WHEEL POKER DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS STRATEGY

The fourth of the five ‘Bonus Poker’ adaptations in the ‘Wheel Poker’ series is ‘Double Double Bonus‘. According to the numbers, this is one of the better paying of the ‘Wheel Poker‘ series returning 99.65%. That may be true over the long run but in the short term, ‘Double Double Bonus’ can be one of the streakiest and most maddening games of the series, with or without the ‘Wheel Poker‘ feature.

The ‘Wheel Poker’ series is a very popular version of what is the most popular type of video poker game at the moment, the ‘added bet bonus‘ game. The premise of the ‘added bet bonus‘ games is that the player can risk an additional stake ranging from one more coin (as is the case with this game) to an entire additional bet. By doing so, he activates a ‘bonus feature‘ that awards a payout ‘bonus‘ on certain hands, usually ‘Four of a Kind‘. In this specific variant, it also awards bonus payouts for certain ‘Four of a Kind’ hands with specific ‘kickers‘.

As is the case with most of the ‘added bet bonus‘ style games you can play this game as a regular ‘Double Double Bonus Poker‘ game by betting just five coins per hand. In my opinion, at least, this isn’t a good idea. If you’re going to play this game or any other ‘added bet bonus‘ variation, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t bet to activate the bonus feature. If you want to play ‘regular‘ ‘Double Double Bonus Poker‘ you’ll have no trouble finding a machine in any casino in the world or online. You’ll get a better payout that way.

THE ‘WHEEL POKER’ BONUS FORMAT

The ‘Wheel Poker‘ bonus feature is very easy to understand which might for some of its appeal. It has an animated ‘mini-game‘ feature that appeals to slots players and offers a decent payback percentage as well. The game is usually found on ‘MultiGame‘ machines which include the 7 different game variations in 3 play and 5 play versions. The player wagers six coins per hand (5 + 1 bonus) meaning that he’ll bet 18 coins in the 3 play version and 30 coins in the five play version.

The bonus is activated when the player hits a natural 4 of a Kind. When this happens the player is immediately asked to press a ‘Spin‘ button on the screen. A wheel (very similar to the wheel on the ‘Wheel of Fortune‘ game show) drops down from the top of the screen. The wheel has numbers from 100 to 2000. The wheel spins and once it lands on a number that amount is added to the player’s win for that hand.

WHEEL POKER DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS STRATEGY

The basic premise of all of the ‘Bonus Poker’ variations is that a player receives a ‘bonus’ for certain four of a kind draws. The difference between the various types of ‘Bonus Poker‘ is the specific rules surrounding how these bonuses are awarded. On ‘Double Double Bonus Poker‘ the ‘basic‘ four of a kind hands pay a bonus identical to ‘Bonus Poker‘. The new bonus hands introduced are for a four of a kind made up of Aces, with a 2,3 or 4 kicker. That pays 2000 coins for max bet—a hefty $500 on a .25 cent machine. The other bonus hand is a four of a kind comprised of 2,3 or 4 with a kicker of an Ace, 2, 3,4. That pays 800 or the same as 4 aces.

• Royal Flush
• Straight Flush
• Any Four of a Kind with or without ‘winning’ kicker
• 4 to a Royal Flush
• Three Aces
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a Kind (2-K)
• 4 to a Straight Flush
• Pair of Aces
• Two Pair
• 3 to a Royal Flush (KQJ)
• High Pair (JQK)
• 3 to a Royal Flush (AKQ, AKJ, AQJ, KQT, KJT, QJT)
• 4 to a Flush
• 3 to a Royal Flush (AKT, AQT, AJT)
• 4 to an outside straight
• Low Pair
• AKQJ Unsuited
• 3 to a straight flush
• 2 Suited High Cards
• 4 to an inside straight w/ three high cards
• Unsuited JQK
• Unsuited JQ
• Ace
• J10 Suited
• KQ, KJ Unsuited
• KT, QT Suited
• Jack, King or Queen
• 4 To an Inside Straight
• Discard Everything

FINAL NOTE ABOUT STRATEGY

As is the case in all ‘Bonus Poker‘ games the key is to shoot for the Four of a Kind hands. In this game, you need to be mindful of the kicker. Some video poker experts holding an appropriate three of a kind with a winning kicker. For example:

2D 2C 2H AD X

The strategy above doesn’t delineate this practice. I’ve personally used the ‘hold the kicker with 3K‘ method for years with good success. In most cases, we suggest that you follow the strategy verbatim but in this case use your own judgment.