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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.

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Sep 09, 2008

A Quick Primer on Quick Quads

I have written some articles elsewhere on the Quick Quads game. For the most part, the articles came out before the game was around, so players ignored the articles. Since the game is appearing at Las Vegas local casinos now, perhaps the information is more useful now. There will be some repetition between the information in this article and others, but some of the information here is new.

Quick Quads is a six-coin game. What the sixth coin buys you is an add-em-up feature. If you end up with trips (3-of-a-kinds) and the fourth and fifth cards sum up to the same rank, you get paid for the quad. That is, 777A6, 77725, and 77734 all get paid as though it was 7777.

The two key pieces of information needed to play this game are: How much does the game return? And, what strategy variations are important? This article addresses both subjects.

The following payback information was sent to me by IGT and I believe it is completely accurate.

Paytable Description	Payback Percent

JACKS OR BETTER - 9/6	99.61%
BONUS POKER - 8/5	99.55%
BONUS POKER - 7/5	98.28%
DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/7/5	99.55%
DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/6/5	98.50%
DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/6	99.65%
TRIPLE BONUS POKER PLUS - 8/5	99.87%
TRIPLE BONUS POKER PLUS - 7/5	99.10%
TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/6	98.31%
TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/5	98.21%

Notice that while the return on Quick Quads is ALWAYS superior to the base game, the order of "which game is better" is changed. For example, 9/6 Double Double Bonus (normally worth 98.98%) is superior in the Quick Quads version to 9/6 Jacks or Better (normally worth 99.54%). The main reason for this is the size in the return for the quads. That is, in Jacks or Better all quads return 236 (a number used by IGT to give Quick Quads a higher return than the base game) and in Double Double Bonus, you get at least 250 and sometimes 400. (While you can get 800 or 2000 for certain quads in this game, you have to get these the regular way and there is no Quick Quads shortcut for these bonuses.)

By far the biggest strategy change is "always hold a kicker to TRIPS if it will help you." That is, from 7773K, hold 7773. Do NOT hold kickers from pairs. And do not hold add-em-up cards to pairs such as 7743.

One enhancement to the above rule is that if you have a choice in kickers, don't choose one that is exactly half as large as the trips. That is, from 88843, holding 8883 is far superior to 8884 (although from 8884K, holding 8884 is better than 888 by itself).

There are two reasons why 8883 is better than 8884. The first reason is the number of cards that can complete the quad. From 8883, there are five cards that will give you a quad (four 5s and a single 8) while from 8884 there are only four such cards (three 4s and a single 8).

The second reason why 8883 is superior to 8884 is full houses. There are three cards that will give you a full house from 8883 (all of them 3s) and NO cards that will give you a full house from 8884.

There will be players making additional strategic plays (such as holding a low pair in preference to a 4-card flush.) In general this is incorrect. You'll capture most of the return if you just make the enhancement listed. If you want more enhancements, you'll need to work them out for yourself.