World Poker Tour Multi-Strike Super Video Hold 'Em

Introduction

I think this game sets a new record for the longest title of a casino game: "World Poker Tour Multi-Strike Super Video Hold 'Em." That is too much of a mouthful, so I'm going to call it "Super Video Hold 'Em Multi-Strike." I think it came out in late 2011. It is not easy to find the game, but I know as of October 2012 there were two machines at the Red Rock casino, near the cafe. The game is a combination of Texas Hold 'Em, Super Video Hold Em and Multi-Strike Poker. If that doesn't help, here are the complete rules.

Rules

1. The game is played with a single 52-card deck.
2. The player may bet two to ten coins per level, in increments of 2, and one to four hands.
3. Level 1 starts with the player choosing between two random two-card starting hands. The player may choose either one, and the other two cards will be put back in the deck.
4. The game will deal five more cards, known as the "board."
5. The player will be paid according to the best five-card poker hand between the seven cards. Five pay tables are available from the game maker as follows. This table shows the win per coin bet per hand, based on a maximum ten coins per line bet. Each pay table is identified by what a full house, flush, and straight pay respectively for a 2-coin per hand bet. The top two awards pay disproportionately less for betting less than ten coins per hand, which the player should never do.

   Pay Tables Available

   Hand	10-6-5 Pay Table	9-6-5 Pay Table	8-6-5 Pay Table	8-6-4 Pay Table	8-5-4 Pay Table
   Royal flush on board	1000	1000	1000	1000	1000
   Royal flush	100	100	100	100	100
   Straight flush	50	50	50	50	50
   Four aces	25	25	25	25	25
   Four 2-K	10	10	10	10	10
   Full house	5	4.5	4	4	4
   Flush	3	3	3	3	2.5
   Straight	2.5	2.5	2.5	2	2
   Three of a kind	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
   Two pair	1	1	1	1	1

    

6. If the player paid for at least two hands, then there are two ways he can advance to level 2.
   • Get at least a two pair.
   • Get a Free Ride card. This is illustrated by a getting a Free Ride card as one of the initial four cards. This card is shown for about one second and then replaced with one of the cards left in the deck.
7. The probability of a Free Ride card depends on the level and pay table, as follows.

   Free Ride Probabilities

   Hand	10-6-5 Pay Table	9-6-5 Pay Table	8-6-5 Pay Table	8-6-4 Pay Table	8-5-4 Pay Table
   1	13.0%	13.5%	13.5%	13.3%	13.3%
   2	13.2%	13.9%	13.9%	13.5%	13.4%
   3	14.2%	16.1%	13.9%	13.9%	13.7%

    

8. Level 2 works the same way as level 1, except the probability of a Free Ride card may change, and all wins are doubled.
9. Level 3 works the same way as levels 1 and 2, except the probability of a Free Ride card may change, and all wins are multiplied by 4. The player must bet at least three hands to be eligible to get to level 3.
10. All wins are multiplied by 8 on level 4. The player must bet all four hands to be eligible to get to level 4.
11. Certain starting hands, as follows, are eligible for a multiplier on that hand. These multipliers do not apply to Bad Beat awards (see next rule) or a royal flush on the board.

    Multipliers

    Hand	10-6-5 Pay Table	9-6-5 Pay Table	8-6-5 Pay Table	8-6-4 Pay Table	8-5-4 Pay Table
    Red aces	10	10	10	10	10
    Pair of aces	7	7	8	7	7
    Ace-king suited	5	5	6	6	7
    Pair of face cards	4	4	4	5	5
    Suited ace-queen	4	4	4	4	5
    Suited ace-jack	3	3	4	4	5
    Suited king-queen	2	2	2	2	2
    Suited king-jack	2	2	2	2	2
    Suited queen-jack	2	2	2	2	2

     

12. The player will get a Bad Beat award equal to his bet per hand if his starting hand is at least a pair of jacks and he doesn't get at least a two pair.
13. Each hand is dealt from a fresh 52-card deck.

 

Return

According to IGT, who kindly provided this information, the returns for each pay table are as follows, assuming optimal strategy.

 

Strategy

In terms of betting, the player should make the max 40-coin bet for the greatest return. As far as strategy in choosing your hands, sorry, you're on your own with that for now.

Example

In this game, I made a max 40-coin bet. At level one, my choices for a starting hand were between 2-5 off-suit and 3-9 off-suit. I chose the 2-5, because I felt my chances of a straight were better.

 

I got a two pair on level one and won 1X my 10-coin bet per hand. I also got to advance to level two. Before I took the picture, I was dealt a Free Ride card. This is evidenced by the fact that the cards on hand 3 say Free Ride on the back, and the text in front of hand 3 says, "This hand will be played next." My choices for a starting hand were a pair of sixes or king-ten suited. I chose the pair of sixes.

 

I got a two pair on level two, which pays 1X for the two pair and 2X for level 2. So, my 10-coin bet per hand won 10 × 1 × 2 × = 20 coins, for a total of 30 coins thus far. I also got to advance to level three. There my choices for a starting hand were 3-10 suited or 7-9 off-suit. I don't know if I made the mathematically best choice, but I went with 3-10 suited.

 

I got a flush on level three, which pays 2.5x for the flush and 4x for the level 3, for a total win on that hand of 10 × 2.5 × 4 = 100 coins, for a total win thus far of 130 coins. I also got to advance to level four. There my choices for a starting hand were 8-9 suited or 7-9 off-suit (again). I went with the 8-9 suited.

 

I got a flush on level four, which pays 2.5x for the flush and 8x for the fourth level, for a total win on that hand of 10 × 2.5 × 8 = 200 coins, for a final win of 330 coins.

 

Rule Screens

Click on any image for a larger version.

Strategy

The following strategy is optimized for the 9-6-5 (99.51%) pay table, but should be fine for any of them.

There are 169 possible starting hands. The following tables rank them in order from best to worst. When choosing between two starting hands, choose the one with the higher rank. Note that the table is divided according to the level. Generally, the lower the level, the more conservatively you should play, going for any advancing hand. The strategy with any Free Ride card is the same as the level 4 strategy.

Example: In the example screens about on level 3 my choice was between 3-10 suited and 7-9 offsuit. Looking at the level 3 tables, 3-10 suited is ranked 68, and 7-9 offsuit is ranked 89. The 68th best hand is better than the 89th, so 3-10 suited is the better starting hand.

The expected return following this strategy is 99.50%, just 0.01% less than optimal. The reason it is not exactly optimal is there are some obscure penalty card situations. If the user wishes to use just a single level strategy for all levels, the best one to use is for level 3.

 

9-6-5 Pay Table Analysis

The following table shows the probability of attaining each level, the average win if you get there, and expected win.

Acknowledgements

• Daniel Dale for the strategy tables.
• IGT for the expected return of all available pay tables.

Written by: Michael Shackleford