How to play
Double Double Bonus is the video poker game where the fifth card matters. Four of a kind still pays a bonus by rank, as in Double Bonus, but the biggest pays need the right kicker sitting next to the quad.
The machine works like every single-hand draw game. Pick 1 to 5 credits (Bet one), press Deal, or use Bet max for a 5-credit deal in one tap. Tap cards to hold them and press Draw; unheld cards are replaced from the same deck. Every hand is dealt from a new 52-card shuffle.
Hint shows the best hold after an optional ad, and it knows about kickers: the hint compares all 32 holds over every possible draw. You play with virtual credits, 1,000 to start and 1,000 more free whenever you run out.
Pay table
| Hand | Per credit |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 (4,000 at 5 credits) |
| Straight Flush | 50 |
| Four Aces + a 2, 3 or 4 | 400 |
| Four 2s, 3s or 4s + an A, 2, 3 or 4 | 160 |
| Four Aces (other kicker) | 160 |
| Four 2s, 3s or 4s (other kicker) | 80 |
| Four 5s through Kings | 50 |
| Full House | 9 |
| Flush | 6 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 |
| Two Pair | 1 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 |
How kickers work
The kicker is simply the fifth card, the one that isn’t part of the four of a kind.
- Four Aces with a 2, 3 or 4 as the fifth card pay 400 per credit, which is 2,000 at max bet. Any other fifth card leaves you with the regular 160.
- Four 2s, 3s or 4s with an Ace, 2, 3 or 4 as the fifth card pay 160 instead of 80. So 3-3-3-3-A and 3-3-3-3-2 both qualify; 3-3-3-3-K does not.
- Four 5s through Kings pay 50, and the kicker doesn’t matter.
Four Aces with the right kicker are rare: about once every 16,000 hands under best play. The table returns 98.98% with perfect play at 5 credits, exactly counted over all deals and holds, and roughly 44.7% of hands pay something.
Strategy
Kicker hunting is the fun part, but it’s easy to overdo it. Some hands checked with the game’s exact hold values:
Three Aces and a 3 (A♣ A♦ A♥ 3♠ 9♣). Hold only the three Aces. It feels wrong to throw away a qualifying kicker, but the three Aces alone are worth about 12.5 per credit against 11.8 with the 3 attached. Drawing two cards gives more ways to make four Aces and full houses. Triple Double Bonus pays the kicker hand twice as much, and there the answer flips.
Four 3s and a 9. Discard the 9 and draw one card. You keep the 80 no matter what, and any Ace, 2 or 4 turns it into 160. The draw is worth about 100 per credit against 80 for standing.
Four 3s and a 4. Stand. That’s the 160 already.
Aces up (A♣ A♦ 8♣ 8♠ 5♥). Throw the 8s and keep just the Aces: about 1.93 against 1.68 for the two pair. On Double Bonus you’d keep both pairs; here the extra Ace bonus tips it.
A full house of Aces. Break it. Holding A-A-A and drawing two is worth about 12.7 against the guaranteed 9.
Outside these spots, play much like Jacks or Better, and bet 5 credits so the royal pays its full 4,000.
If you enjoy Double Double Bonus Poker, try Double Down Stud or Double Joker Poker next.
