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QUADS NEED THE RIGHT KICKER
Double Double Bonus Strategy guide
Updated November 4, 2026
Aces and low quads receive large bonuses. Keep a qualifying kicker with completed bonus quads, but discard both side cards with trips. The chance of drawing the right kicker still affects earlier decisions.
Built for 9/6 Double Double Bonus.
View Double Double Bonus pay table →
REMEMBER THESE
Three rules to remember
01
Keep the fifth card when it earns a quad bonus
Hold 2/3/4 with Four Aces, and hold A/2/3/4 with Four 2s–4s when that card activates the higher payout.
02
Discard both side cards with three of a kind
With three Aces or three low cards, discard both side cards. Drawing two gives a higher average return than keeping a kicker and drawing one.
03
Ace pairs outrank Two Pair
Two Pair pays only even money. When one pair is Aces, keep only the Aces and draw three.
WHAT TO HOLD
Use these priorities to find holds to compare.
HOLD PRIORITIES
How to use these priorities
These are usual hold priorities. If your hand fits more than one choice, choose the hold with the higher average return; the first matching row may not give the best hold. In wild-card games, use the rows for the number of wild cards in your hand. Suits, missing straight ranks, discarded cards, and payouts can change which hold returns more. Use the worked examples below or check the exact hand in Practice, which compares all 32 ways to hold or discard the five cards. EV means average total return, including the stake, per coin wagered; it is not profit or the chance of winning. The examples use the pay table named above.
“Pat” means keep all five. “Four to” or “three to” counts the held cards, including any wild cards. An outside straight such as 5-6-7-8 can finish at either end; an inside straight such as 5-6-8-9 needs one rank. A-2-3-4 and J-Q-K-A also have only one completing rank. Discarded cards cannot be drawn again. For example, discarding a heart leaves one fewer heart to complete a flush. “Trips” means three of a kind; “quads” means four of a kind. “Natural” means without wild cards. A “kicker” is a side card; some games pay a bonus for a specific kicker alongside quads.
01
Royal flush
Keep the top hand intact.
02
Premium quads with their bonus kicker
Keep all five cards to collect the higher quad payout.
03
Other four of a kind, then straight flush
Keep four cards for ordinary quads; discard a non-bonus kicker.
04
Four to a royal flush
The premium draw outranks the remaining made hands.
05
Three Aces
Draw two and do not keep a hoped-for kicker.
06
Full house, flush, or straight
Keep the completed payout.
07
Trips, 2s through Kings
Draw two.
08
Four to a straight flush
Keep the premium suited run.
09
Pair of Aces, then Two Pair
Break Ace-high Two Pair; keep other Two Pair.
10
Royal draws and paying pairs
JQK can outrank Kings; TJQ can outrank Jacks or Queens.
11
Four-flushes, low pairs, and straight draws
Use Practice to compare these holds; the exact cards determine which returns more.
12
High-card holds or draw five
An extra card is not worth keeping just because it could become a bonus kicker.
WORKED EXAMPLES
The deals that split from 9/7/5 Double Bonus
A
HOLD
A
HOLD
A
HOLD
2
DRAW
3
DRAW
The kicker is not held with trips
Both bonus kickers are already in the hand and both get thrown: three Aces drawing two is 12.27 per coin against 11.83 for keeping one. Two fresh cards improve the chance of finding the fourth Ace; the calculation also includes the chance of drawing a qualifying kicker. Triple Double Bonus reverses exactly this hand.
K
HOLD
Q
DRAW
J
DRAW
5
DRAW
K
HOLD
The pair of Kings holds off the flush draw
Double Bonus takes the four-card flush at 1.51 per coin, on the strength of a 7-for-1 flush. Drop the flush to 6 and the made paying pair wins instead: 1.45 against 1.32. Keep the two Kings and throw three cards of a royal draw.
9
DRAW
A
HOLD
8
DRAW
7
DRAW
J
DRAW
Straight draws lose to a lone Ace
Four to an inside straight with a high card is a Double Bonus hold at 0.49 per coin. The 4-for-1 straight here drops it below a single Ace drawing four — 0.46 against 0.40 — because the large Four Aces payouts increase the value of keeping the Ace.
COMMON TRAPS
Mistakes worth recognizing on sight
Keeping a kicker too early
The possibility of a kicker bonus affects EV throughout the draw. On this schedule, however, keeping a kicker with trips or a pair sacrifices too much draw value.
Missing the kicker draw with Aces or low quads
With four Aces or four 2s–4s, discard a non-bonus kicker to draw for the higher payout. With four 5s–Kings, the fifth card cannot change the payout, so keeping or discarding it ties.
Treating Two Pair as safe
Its one-credit payout makes Ace pairs and several premium draws comparatively stronger.
TURN THE LADDER INTO INSTINCT
Practice Double Double Bonus
Every miss comes back through Review until the correct hold is automatic.
PRACTICE THIS STRATEGY
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