Build a Wheel Poker

Last update: Jan 16, 2012

Introduction

Build a Wheel is a video poker variation I first saw at the Red Rock and Palace Station casinos in December 2011. Like Wheel Poker, the player is eligible to spin a prize wheel occasionally if he makes an additional bet. Unlike other such prize wheel games, though, in Build a Wheel the player fills in the slices himself whenever he gets a dealt three of a kind or better. When the wheel is full, the player gets to spin it.

Rules

1. Build a Wheel may be played like ordinary 3-play or 5-play video poker. Alternatively, the player may make an additional bet to enable the Build a Wheel feature. This fee is equal to one full 5-coin bet for one hand. For example, if the player were playing 3-play video poker, then a max bet would be 20 coins — 15 for 3 lines at 5 coins each plus 5 coins to enable the Build a Wheel feature.

2. The wheel consists of eight slices. The initial state is as follows:
   • 6 blank slices.
   • 1 slice with a win of 4,000 coins.
   • 1 slice with a progressive win, with a seed value of 10,000 coins.

3. If the player gets a three of a kind, straight, or flush on the deal, with the Build a Wheel feature enabled, then one slice will be filled in. The value assigned to the slice is random, with the following averages:
   • Three of a kind: 650.00
   • Straight: 952.50
   • Flush: 1468.13

4. If the player gets a full house or higher, with the Build a Wheel feature enabled, then all the remaining slices will be filled in. The value assigned to the slice is random, with the following averages:
   • Full house: 938.46
   • Four of a kind: 2188.46
   • Straight flush: 4000.00
   • Royal flush: 4000.00

5. When the entire wheel is full, the player will spin it and win wherever it stops.

6. As is usual with prize wheels, the stops are not equally weighted. I asked IGT, the game maker, about the wheel weightings. All they would tell me is each of the player-earned slices have an equal weighting. The two jackpot slices have a smaller weighting.

7. All things considered, the average bonus win is just under 900 credits, according to IGT.

8. If the player wishes to quit playing before he finishes filling in the wheel, he will be offered a surrender value to cash out and reset the wheel to the initial stage. I do not know how good these surrender values are.

Analysis

The following table shows the average wins for a three of a kind to flush on the deal. The lower-right cell shows an average slice value of 753.45 for one of these hands.

The following table shows the average wins for a full house or higher on the deal. The lower-right cell shows an average slice value of 1143.19 for one of these hands on the deal.

Recall that if the player gets a full house or higher he automatically fills in the entire remaining wheel. Let's call the flush or lower wins a "Small Slice" and a full house or larger a "Large Slice." I won't get into the math, so take it on faith that the average number of large slices on a completed wheel is 1.125245, while there are 4.874755 small slices. The following table shows that assuming the player doesn't win either jackpot, his average bonus win will be 826.55 credits.

However, there is an unknown chance the player will win one of the jackpot slices. All IGT would tell me is that overall the average wheel win is just under 900 credits.

The final table shows the return for various common games without the wheel feature enabled, 3-play return with the feature enabled, and 5-play return with the feature enabled. This table is based on an average wheel win of exactly 900 credits. Note that the return is always higher with the feature enabled, with the highest return for 3-play.

Advice

• Conventional video poker strategy should be used.
• Choose to play 3-play with the feature enabled.