Multistrike Poker

Last update: Oct 13, 2004

Introduction

This section shall focus on the highest pay table offered, Full Pay Deuces Wild, which is characterized by paying 5 for a four of a kind. The optimal strategy return for this pay table in Multistrike poker is 100.88%. This section shall focus on this game only. A strategy can be found in my Multistrike Poker appendix 1.

Rules

1. The player can play one to four lines and one a configurable number of coins per line, however the majority of machines should take up to five coins per hand.
2. Player is dealt five cards to the bottom, or level 1 hand. Sometimes the player gets a "Free Ride" card, which is replaced after about a second with a regular card.
3. Player keeps the cards of his choice and is given replacement cards as in conventional video poker.
4. If player has any paying hand on the draw, or was given a Free Ride card, he goes onto level 2. There the player repeats the process of the level 1 hand, except all wins on level 2 are doubled.
5. Levels 3 and 4 are also obtained by either any paying hand or a free ride card on the previous hand. Level 3 wins are multiplied by 4 and level 4 hands are multiplied by 8.
6. The player wins the sum of all winning hands on all four levels.
7. The probability of getting a free ride card is indicated on the pay table screens of the game. The probabilities tend to decline as the levels progress. In the Full Pay Deuces Wild version the Free Ride probabilities are 8.25% on level 1, 7.8% on level 2, and 7.8% again on level 3.

Confused? You can play for free at the Multistrike Poker web site. No questions asked, except if you are age 21 or over.

Strategy

Regardless of the game played the level 4 strategy, and any hand after a free ride card, is the same as conventional video poker with the same pay table. Otherwise the strategy is more conservative because of the incentive to get any paying hand to go onto the next level. For example in conventional full pay deuces wild with no deuces 3 to a royal flush should be played over a pair. However in the Multistrike version keeping the pair is the stronger play because it is more likely to result in a paying hand and thus going onto the next level.

Multistrike Poker appendix 1 and appendix 2 indicate the near optimal strategy for the Full Pay Deuces Wild and Jacks or Better versions. Otherwise software like Frugal Video Poker or Video Poker Strategy Master can be used by adding the expected value of subsequent hands to the expected value of each hand. This is very close to 6 for level 1, 4 for level 2, and 2 for level 3. This is because on level 1 the expected value of all future hands is close to 6. On level 2 the expected value of future levels is close to 8. However all pays are doubled on level 2, so dividing everything by a factor of 2 results in adding 4. On level 3 the expected value of level 4 is also close to 8, but the regular pays are multiplied by 4, so the proportional additional expected value is close to 2 per hand. This advice should roughly hold true for any pay table.

Expected Return

The first table shows the probabilities and returns for level 1 when the player does not get a free ride card.

The second table shows the probabilities and returns for level 2 when the player does not get a free ride card on that level.

The third table shows the probabilities and returns for level 3 when the player does not get a free ride card on that level.

The fourth table shows the probabilities and returns for level 4 when the player does not get a free ride card on that level.

The next table shows the expected return for the current hand only at all levels, the probability of getting to that level, and the contribution to the total return. The number in the lower right cell shows a return of 4.035221 units over four hands. Dividing this number by 4 (for four lines purchased) the overall return of the game is 1.008805.

The next table shows the expected return at each level, including future levels, according to whether or not the player gets a Free Ride card, and the weighted average. All expected values are based on a 4 unit bet, so to get a per unit return divide by 4.

The expected return by playing conventional Full Pay Deuces Wild strategy at all times is 99.88%.

More Information

Multistrike Poker appendix 1 shows the strategy for Multistrike full pay deuces wild.

Multistrike Poker appendix 2 shows the strategy for Multistrike full pay jacks or better.

Bob Dancer article on Mutlistrike poker. Includes expected return for all available pay tables.

GameMaster Online has a good article with strategy tables.

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