth card in the hand (the 'kicker') is a specific card.

For example, the payoff for four Aces is 160 times your bet but if the kicker is a 2, 3, or 4, the payoff jumps to 400 coins. (That's a 2000-coin payoff, or one-half the payoff for a royal flush, betting the maximum of five coins.) Likewise, the payoffs for four 2s, 3s, and 4s increases from 80 to 160 coins times your bet with an Ace, 2, 3, or 4 kicker. These mini-jackpots are the magnet that attracts players to this game.

What most players don't understand is the larger payoffs come at a price; namely, the payoff for two pair is only even money (or 1 to 1). By transferring some of the game's payouts from the more frequent two pair to the less frequent four-of-a-kind, it becomes a much more volatile game (more about this shortly).

Tabl1 also summarizes the ER for the different DDB pay schedules (bottom of each column). The best DDB game pays 10 coins for a full house and 6 coins for a flush per coin played (see Table 1). The Expected Return (ER) for 10/6 DDB is 100.07%, meaning the player would have a tiny advantage over the house if he played every hand perfectly.

There are many casinos in the Las Vegas area that offer 10/6 DDB. (Just go to either www.vpfree2.com or the video poker page on www.lasvegasadvisor.com to obtain a list of casinos that offer 10/6 DDB at different denominations.) Unfortunately, 10/6 DDB is not readily available in other areas of the country. (Partly the reason for this in that in some gaming jurisdictions, casinos can't offer a game where the ER is over 100%). Nevertheless, it behooves you to find a casino that has at least the 9/6 DDB pay schedule, which has a 98.98% ER. (I wouldn't recommend playing the 9/5 or 8/5 DDB games because the ERs are woeful. Again, check www.vpfree2.com for a list of casinos outside Las Vegas that offer 9/6 DDB.)

The high volatility of DDB results in most players going broke rather quickly if they are not lucky enough to hit one of the high payoff hands. In other words, most players play DDB undercapitalized. For example, supposed you were to play 9/6 Double Double Bonus instead of the much less volatile 8/5 Bonus Poker (BP). Both games have roughly a 99% expected return (ER) but the variance for 9/6 DDB is much higher (41.99) compared to 8/5 BP (20.90) Let's assume you have a $200 bankroll and you want to play for two hours (1000 hands). By using the bankroll function in the Video Poker for Winners software program, you can determine what your chances are of going broke for each game. The results are:

Playing the low-volatile 8/5 Bonus Poker, you will lose your $200 stake only 2.55% of the time on average (that's roughly 1 out of every 40 sessions).

Playing the more volatile 9/6 Double Double Bonus Poker, you will lose your $200 stake 28.66% of the time (that's roughly 11 out of every 40 sessions you'll tap out).

This means you are 11-times more likely to tap out with your $200 bankroll if you play 9/6 DDB instead of 8/5 BP. The point is this: Video poker games that are highly volatile (such as Double Double Bonus) require more bankroll to prevent going broke. (Also, your 'emotional' bankroll will be tested in games that are highly volatile because you can experience some long 'dry spells'.) Let me repeat this so it sinks in: DDB is very volatile.

Assuming you have the bankroll and the stomach to play DDB, you should master the playing strategy before you risk any money. The playing strategy for DDB is tricky because of the importance of the ace (see my Tip of the Month). You'll find a playing strategy for DDB on the video poker page at www.wizardofodds.com. You should also consider practicing the strategy at home with video poker training software until your playing accuracy is at least 99% before risking money in a casino. (I recommend Video Poker For Winners or Optimum Video Poker training software, both available on my web site.) I also recommend that you purchase the DDB strategy card by Dancer and Daily and take it with you when you play so that if you are not sure how to play a hand, you can refer to the strategy card.

TABLE 1

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Schedule

Payout Per Coin Played

Two Doubles Poker Games

Poker Two Doubles

* 4000 coins for a five-coin royal flush

Tamburin Tip of the Month

You are playing Double Double Bonus and are dealt the following two hands. How would you play them?

You should break up the full house in the first hand, hold only the three aces, and draw two more cards. In the second hand, you break up the two pair, hold the pair of aces, and draw three cards.

Two Doubles Poker Card Game

————————————————————————————————————-

Henry Tamburin is a blackjack and video poker expert. He is the host of the smartgaming.com website and the editor of the Blackjack Insider newsletter (for a free three-month subscription, visit www.bjinsider.com/free). For a free copy of his Casino Gambling Catalog, which contains books, strategy cards, and software for video poker players, call toll free 1-888-353-3234, or visit the web store at smartgaming.com.