Video Poker Forum

So I was playing five play Double Bonus Deuces Wild Stack 'Em High just now (yep, weekly tournament) and I get dealt a wild royal with two deuces. The game's practically yelling at me to just hold the two deuces for the extra three chances instead of the dealt wild royal. Isn't a dealt wild royal still the correct play even when playing S'EH? No way I'm throwing away a guaranteed 625 credits for a very slim chance at 1k lol.

If you wanted the highest EV play, you made the right choice. But holding just the deuces is not too much worse. You didn't say which ranks were in the wild royal you had and that could theoretically make a difference but it doesn't in this case. If you had an ace among the 3 natural cards, your expected value for 8 hands starting with the deuces was about 603 credits. If you had queen or king high, the number was around 619. So a pretty close choice, maybe closer than you thought(?). The primary reason for the difference between these two values is the high payout for five aces. You have a lower chance at that hand when discarding an ace.

The "slim" probability you suggest is about 12% for getting at least one set of quad deuces. But the variance is pretty high. For all the times that you score at least one set of quad deuces in the case of taking a chance on the pair of deuces when receiving a dealt wild royal, 46% of them will get 4 or more sets. The average payout on 8 hands when getting at least one set of quad deuces is 3882 coins. But you certainly would get fewer than 625 coins a whole lot more often than you would get more. Feast or famine here. A lot of regret when turning 625 coins into 75, but exhilaration when trading for the equivalent of a royal or more.

My strategy with SEH is a dealt 5 of a kind or higher is better to keep for the guaranteed 500. I'd rather take the bird in the hand. Especially since the double deuces doesn't always pan out into anything else.

It's those tough calls in deuces games as to whether or not to keep a decently paying dealt hand versus drawing to the deuces that lead me to the decision to playing triple double bonus instead.

Possibly, since you were playing the tournament, the three deuces might've been a better play. I'm not a tournament player so I'm not sure.

It wasn't three deuces, it was two.

Jstark wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 05, 2020 1:15 pm

Possibly, since you were playing the tournament, the three deuces might've been a better play. I'm not a tournament player so I'm not sure.

I think you're right that when playing in the tournament you should always go for the double deuces because there's very little to lose and much to gain.

However when playing in a real casino (if we ever get the opportunity), my mathematical opinion is keep it if it's a 5 of a kind or higher.

onemoretry wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:07 pm

It wasn't three deuces, it was two.

It seems to me the only way to get into the top 100 is to hit a big score so I always take the chance to hit it big even if I lose a smaller gain. In the end only the big scores will get you into the winner's circle.