In many games, with a hand like AAA44 you toss the fours and just hold the aces. This is done on games where four aces pay at least 800. On hands like 999KK, it is almost always best to hold all five cards.

Except in Quick Quads. In Quick Quads, if the rank of the fourth and fifth cards add up to the rank of the trips (like 99954 or 66633), you get paid for the quad.

To help us figure out which full houses to break, let’s look at a modification of the table we used last week. Last week we started with a pair --- this week we’re starting with trips.

Drawing two cards in a 52-card deck you always have 1,081 possible combinations. Discarding the kings from 888KK, in regular video poker you have 46 ways to complete the quad.

In Quick Quads, however, for every unmatched combination that adds up to the main rank (specifically A7, 26, and 35 when the rank of the trips is eight), it adds 16 quads. Although last week each unmatched combination added 32, that was 32 out of 16,215 which is about 0.19%. When we’re adding 16 chances out of 1,081 we have 1.48%, which is 7.5 times larger.

When we have a match combination (such as 88844), there are 6 ways to get the pair of fours. Again this factor is 7.5 times as large as we had it last week.

In last week’s chart we had to consider a “higher” quick quad. That is, when we held 44, we had to consider the chances of ending up with 44888. We do not need to consider that this week because we’re starting with trips.

Quick Quad Combinations to Number of Total
Rank Make the Quick Quad New Quads Quads

Quick Quad Rank	Combinations to Make the Quick Quad	Number of New Quads	Total Quads
A	None	0	46
2	AA	6	52
3	A2	16	62
4	A3, 22	22	68
5	A4, 32	32	78
6	A5, 24, 33	38	84
7	A6, 25, 34	48	94
8	A7, 26, 35, 44	54	100
9	A8, 27, 36, 45	64	110
T	A9, 28, 37, 46, 55	70	116
J	None	0	46
Q	None	0	46

When it comes to breaking full houses, lets first start by stating some facts that should be obvious to thinking players:

The higher the number of total quads in the previous table, the more likely you are to break a full house and just hold the trips. That is, you are more likely to break 999KK than 555KK simply because there are 110 chances to end up with a full house from 999 (more than 10% of the 1,081 total) and “only” 78 chances to end up with a full house from 555. The lower the value of the full house, the more likely you are to break it. That is, if you get 35 or 40 coins for a full house, you’re giving up less by throwing it away than if you get 45 or 50. The higher the return for quads, the more likely you are to break the full house. In Jacks or Better and Bonus Poker, for example, you only receive 125 for most or all of the quads. In many other games you receive at 250 for the same quads. You break fewer full houses in the first case than the second. In games where trips pay 10 rather than 15 (like Triple Double Bonus), you tend break fewer full houses. When the pair is higher in rank than the trips, you tend to break the full house more. That is, you’re more likely to just hold the eights from 888KK than you are from 88833. The reason is that it will be harder to get the 88853 Quick Quad when two threes are missing from the pack.

Most players like simple rules --- such as ALWAYS keep a dealt full house or ALWAYS break the full house and keep the trips. Unfortunately in this game the rules are by necessity more complicated than that. So we have to figure it out for ourselves. I’m trying to give you the tools to do this, but I’m not taking you all the way. If you’re going to get good at this game, you’re going to need to work to get there.

If this game catches on, it may very well be included in later versions of “Video Poker for Winners.” But that day isn’t here yet. If you want to play this game at an advantage, you’re going to need to work out the plays for yourself.

One thing that is becoming clear is that this game is MUCH more difficult than it appears at first. That means that casinos will over-hold. They can offer a 99.8% game, for example, and they will find it more profitable than most regular 98.8% games. This means that if you can find a good game and learn to play it, it will likely survive for a while because other players aren’t going to take the time to master it.

Bob Dancer is America's best-known video poker writer and teacher. He has a variety of "how to play better video poker" products, including the software "Video Poker for Winners," Winner's Guides, strategy cards, his autobiography Million Dollar Video Poker, and his two novels, including Sex, Lies, and Video Poker. Dancer's products may be ordered at www.bobdancer.com or by telephone at 1-800-244-2224 M-F 9-5 Pacific Time.