Super Double Double Bonus

[daily_double]

I been playing BP at my local casino for about 6 months now. I just started learning VP maybe 8 or 9 months ago when I decided to buy VPW software and the book that goes along with it. The reason I chose BP is because of the low volatility and higher return % (8/5 here) . I just felt at the time I was learning, that this was the game to go with. I was correct in my assumption as I was comfortable, have done well, and am confident playing max quarters.   There is only one other game here that would have a better theoretical return, and that's 8/5 SDDB. All the other VP games offered are in the 94-97 % range and I check them all weekly. SDDB is a 1/2 % higher return than my BP. The thing I love most about BP is that more often than not, I go home a little ahead, and put 3-5k points on the players club card. I am just really curious about the volatility of SDDB before I decide to try and learn it. Or if I even should learn it . Am I going to go home broke every session for a month or 2 ?? I actually do pretty well with BP, which is why I got started thinking " hey, a 1/2 % is a 1/2 % ! " I would appreciate and love to hear opinions from any and all . I should mention, I am a rec player, quarters, 5-10 hours a week, and there is only one casino available to me. Thanks

[BillyJoe]

You need to first decide, DD, WHY you are playing VP. If you are playing for profit, that will be tough in the long run on any VP game. If you are playing to accumulate casino Reward Credits, then a low volatility game, like BP, is a good fit. If you are playing for entertainment, then you need to decide on which games you have the most fun.
 

I would suggest you take a part of your gaming bankroll, and try some higher volatility games to see if you like them.

[chattycattty]

I been playing BP at my local casino for 6 about months now. I just started learning VP maybe 8 or 9 months ago when I decided to buy VPW software and the book that goes along with it. The reason I chose BP is because of the low volatility and higher return % (8/5 here) . I just felt at the time I was learning, that this was the game to go with. I was correct in my assumption as I was comfortable, have done well, and am confident playing max quarters.   There is only one other game here that would have a better theoretical return, and that's 8/5 SDDB. All the other VP games offered are in the 94-97 % range and I check them all weekly. SDDB is a 1/2 % higher return than my BP. The thing I love most about BP is that more often than not, I go home a little ahead, and put 3-5k points on the players club card. I am just really curious about the volatility before I decide to try and learn it. Or if I even should learn it . Am I going to go home broke every session for a month or 2 ?? I actually do pretty well with BP, which is why I got started thinking " hey, a 1/2 % is a 1/2 % ! " I would appreciate and love to hear opinions from any and all . I should mention, I am a rec player, quarters, 5-10 hours a week, and there is only one casino available to me. Thanks

Like you, I prefer BP because of the low volatility and the ability to grind out points.  If you add in the freeplay and other perks, BP or JOB is a low stress way to break even at the casino and when the occasional royal flush shows up  go home with a little extra money in your pocket.
 
I would encourage you to learn DDB and Dueces Wild.  This website is a great place to learn to play these games along with the training software you purchased.   Since you have access to all of this I would practice at home until you are comfortable and not making many mistakes. 
 
As to the volatility, once you practice a couple of sessions at home you will get a good feeling for whether you are comfortable with it.  In DDB for instance the hits are fewer and further apart, but when you get Aces with a kicker, you get $500 instead of $31.25.  The only problem is that the 4OAK's only come on average every 423 hands. 
 
Best of luck and continued success.

[Vman96]

It depends on your goals and your bankroll limits. If you want to be there for a few hours and don't plan to have more than $200 on you, then SDDB probably isn't for you. Also is SDDB on the same unit as the BP? If not, it's definitely possible that the SDDB unit may not return nearly as much for you in terms of mailers, so that wouldn't be a good thing either.

[DAAnMAAn]

Does your casino offer 9/7 Double Bonus Poker? (Assuming they don't offer 10/7 DBP). If so, I've found that's a nice go between the low volitility game bonus poker and the high volitility game Double Double Bonus. 9/7 DBP still offers around the same expected return as Bonus Poker (9/7 DBP gives 99.10% ER versus BP giving 99.17% ER). Variance for 9/7 DBP is 28.5% while BP variance is 20.9%, not that big of a jump. Keep in mind 9/6 DDB is 41.9% variance while 9/6 Triple Double Bonus is a whopping
100.1% variance!
So your swings will get more and more wild as you move up in variance for sure.
 BIG WINS....and BIG LOSSES. Can you stomache it? I dropped $750 dollars in 90 minutes once playing single line quarters 10/6 Double Double Bonus. I've also won approximately $1200 dollars in about 60 minutes once playing 10/6 Double Double Bonus single line quarters and never once hit a royal (hit two quad A with kicker and a bunch of other stuff). Welcome to Variance.
But variety is the spice of life and I found that, at least for me, I can't stick to one game for too long without sampling other games.
Goals and what one is accomplishing plays a part for sure in selecting games. I'm tending to like more middle of the road games right now, been doing nicely playing bonus poker deluxe 9/6 (each quad is worth 400 units), had big ups and downs on 9/6 JOB (lowest variance around, at least for some people)...and dabbling a little bit on 3 and 5 play 9/7 DBP, 8/5 BP, and single line 10/7 DBP....but haven't really been playing alot of DDB and TDB, due to my stomache pains from the highs and lows.
 

[daily_double]

8/5 Double Bonus here, so it is unplayable for me (94.19 %). I play at the Hollywood Toledo, a newer place, so I guess they have to pay for it somehow, and the pay schedules reflect that. For me,only 2 games are playable here at Hollywood, 8/5 Bonus poker and 8/5 Super Double Double . Since I am fairly new , I am only paying attention to one VP author/authority, and that's Bob Dancer, who suggests sticking to a game that pays over 98% for the best chance of breaking even. Bonus Poker and Super Double Double are the only games that meet that criteria. I keep a little piece of paper in my wallet with all games written on it with pay schedules and check the games weekly to see if they upgrade.

I am with you on the variety deal. I like the 3, 5, and 10 plays too. I have had 4 royals since I started playing and got them all on those machines. And, like you, I have since found out I am not too crazy about the higher variance games. I like to hear the machine singing to me a little more often.

Here is a funny story I can share about this thread I started here. After I received the replies, I decided to go ahead and learn the game. It was not too difficult to get it down. SO I go to the casino, sit to start playing Super Double Double, and I am dealt 4 aces with kicker on second hand...lol....Dealt !!......5 minutes later I drew into the same thing.....same machine. But needless to say, its not that easy as I haven't hit squat on that game since....lol..so I think I am now officially retired from Super Double Double
Thanks to all who have replied to my question

[Vman96]

Toledo offered 8/5 SDDB for quarters? I'm surprised by that. At least you hit one $500 win though. As for Double Bonus, you should be able to find higher than 8/5/4. If they offer Double Bonus on Super Times Pay machines, it HAS to be better than 8/5/4. The lowest allowable setting on those units is 9/5/4, but still horrible obviously.

[daily_double]

Yes, 8/5 SDDB for quarters, and I do not know about other denominations . It seems to be the most popular game. Thanks for the heads up about the super times pay. I have avoided that game for a few months after they downgraded the BP in that one to 6/5. They seem to be playing games with the pay schedules here, perhaps trying to confuse people. Or maybe they are confused, I don't know. A few months ago they upgraded BP to the 8/5/35 (99.66%) for quarters and dollars, but it only lasted for a week or 2, then changed back to regular 8/5. That's for .25 & 1$. 50 & 2.00 is 8/5/30. The weird thing too is they left one machine at 8/5/35.

     Thanks again for the heads up, I thought I was keeping tabs of things, but now I know I obviously am not. I am going to go thru every type of machine and game offered tonight . Appreciate the suggestion. Thanks

[Vman96]

I'd much rather play 35/8/5 Bonus than 8/5 SDDB if it's still available. This is the game I play at my local casino (Hollywood St. Louis). They have both games. They also have 99.8% Triple Bonus Plus. Still play 35/8/5 Bonus because of less variance, and possibly better bounceback. The 35/8/5 Bonus is a multiunit game with very shortpay on nickels/dimes. The 9/5 Triple Bonus Plus is a unit all by itself with that payback advertised with an overhead sign.

As for the STP though, I highly doubt any of the games are very playable, 6/5 Bonus is likely the best game they'll offer. They're just better payouts than 8/5/4 DB. It's a shame too...STP is like crack. My favorite game easily.

As for variants that have "suprisingly" good paytables, I often see various spin poker games have them. I would double check those. Hollywood Joliet put the best game in Illinois on Spin Poker Deluxe (40/10/6 DDB - 99.96%).    I despise Spin Poker though.