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Bob Dancer writes a video poker column for beginners to experts. He also writes a column with Jeffrey Compton, "Player's Edge", featuring information on promotions at various Las Vegas casinos. Player's Edge is published each Friday in the Neon section of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Click here to send Bob Dancer an e-mail.

Nov. 18, 2003

Penalty Card Situations in Full Pay Deuces Wild --- Part I of II

Someone recently asked me why I don't write about FPDW (where 4-of-a-kind returns 5 and 5-of-a-kind returns 15) very often. According to this player, that was the only game that he ever played and anything I wrote about other games was totally irrelevant to him.

There are three reasons, I guess. First, although it's still the best single game for quarter players in Las Vegas, it's a dying game. Over three-fourths of the games in Las Vegas disappeared in the last year or so, thanks to Coast casinos. There's no telling when the rest will go. Second, there are appendix-level exceptions to whatever FPDW rules you set out and I usually don't get into appendix-level discussions in this column. And third, I haven't played that game for eight years so my mind doesn't normally float in that direction.

Nevertheless, there are several penalty card situations in FPDW. This week and next week, I provide a complete list of them. The first two have exceptions to them, but the others don't. Letting a W signify a wild card (i.e. a deuce) and parentheses signifying suited cards we have:

a. W [< RF3 (A-high) with neither fp nor sp]

Usually the A-high 3-card royals {W(AK), W(AQ), W(AJ), W(AT)} are slightly less valuable than just holding the deuce. A flush penalty (i.e. another card in the hand suited with the A) or a straight penalty (i.e. an unpaired card in the range of T-K) is usually enough to poison the value of the 3-card royal so that the deuce is better. The ABSENCE of both of these penalties is usually sufficient to make the 3-card royal eligible.

From W Ah Jh 9s 4h, hold W. The 4h is a flush penalty.
From W Ad Qd Tc 7s, hold W. The Tc is a straight penalty.
From W Ac Jc 9d 8d, hold W(98). Even though there are no penalty cards to poison the W(AJ), there can be more valuable combinations.
From W As Ts 8h 5d, hold W(AT). There are no penalties here.

b. five new cards [< (KQ), (KJ), (KT) with neither fp nor sp]

The 2-card K-high royals are usually slightly less valuable than throwing everything away. A flush penalty is ALWAYS sufficient to poison the K-high combination, as are most 9-A straight penalties.

From Ks Qs 9c 5h 3d, draw five cards. The 9 is a straight penalty.
From Kd Jd 8d 7s 3c, draw five cards. The 8 is a flush penalty.
From Kh Th 8c 7s 6c, hold T876. Even though the (KT) isn't penaltized, 4-card inside straights are more valuable.
From Kc Tc 8h 6s 4d, hold (KT). No penalties here

c. (QJT) < (QJT8) with no Kp
In FPDW, the only time a 3-card royal is EVER more valuable than a 4-card straight flush is when the 4-card straight flush is specifically (QJT8). Even then, if the fifth card in the hand is a king, you STILL hold the 4-card straight flush.

From Qh Jh Th 9h 5s, hold (QJT9). The only time you hold (QJT) is when the straight flush is (QJT8).
From Qs Js Ts 8s Kc, hold (QJT8). The Kp is sufficient to poison the value of (QJT) so we go for the straight flush.
From Qd Jd Td 8d As, hold (QJ8). While the Ap does hurt the value of the (QJT), it's still preferable to go for the 3-card royal.

d. (JT) [< (JT7) when Ap+Kp, or when Qp excluding Qp+8p]

FPDW is the only game I know where (JT) > (JT7) when the royal is at 4,000 coins. (At higher royal levels, eventually (JT) > (JT7) in EVERY game.)

When the AKQJT straight is sufficiently penalized, (JT7) > (JT). "Sufficiently penalized" means both an A and a K penalty, or a Q penalty. If you compare the effect of a Qp+8p compared to, say, a Qp+5p, you'll find that both of them have equal effects on the AKQJT straight. But the first one hurts the chances for the JT987 straight and the second one doesn't.

From Js Ts 7s 6d 3c, hold (JT). This is the normal situation.
From Jc Tc 7c Kd 3h, hold (JT). A Kp hurts the value of (JT), but not enough to change the play.
From Jd Td 7d Ah Kh, hold (JT7). Both Ap+Kp is enough.
From Jh Th 7h Qd 3s, hold (JT7). A Qp lessens the value of (JT).
From Js Ts 7s Qh 8d, hold (JT). Qp+8p is the exception to the above rule.

Next week, I'll cover the rest of the penalty card situations in FPDW.