Video Poker Forum

In TDB/DDB you're holding 3 to a royal with a pair of aces.........what is the correct play?

The pair of aces is the correct play.

I once had this hand.  Kept the 3 to the royal and caught it!Name of the game is catch the royal!!!

Name of the game is catch the royal!!!

 Does that mean if you're dealt four aces, you discard three of them to go for the royal?

I once had this hand.  Kept the 3 to the royal and caught it!Name of the game is catch the royal!!!


In TDB, I hold the Aces. AWAK = 4,000 coin same as RF.

The only time I break up a pair of aces is if one of them makes 4 to rf, in both TDB and DDB.  3 to royal is tempting but then I catch myself lol.

Even without an Aces premium, such as 9/6 JoB, the correct play is the high pair.

I once had this hand.  Kept the 3 to the royal and caught it!Name of the game is catch the royal!!!
You will catch the royal once every 1081 times you draw 2 cards to a 3-card royal flush. Although how much better the aces are than the 3-card royal depends on the exact cards and the exact pay table, from 9/6 DDB when you are dealt Ah Ac Kc Tc 5c and hold the suited AKT, you're giving up $3.54 --- assuming you're a 5-coin $1 player.Giving up that much equity for 1081 hands means that even when you hit the royal, you're $3800+ worse off going for the royal than holding the aces. And if perhaps you don't hit the royal "on schedule," you'll be $7800 further behind over those 1081 hands.For 9/6 TDB, the numbers are the same hand are bigger. You lose $4.41 per hand and $4700+ over the 1081-hand "cycle."I know recreational players are less concerned with exactly how much a bad play costs than professional players are --- but this particular error is HUGE and it happens fairly frequently. Anyone making errors this big is also making considerably more errors --- although thankfully this error is larger than most..Practicing using the red-light green-light feature available for Gold members on this site --- or practicing with Video Poker for Winners (or similar product) --- will save you tens of thousands of dollars a year if you're making mistakes like this. Even if you're a recreational player, wouldn't you rather give the casino $10,000 or $20,000 a year less than you're giving them now?Bob

  It is that "catch the royal" mentality that makes it harder to find positive return paytables. The house always has the advantage. I choose to follow protocol rather than "gamble."

  It is that "catch the royal" mentality that makes it harder to find positive return paytables. The house always has the advantage. I choose to follow protocol rather than "gamble."I understood your second sentence --- but if you meant it literally you are very incorrect. I didn't understand either of your other two sentences.Bob