Trade Up video poker borrows an idea from blackjack. In Trade Up video poker, if you get certain hands, you can choose to play two hands instead of one. It's called a "trade up", because you have a chance to trade one winning hand for two winners. The only drawback is that you might end up losing on both hands, including the original hand you held.
Trade
Up plays like any other video
poker game at a cursory glance. When you draw three of a kind,
though, players are given the chance to double their hand. You'll get
two hands with the same three of a kind, and the choice of cards to
discard.
When you discard the other two cards in the hand, then you'll be dealt two cards per hand to match with your set. This means you'll have a chance to collect a four of a kind or a full house,
The catch is that a 3 of a Kind doesn't win in the "trade up" mode. So if you don't improve on your hand, you lose the money you were going to win on that three of a kind.
Four Aces pay off at 160x the original bet, or 320x if you hit the fourth ace on both hands.
If you make a four of a kind of either 2's, 3's or 4's, you'll win 80x the bet or 160x for the completed four of a kind on both hands.
Finally, if you make a four of a kind on any card between a five and a king, you win 55x the original bet or 110x for both hands. I don't particularly like the idea that twos pay better than kings on a game, but that seems to be a trend these days.
If you make a full house on the bonus mode of Trade Up Video Poker, you win 9x the original bet or 18x if you hit on both hands.
If you play Double Bonus video poker using the trade up rules, the base game has a payout of just over 97%. The trade up option pays out at around 98.5%, so it always pays to play the trade up video poker mode.
The Double Double Bonus base game pays off at the sorry rate of around 95.5%. The Trade Up game pays off at a more respectable 97.2%. Definitely take the trade up option if you play Double Double Bonus video poker, though I wouldn't recommend playing this game.
It's also possible you'll find a Double Bonus Deluxe version of Trade Up Video Poker. Once again, the base game has an expectation just under 95.5%. The bonus game pays off at just under 97.2%. The lesson is to find the Bonus Poker Trade Up video poker machine, because it offers much better odds than the other trade up games you'll be playing.
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