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The Complete Double Double Bonus Video Poker Guide

What Is Double Double Bonus Video Poker?


Everyone loves a bonus, right? In that case, it would be safe to say that a double bonus is going to really catch video poker players’ attention.

So, when we introduce a “double-double” bonus, that is really going to excite players, right? It certainly seems that way. Double Double Bonus (DDB) video poker was assumingly created when Double Bonus wasn’t enough to satisfy players. However, Double Bonus wasn’t big and fast enough for those who played its predecessor, Bonus poker, which was, in turn, a development of Jacks or Better poker.

As you can see, we can trace Double Double Bonus back to Jacks or Better. This means that the game has a specific set of hands that will earn you a prize. These hands are arranged on a pay table that lists the strongest hand at the top – the royal flush – and the lowest at the bottom (jacks or better). The strongest hand naturally pays the most while the weakest pays the least. There is more, as you will find out later in this guide.

What’s So Special?

At this point, you may be wondering what the big deal is with Double Double Bonus. As the name suggests, bonuses are a massive part of this game. They are what makes this title stand out from any other in the video poker sphere and draws more and more fans to Double Double Bonus year after year. You will find out exactly what these are as we progress through this guide.

We will also take a look at the strategy for Double Double Bonus, which is designed to help players minimize mistakes by choosing the right hand every time. You will also learn how to identify a full-pay table, which in DDB is known as a 9/6 table. With that, we will also cover how you can use the strategy on a full-pay table to avail of potential expected returns of 98.98%.

First things first, let’s take a look at how to play video poker.

How to Play Video Poker

If you are an experienced video poker player, please feel free to move on to the next section. For those who are new to video poker – and have chosen Double Double Bonus to begin their journey – please read the following information.

Remember that even the most experienced players started from scratch. What helps is that video poker is not a difficult game to play at all. It is based on five-card draw poker, which is one of the first versions of a card game most people will have started off playing. As such, once you have even the most remote understanding of how card games work, you will be absolutely fine.

To play a video poker game, you must first find a machine. In this guide, we are writing about Double Double Bonus, so let’s assume you have stumbled across a DDB machine. Once you have entered money, you will then be required to select your bet. For example, let’s say that this is $1. Then, you must select how many coins you want to play per game. You can select between 1 and 5 coins in any game. One coin is $5, and five coins is $25.

Your Cards

Once you have your bets ready, select “Deal,” which is usually located at the bottom right of the screen or the machine. The software will then deal you five cards, with the machine’s “Auto-hold” function holding strong cards. Now it is up to you to retain the best cards you can while discarding those that are least likely to make the strongest hand. Once you have decided, select “Draw” from the screen or machine.

You will be dealt cards that replace those you have discarded. You now have your final hand, which you will be hoping is a winner. If it has won, the pay table located above your cards will flash or illuminate on the line that matches the winning hand.

Easy, right? In principle, yes, but in practice, no. Video poker players understand that there are many possibilities when it comes to making a hand. This is just one of the many intricacies that separate an experienced player from a novice. Understanding how every video poker game is different – and learning the various nuances – also is important. This is why using a strategy is crucial to your success.

We will now cover what separates Double Double Bonus from other poker games. Additionally, we will show you how to use the specific strategy for this variant of video poker. Let’s do this!

How to Play Double Double Bonus Video Poker


There are few games that can claim the levels of awesomeness that Double Double Bonus can. While this game is based on the Jacks or Better-style pay table, there are some big surprises awaiting certain four-of-a-kind combinations. Four aces with either a 2, 3, or 4 is the bonus payout here, at an awesome 2000 credits (when playing with 5 coins). There are big payouts for four aces and four-of-a-kind combinations of 2s, 3s, or 4s with a low kicker. We will cover these in more detail in the “Analyzing the Pay Table” section below.

While we have highlighted all that is great about this game, it is important to know that there are drawbacks, too. Well, that does depend on how you look at things. The main feature of Double Double Bonus is that those big wins can be pretty spectacular. When you are not landing any, you will have to endure what feels like dry spells. We will discuss this in our pay table analysis section further down.

First, let’s take a look at how to choose your bets.

How to Choose Your Bets

We covered how to choose bets in video poker above, so we will keep this brief. In Double Double Bonus, the process is the same as it would be in practically every other video poker game. You have the option to choose your bet amount, which will have a minimum and maximum bet, according to the machine. You also have a choice to make when it comes to how many coins you wish to select. You can play with between 1 and 5 coins (5 being the maximum).

We would always recommend that you play with the maximum amount of 5 coins, as this will form part of your strategy for the game. Given that the maximum payout of 4000 coins for a royal flush is only triggered by playing 5 coins, it always makes sense to ensure you are eligible to win this.

Clear enough? Excellent. Now let’s look at the deal.

The Deal

Have you selected your bet amount and chosen your coins? Of course you have. Next, you need to select the “Deal” button located at the bottom right of the screen. Once again, we’ll keep this section brief, as we touched on it earlier in the “How to Play Video Poker” section.

The first five cards you have will now be shown. You will keep the best ones – or those that will give you a better chance of winning – and discard the rest. The “Auto-hold” function will usually do this for you. If you find that this feature is disabled, turn it on in the options menu in the bottom left of the screen or machine.

Once you have made your selections, hit “Draw,” and you will have your final hand. Here, you will have those discards replaced by new ones. If things have gone your way, then you will be celebrating a nice win. In video poker, it is not always about playing for just the big wins, however. Sometimes, just breaking even will do.

As for those big wins, let’s see what the Double Double Bonus pay table looks like.

The Pay Table

Any experienced video poker player knows that the first step to understanding any video poker variant is to study the pay table.

In Double Double Bonus, the full-pay table is the one that we will be studying. This is the version that is the most desirable to play. When using the strategy that we have laid out below, the potential returns work out at 98.98%. The remaining 1.02% is the house edge. While this is a pretty low house edge when compared with other games, there are other variants that are better.

Nevertheless, you are unlikely to find another pay table as spectacularly top-heavy as Double Double Bonus. In other words, a video poker game where the upper tiers of the pay table are so stacked with potential big wins. The downside is that these big wins are infrequent, which means you are more likely to pick up wins on the lower end, which can make big wins few and far between.

Let’s analyze the pay table and look at the odds for each win.

Analyzing the Pay Table

Here is the pay table for Double Double Bonus video poker. Take a minute or two to familiarize yourself with the odds of each win.

Hand Odds
Royal Flush 80 to 1
Straight Flush 50 to 1
4 of a Kind (aces) with a low kicker (2,3 or 4) 400 to 1
4 of a Kind (aces) with any other kicker 160 to 1
4 of a Kind (2s, 3s or 4s) with a low kicker (A, 2, 3 or 4) 160 to 1
4 of a Kind (2s, 3s or 4s) with any other kicker 80 to 1
Any 4 of a kind with an ace kicker 80 to 1
Any 4 of a kind with any other kicker 50 to 1
Full House 9 to 1
Flush 6 to 1
Straight 4 to 1
3 of a kind 3 to 1
2 pairs even money
A pair of jacks or better even money

So, what do you think of the pay table? Unsurprisingly, a royal flush is the highest payout on Double Double Bonus. Like most video poker games, a win on a royal flush pays out at 800 to 1. You can win the top prize of 4000 coins if you are playing with the maximum stake, which makes it very important to make sure you always play with five coins.

Traditionally, the second-highest payout in video poker is the straight flush. This pays out 50 coins in Double Double Bonus. The second-highest payout at 400 to 1 – as you can see from the table above – is four aces with a low kicker (2, 3, or 4). After this, four aces with any other kicker will get you a pretty nice 160 to 1 payout, but you may be, well, kicking yourself if you don’t get a low kicker!

Next down, a four of a kind (2s, 3s, or 4s) with a low kicker (A-4) will also win 160 to 1. A four of a kind (2s, 3s, or 4s) with any other kicker is 80-1, as is any four of a kind with an ace kicker. Any four of a kind with any other kicker is 50-1.

Smaller Wins on the Lower End

As you can see by the odds of the smaller wins, things do tend to get a little paltry when we reach the full house (9 to 1) and flush (6 to 1). A straight gets you 4 to 1, a three of a kind 3 to 1, but the two pairs at odds of even money is the one win that is paid lower than many other video poker variants. With any of the bonus games, this is common, however.

Jacks or better, as we previously discussed, is also paid at even money. This is the last win on the pay table and will statistically be the most frequent win you can get on this game.

There will be times when you may not truly understand what hands you can make from the cards you have, which makes it very important to always play with a strategy. The Double Double Bonus strategy below is very straightforward, and we have laid it out for you in simple terms below.

Double Double Bonus Video Poker Strategy


A simple tip: always play video poker with a strategy. Just because you are using a strategy doesn’t mean you’re not still awesome. Even the most experienced players will rely on a strategy at some point. Join the club. It’s a good one, and you will thank us later.

The strategy in Double Double Bonus is worked out on the strength of the hands shown on the pay table. As there are 52 cards in the deck when playing Double Double Bonus, the probability of hands is also taken into the equation. The game is a Jacks or Better type, so the lowest win you will get is for two matching cards at the strength of a jack or above.

You might have seen us cover strategy charts for other variants of video poker. If you haven’t come across a strategy chart before, we will show you how it works in the next section.

Using the Double Double Bonus Strategy Chart

We will keep things as simple as possible when discussing how to use a strategy chart. The great thing is that we don’t really have to make an effort to simplify things, as the chart is easy to understand anyway.

Nonetheless, we have provided some instructions for you before you use the strategy chart. Whether you are an experienced video poker player looking to sharpen up, or a newbie playing your first game, the instructions below are straightforward.

Instructions for using the strategy chart:

  • Start by comparing your hand with the line at the top of the chart
  • If it does not match, keep moving down until it does
  • Once you have matched your cards with those on a line, hold the matching cards and select “Draw”
  • When you cannot find a match despite going down the chart, select “Draw”

Easy, right? You betcha. Ready to take a look at the chart? Let’s go!

Double Double Bonus Strategy Chart

Refer to the instructions above when using this chart:

  • Royal flush
  • Four aces/2s/3s/4s with an A/2/3/4 kicker
  • Four of a kind
  • Straight flush
  • Any four to a royal flush
  • Three aces
  • A full house
  • A flush
  • A straight
  • A three of a kind from 2s to kings
  • Any four to a straight flush
  • A pair of aces
  • Any two pair
  • J-Q-K
  • K-K
  • 10-J-Q
  • Pair of jacks or queens
  • Any four to a flush
  • Any of 10-J-K/10-Q-K or 10-J-A/10-Q-A/10-K-A/J-Q-A/J-K-A/Q-K-A
  • 8-9-10-J, 9-10-J-Q, 10-J-Q-K
  • A pair of 2s through 10s
  • Any of 2-3-4-5, 3-4-5-6, 4-5-6-7, 5-6-7-8, 6-7-8-9, 7-8-9-10
  • Any of 3-4-5, 4-5-6, 5-6-7, 6-7-8, 7-8-9, 8-9-10, 8-9-J/8-T-J, 8-J-Q, 9-T-J, 9-10-Q/9-J-Q, 9-J-K/9-Q-K
  • J-Q-K-A
  • Any of J-Q, J-K/Q-K, J-A/Q-A/K-A
  • Any of 9-J-Q-K, 10-J-Q-A/10-J-K-A/10-Q-K-A
  • Any of 2-3-4/2-3-5/2-4-5, 3-4-6/3-5-6, 4-5-7/4-6-7, 5-6-8/5-7-8, 6-7-9/6-8-9, 7-8-10/7-8-J/7-9-J, 7-9-10/7-10-J, 8-9-Q/8-10-Q, 9-10-K
  • J-Q-K
  • Any of 8-9-J-Q/8-10-J-Q, 9-10-J-K/9-10-Q-K
  • J-Q
  • Ace
  • 10-J
  • J-K/Q-K
  • 2-10-K to 8-10-K
  • 10-Q or 10-K
  • J/Q/K
  • Any three of 2-3-6/2-4-6/2-5-6, 3-4-7/3-5-7/3-6-7, 4-5-8/4-6-8/4-7-8, 5-6-9/5-7-9/5-8-9, 6-7-10/6-8-10/6-9-10
  • Any four of 2-3-4-6/2-3-5-6/2-4-5-6, 3-4-5-7/3-4-6-7/3-5-6-7, 4-5-6-8/4-5-7-8/4-6-7-8, 5-6-7-9/5-6-8-9/5-7-8-9, 6-7-8-10/6-7-9-10/6-8-9-10

As you can see from the list above, there is a lot of information to remember. With time, this will become second nature, however.

Double Double Bonus: The Verdict

As the old saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding.” With Double Double Bonus, that pudding is not going to come around very often, but when it does, it will taste great. In fact, it could keep your belly full for some time. On the other hand, the dry spells that you might encounter during a session might be a little frustrating. As with any casino game, there is always a chance of this happening, as luck is the most important factor to winning. Double Double Bonus is no different.

Where it does differ, however, is in the sheer wealth of high payouts for various four-of-a-kind payouts. This is where the game continues to attract new players, especially those who are chasing big wins when playing video poker. In order to keep yourself in contention for those big wins, it is crucial that you use a strategy like the one we have provided for you above. This will ensure that you are minimizing your losses and playing the right way. If there ever was a “right way” to do things in video poker, it certainly starts with playing smart.

One of the true charms of Double Double Bonus is how fun it is to play. Waiting on those four-of-a-kind combinations to come in adds a real sweet kick to the game. So much so that it might even keep your mind off landing a royal flush. How many games can you roll off your tongue that can do that?

All in all, Double Double Bonus is an action-packed game that has its dry spells. It is fun and quirky and friendly to novice players as well as those with a little more experience. Playing with the strategy above will keep potential expected payouts at around 98.98%, which is pretty sweet for any game.

Michael Henry

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