DEAL DRAW POKER DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS STRATEGY

The second of the four ‘Deal Draw Poker’ variations is ‘Double Double Bonus’. In our first strategy article on this game we covered ‘Double Bonus‘. In the next two articles, we’ll look at the ‘Triple Double Bonus‘ and ‘Deuces Wild‘ variations. It’s not a surprise that three of the four versions of this game are hybrids with the enduringly popular ‘Bonus Poker’ series. ‘Bonus Poker‘ is arguably the most popular video poker varietal in history. It’s a natural to combine with the newest trend of ‘extra bet bonus‘ games that have become very popular in recent years.

‘Deal Draw Poker Double Double Bonus’ is yet another of the extra bet bonus genre or as I like to call it ‘Bonus 2.0‘. This type of game has been the most popular variation of video poker during the past decade.

The trend in video poker appears to be at one extreme or the other…

…either new games are the ‘old standards‘ like ‘Jacks or Better‘ or ‘Deuces Wild‘ or else they’re the latest in all manner of ‘extra bet bonus‘ rulesets. It’s understandable why slot machines.

The premise of the ‘extra bet bonus‘ games is that the player is required to add an additional bet above his ‘per hand‘ stake to activate the bonus feature. Some games only require an additional quarter but the ‘Deal Draw Poker‘ series requires an additional 5 coins per hand to activate it’s bonus feature (so 10 coins per hand). Once the bonus feature is activated the player receives a multiplier on each hand or some other type of enhanced payout.

You can technically play this game as ‘regular‘ ‘casino or online that will allow you to do so. Most of the time you’ll get a better payback this way. That’s definitely true in the case of this game which doesn’t offer an especially good return. The game is offered in three, five or ten hand versions. With max coins in the ‘full pay‘ variation of ‘Deal Draw Poker Double Bonus‘ offers a return of 96.63%.

THE ‘DEAL DRAW POKER’ BONUS FORMAT

In all variations of the ‘Deal Draw Poker‘ series the format is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. At the beginning of the hand, the player bets 10 coins (5 for the hand and 5 for the ‘bonus’) and is dealt either 3, 5 or 10 rows of cards. This happens in the usual multihand format, with the player selecting the hold cards from the bottom hand which are then repeated on the additional hands. When he’s done, he’ll draw to all of the hands.

The big difference is that a player is paid separately for winning hands on the deal. He may be paid for additional hands on the deal that he won’t be paid for in the ‘draw‘ pay table—for example, in this game he’s paid 5 coins with max bet for a pair of 5 through 10. After he is paid for the opening hand he draws his hand as usual and gets paid for the ‘draw‘ hand if applicable.

DEAL DRAW DOUBLE BONUS POKER STRATEGY

The strategy for ‘Double Double Bonus Poker‘ is essentially the same as ‘Bonus Poker‘. There are a few adjustments in the hand hierarchy to reflect the higher payout on 4 aces and the lower payout on two pair. It’s similar to basic ‘Jacks or Better‘ except it seeks to minimize the ‘lower paying‘ hands while giving a player a better opportunity to hit the 4K bonuses. The only real difference between ‘Double Double Bonus Poker‘ and ‘Bonus Poker‘ is the payout on the 4K hands. The two pair payout is also reduced.

• Royal Flush
• Straight Flush
• Any Four of a Kind with or without ‘winning’ kicker
• 4 to a Royal Flush
• Three Aces
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a Kind (2-K)
• 4 to a Straight Flush
• Pair of Aces
• Two Pair
• 3 to a Royal Flush (KQJ)
• High Pair (JQK)
• 3 to a Royal Flush (AKQ, AKJ, AQJ, KQT, KJT, QJT)
• 4 to a Flush
• 3 to a Royal Flush (AKT, AQT, AJT)
• 4 to an outside straight
• Low Pair
• AKQJ Unsuited
• 3 to a straight flush
• 2 Suited High Cards
• 4 to an inside straight w/ three high cards
• Unsuited JQK
• Unsuited JQ
• Ace
• J10 Suited
• KQ, KJ Unsuited
• KT, QT Suited
• Jack, King or Queen
• 4 To an Inside Straight
• Discard Everything

FINAL NOTE ABOUT STRATEGY

As is the case of all ‘Bonus Poker‘ variations the key is to shoot for the Four of a Kind hands. The presence of the ‘Deal Draw Poker‘ feature doesn’t change this. In this game, you need to be mindful of the kicker. Some video poker experts holding an appropriate three of a kind with a winning kicker. For example:

2D 2C 2H AD X

The strategy above doesn’t delineate this practice. I’ve personally used the ‘hold the kicker with 3K’ method for years with good success.