DDB Red and Black?

[Mr.Dawes]

I recently found a game at the Scarlet Pearl Casino in Biloxi called DDB Red and Black which is a 9/5 DDB paytable with an extra payout of 40 per coin for a Royal of Red or Black cards. Wizard of odds has this as a 98.57% game, which is .7 better than standard 9/5 DDB. Does anyone know of a place to find a strategy for this game and how it would vary from standard DDB? My instinct is that it would play almost identical to standard DDB. Although a hand like two suited face cards and a 10 of the same color may call for holding the ten.Thanks in advance for any help.BTW, I have now made two trips this new casino and found even more game variety than I did on the first trip. I posted a trip report in the Favorite Casinos Forum. In a couple of weeks I will be there for a two day stay and I plan on compiling a complete list to post here.

[case]

.7 seems like a big jump in payback for just 40 coins if you can only get this on the royal. That is 40 coins every 40,000 hands give or take.

I have never seen this game. I am off to read your trip report now!

[alpax]

.7 seems like a big jump in payback for just 40 coins if you can only get this on the royal. That is 40 coins every 40,000 hands give or take.

I have never seen this game. I am off to read your trip report now!

Not to confuse you with the royal straight payout.

It is 10 through Ace straight with either a mix of all clubs+spades (black) or a mix of all hearts+diamonds (red). It is more common than the royal flush where all the cards have to be of the same suite.

To answer the original question. There is no published strategy for this, this game is rare that no one has bothered to find strategy changes. JB is not bothering to accomodate on his strategy calculator since he would have to start accounting for suits. There are 2.59 million possible ways to draw 5 cards, but just 130k unique 5 card draws with respect to suits and rank.

I suppose if you just play the same 9/5 DDB strategy you will run into the benefit of a slightly extra payout. I hit royal straights many times because it is the only inside straight hold along with KQJ+9 in Jacks or Better you go for.

I could do something to help piece together some strategy situations. I will be busy this week, but JB from Wizard of odds came up with a good blueprint to discover video poker strategies (not many have cracked Ultimate X yet).

[Vman96]

Unfortunately strategy has some significant differences than standard DDB and I've never seen a strategy published.

For example, four to a Black or Red Royal Straight beats any high pair, even Aces, 3 to a Royal, and any standard flush draw.

3 to a colored Royal straight is even more confusing.

Any pair > 3 colored high cards > AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, QJ suited > AKT, AQT, AJT, KQT, KJT colored > Ace, KQ, KJ offsuit

QJT colored > QJ suited/offsuit

And... KQJ, QJT colored > AKQJ >AKQ, AKJ, AQJ colored > AKQT, AKJT, AQJT

Hopefully I didn't make any errors with this...

I have seen it at the Blue Chip casino in Indiana, also at 9/5. Not sure where else. Sorta rare, and only on the newest Game Kings.

[Mr.Dawes]

Hey Alpax and Vman, thanks for the feedback. Nice work on the strategy chart Vman, I appreciate the time you put in. I think I could adapt to those strategy changes easily enough. However, as I read through it I realized that these holds must lengthen the Royal Flush cycle. I might play some on my next trip just for a change but I will probably stick to regular DDB since I know that game well.

[alpax]

Hey Alpax and Vman, thanks for the feedback. Nice work on the strategy chart Vman, I appreciate the time you put in. I think I could adapt to those strategy changes easily enough. However, as I read through it I realized that these holds must lengthen the Royal Flush cycle. I might play some on my next trip just for a change but I will probably stick to regular DDB since I know that game well.



No one has the optimal strategy down pat, but the Video Poker calculator from JB does suggest a longer cycle. The strategy calculator will not handle this because it now has to pay more close attention to the suits.

1 in 40,065.45 for Standard 9/5
1 in 41,132.70 for Red and Black

I personally will play 9/6 standard even if it is at $1 (means less frequent trips). But if 9/5 Standard and Red/Black are both available for quarters, I'd definitely play the benefit of Red/Black.

[EDC1977]

I played a test version of this game about a month ago. I don't remember the paytable or I would gladly divulge. It was to say the least, entertaining. I found myself holding for colors often. Regular 4FL and 4RF hands would ocassionally show up but rarer than the color hands. Strategy for this game would be a bugger.

[Vman96]

But if 9/5 Standard and Red/Black are both available for quarters, I'd definitely play the benefit of Red/Black.

Most people at the Blue Chip in Indiana don't. They offer both versions at 9/5 for quarters+. Pretty sure most people haven't bothered to even look at it. They loaded roughly 20 variants on their game kings. I'll admit though, I'm impressed with the number of people I see playing 7/5 Super DDB (98.61%) there though. Best game on the unit is 7/5 Super Aces (98.85%), but that one is also not played often.

Edit: And yeah the royal cycle is stretched just a bit as alpax points out. Because you do sometimes hold 3 red/black royal straight cards instead of 2 to a royal. And also 4 red/black royal straight cards over 3 to a royal. Added that into my suggestion post too.

[Mr.Dawes]

Thanks for the Royal cycle info Alpax.  It is cool that people like yourself and Vman96 and others take time to share your knowledge of VP. BTW, who is JB?

[djc32]

Alpax,  It is cool that people like yourself and Vman96 and others take time to share your knowledge of VP.

I agree MD. And they both know how to write up a good trip report too.