There are just some mistakes one should never make while playing the Double Bonus Poker game. If you're an experienced player, you probably don't make these errors, but you should run through these quickly, anyway, just to make sure. If you're a newcomer to the game, you need to know that there are really two types of beatable Double Bonus games out there, those which pay 50 for 5 on the Full House and those which pay 45 for 5 on that hand. The pay schedule looks like this

When the game pays 50 for 5 on the Full House, we call that the "10/7" version (10 for 1 is the same as 50 for 5) and the one that pays 45 for 5 is a "9/7" version. Proper play on the 10/7 format offers a long term return of 100.17% and the 9/7 pays 99.1%. In a perfect world, the 9/7 version offers a progressive Royal, whereas the 10/7 version is a 'flat top' with only a 4000-coin Royal. But, I have found 9/6/4 versions of the game and I'm sure there are other low-pay machines lurking out there. Now don't confuse Double Bonus with Double-Double Bonus or Double Jackpot Bonus and other variations like that. The only game we're discussing here is either the 10/7 or 9/7 versions of the pay schedule shown above.

And that's the first thing you need to bear in mind about this game: there are big differences in how some fundamental hands should be played due to that change in the payout on the Full House. This is the best example of that:

As Ad 9h 3c 9d
If the Full House pays 10 for 1, the numbers look like this:
Hold Two Pair: 8.8298
Hold Two Aces: 8.8175

But, if the Full House pays 9 for 1, the numbers look like this
Hold Two Pair: 8.4043
Hold A, A: 8.7653

I have a 9/7 dollar game with a progressive Royal and a 9/7 quarter game with progressive 4Ks and a progressive Royal available to me and this is one of the plays I love to make; breaking the two-pair to go for the 'bullets'. Full Houses help keep you alive in this game, but I really enjoy drawing for that 800-coin payout. I think it's safe to say that most players new to the game concentrate on getting the Aces, but you can see that it's a mistake to do so in the full-pay version. However, in the 9/7 game, it's "full speed ahead". In fact, if you hold the two-pair it costs you 0.36 of a coin which is 36 cents in a dollar game and about 6.5 cents in a quarter game.

Here's another one:

What about those pesky 2s,3s, and 4s? They are a tough 4K to nail down, so should we be breaking two-pair to go after them? Let's see:

2s 2h Kc 9h 9d
The numbers in the 9/7 game look like this:
Hold Two Pair: 8.4043
Hold 2, 2: 4.1030

Not even close. In fact, you'd be better off just holding the hand as is; at least you'd get a payoff of 5 for 5 on the two-pair! So, if this is the case with the Full House at 45 for 5, it applies where the pay is 50 for 5 even more.

I know what you're thinking here, a pair of deuces is a 'low' pair; what if we did this with a 'high' pair that guarantees we'll at least get our $$$ back? Let's take a look:

Ks Kd 3c 9h 9d
With the Full House paying 45 for 5, the numbers look like this
Hold Two Pair 8.4043
Hold K, K 7.2390

Breaking up the two-pair to draw to the Kings will cost you 1.17 coins or $1.17 at a dollar game. At a quarter game, it's over 29 cents. Naturally, if the Full House pays 50 for 5, the cost of this error is even more.

So we can draw a conclusion here: Break up two-pair only at a 9/7 game to draw to two Aces; otherwise, always hold it. (The possible exception could be at a 10/7 game with a progressive pay on the four Aces, but I've not seen such an animal. In case you do, the 'breaking' point is 805 coins).

Here's a lovely hand:

As Ad Ah 9h 9d
Aces full! Great hand to start with, but what to do? Hold the 'made' hand, or drop the 9s to draw to the 3 Aces?

Here are the numbers for the 10/7 game:
Hold the Full House: 50.0000
Hold Three Aces: 50.5735

If holding the 3 Aces is the correct play in the 10/7 game, it's obviously the correct play when the Full House is worth only 45 coins. Go for the bullets! That's fine, but what about three 2s,3s, or 4s in a Full House which pays only 45 for 5, a hand that looks like this:

2s 2d 2h 9h 9d
Here are the numbers:
Hold Full House: 45.0000
Hold Trips: 33.2424

'Nuff said. Another conclusion: The only Full House you'll ever break is Aces full and that applies to both the 9/7 and 10/7 games. (Unless the progressive on four 2s,3s, or 4s gets to 700 coins in the 9/7 game, an unlikely event).

Possible Flushes are another area - probably the biggest area - of mistakes made by newcomers and old hands alike in the game of Double Bonus. The pay out on the Full House has little impact here and you should not be playing any version of the game where the Flush pay out is less than 35 for 5. The problems arise here because many of us are used to playing 9/6 Jacks games, so the extra 5 coins in the Flush cause some confusion. Here's a typical example:

Ks Js 3s 10d 8c
Hold K, J, 3: 2.8168
Hold K, J: 2.7758

Admittedly this is not a huge mistake, since it costs you just over 4 cents in a dollar game and a penny in a quarter game, but it's the type of hand you'll see quite often. The frequency of your mistake is what will hurt you here if you make this fundamental error; those pennies add up.

Here's another one:

10s Ks 3s As 9d
Your 'knee-jerk' reaction is, of course, to go for the Royal. Ah, but grasshopper, you'd be wrong on that. Here's why:
Hold 10, K, A: 6.5402
Hold 4 Spades: 7.3404

Yes, I know this is a tough play to make, but it's a somewhat expensive mistake; 80 cents in a dollar game and 20 cents in a quarter game. Just so you know, in a 9/7 game with a progressive Royal, the jackpot has to be at 4900 coins to drop the 3.

Let's try another basic flush play:

2s 2d 3s Js As
Don't let the 'lust for quads' cloud your vision here. The flush draw is the correct play, as the numbers show:
Hold 2,2: 4.0823
Hold 4 spades: 7.3404

How would you play this one?

Kc Kd 5c 2c 7c
Hopefully you're sticking with the high pair, because it's a 'made' hand, so you know you'll get at least 5 for 5. The numbers look like this:
Hold K, K: 7.2303
Hold 4 spades: 6.9149

We can draw a fundamental conclusion here: Hold any high pair over a 4-card flush draw, but break a low pair to go for a Flush.

Straights also cause some confusion to those who are used to the 20 for 5 in the Jacks or Better game; don't forget that it's 25 for 5 in a full-pay Double Bonus game. Here's the biggest fundamental mistake made:

5s 5d 6h 7d 8s
The proper play is to drop one of the 5s and go for the straight. Here's how that looks:
Hold 5,5: 3.6660
Hold 5,6,7,8: 4.2553

No, it doesn't matter which 5 you discard, just do it. Another straight opportunity which may be missed is this one:

5s 2d 7h 8d 9h

Hold 5,7,8,9: 2.1277
Discard all: 1.6485

With an extra 5-coin payout, drawing to inside straights may be worthwhile. I say 'may' here, because this one is different:

5s Qs 7h 8d 9h

Hold Queen only: 2.1956
Hold 5,7,8,9: 2.1277

The presence of any high card (J-A) negates an inside straight draw.

Because straights and flushes are so important in this game, it naturally follows that straight flushes are important, as well. Here's a fundamental play which many miss:

Kc Qd 4h 7h 8h
This is a double-inside straight flush draw, which is the lowest hand one draws to in a 9/6 Jacks or Better game. But here, it has a lot more value:
Hold K, Q: 2.3114
Hold 4, 7, 8: 2.3358

Sure, it's a small difference, only 2 cents in a dollar game, but if you catch that one, you won't miss this one:

Kc Qd 6h 7h 8h
Now we're talking about a difference! I see a lot of players miss this, primarily because they're playing too quickly. Here's what they're missing
Hold Q, K: 2.3114
Hold 6, 7, 8: 3.4274

This mistake is worth $1.10 on a dollar game and 27+ cents on a quarter game.

I could go on and on here, because Double Bonus is a tough game to play accurately. So, you need to practice to avoid these fundamental errors. Next time, we'll cover All American Poker.

See you then.