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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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Dec. 15, 2009

A Look at DreamCard -- Part I of II

While playing video poker, did you ever want to look at the first four cards you drew and then pick the perfect card to go with them? That's the premise of DreamCard, a new IGT game created by Action Gaming. I've seen it in Triple Play/Five Play/Ten Play versions as well as Spin Poker.

The idea behind it is simple. Every so often the fifth card on the deal becomes a "Dream Card" (DC), which is absolutely the best card you could possibly use. If your first four cards give you a 3-of-a-kind, a DC will give you the quad. If your first four cards are all to a royal flush or straight flush, the DC will fill it in.

The DC doesn't appear on every hand. It happens often enough so that you get a bump in the EV from whatever the base game is. How much of a bump depends on the game and pay schedule. The information in the table below was provided by IGT.

GAME DESCRIPTION 5-coin
Payback 10-coin
Payback DreamCard
Frequency

JACKS OR BETTER - 9/6 99.54% 99.56% 50.5%

JACKS OR BETTER - 8/6 98.39% 98.40% 50.5%

JACKS OR BETTER - 8/5 97.70% 97.73% 50.5%

JACKS OR BETTER - 7/5 96.15% 96.57% 50.5%

BONUS POKER - 8/5 99.17% 99.27% 46.7%

BONUS POKER - 7/5 98.02% 98.15% 46.7%

BONUS POKER - 6/5 96.87% 97.04% 46.7%

DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/7/5 99.11% 99.17% 33.7%

DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/6/5 97.81% 98.44% 33.7%

DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/6/4 96.38% 97.25% 33.7%

DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/5 95.27% 96.61% 33.7%

DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/6/4 98.98% 99.04% 31.0%

DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/5 97.87% 98.41% 31.0%

DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 8/5 96.79% 97.52% 31.0%

DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 7/5 95.71% 96.66% 31.0%

DEUCES WILD - 25/15/9/4/4/3 98.91% 99.91% 59.0%

DEUCES WILD - 20/12/10/4/4/3 97.58% 98.10% 59.0%

DEUCES WILD - 20/11/9/4/4/3 96.75% 97.04% 59.0%

DEUCES WILD - 20/10/8/4/4/3 95.96% 96.02% 59.0%

BONUS POKER DELUXE - 9/6 99.64% 99.67% 31.3%

BONUS POKER DELUXE - 9/5 98.49% 99.05% 31.3%

BONUS POKER DELUXE - 8/5 97.40% 98.11% 31.3%

BONUS POKER DELUXE - 7/5 96.25% 97.17% 31.3%

TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 9/6 98.15% 98.21% 26.7%

TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 8/6 97.11% 97.44% 26.7%

TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER - 7/5 94.92% 96.01% 26.7%

TRIPLE BONUS POKER - 10/7 98.52% 98.54% 27.0%

TRIPLE BONUS POKER - 9/7 97.45% 97.71% 27.0%

TRIPLE BONUS POKER - 9/6 95.88% 96.85% 27.0%

TRIPLE BONUS POKER - 9/5 94.53% 96.08% 27.0%

The frequency of DCs varies by game type --- primarily due to how much you get for 4-of-a-kind. Since Jacks or Better quads only pay 125, you get DCs frequently -- 50.5% of the time. Since Double Double Bonus quads pay 250, 400, 800, or 2,000, you get DCs less frequently -- 31.0% of the time.

There's a price for the DC. The game pays 5 coins per line but costs 10 coins per line. On the hands you don't get dealt the DC, you have 5 dead coins and are playing a game returning less than 50%. The hands containing a DC on average yield a lot more than 100%, so it all averages out.

You can play the machine for less-than-max credits, with some limitations. Let's say you're playing $1 Triple Play. If you bet $1 through $15, you get the game without the DreamCard feature being enabled. You get full pay for the royal on all lines only if you bet $15. You get the full royal on none of the lines if you bet between $1 and $12.

You are not allowed to make a bet from $16 to $29. If you are at $15 and press the "Bet one" button, it will automatically bet $15 more, give you a total bet of $30, and deal the cards. If you have less than $30 worth of credits in the machine at the start of the hand, the "Bet Max Coins" button will bet all of your coins, up to a maximum of $15. Another way to say this is that betting the bonus costs a full $15 (in $1 Triple Play) and they only time you can make this bonus bet is when you've already invested $15 in the base game.

The game comes with sound effects. In Jacks or Better (the version I've played most -- with the best pay schedule available at South Point), you hear a woman's voice proclaiming a rather sultry "Dream Card" every time the DC is dealt giving you a 3-of-a-kind, straight, or flush. If the DC yields a pair or four to the flush, no sound effect is heard. If you get dealt a full house or better, it sexily breathes out "Dream Card Winner." If you end up with a quad or higher on the draw, it gives you the same "Dream Card Winner" sound effect and pauses a few seconds to let you admire the jackpot (or to irritate you while the game slows down). Although the words are the same, there are different triggers on Spin Poker for the sound effects than there are on Triple Play/Five Play/Ten Play.

Next week we'll continue this discussion and see how the selection of the DC isn't entirely random. I'm not saying or implying that it's unfair, but simply that if there are two or more cards tied for being equally valuable as the best DC, the game on purpose picks the one that is the most difficult/interesting