Any legitimate professional gambler, or cheat, can tell you if you know the next card to be dealt, it gives the player a powerful advantage. This is exactly what you're told in Super Look Ahead Poker. After the deal, the game tells you the next card to be dealt. Unfortunately, IGT is not so foolish that they give this information for free. It costs two more coins on top of the usual five, which also pays to bump up the pay table a bit. Below are the complete rules.
Rules
The game is based on standard single-play video poker rules, except as noted.
The player may play normally, betting one to five coins, or may bet seven coins to invoke the Look Ahead feature.
The wager must be made before the deal.
If the Look Ahead feature is active, then after the deal, the game will reveal the next card to be dealt.
The player will indicate which cards he wishes to hold, as usual.
In addition to the extra two coins paying for the Look Ahead feature, it also bumps up the pay table on some of the hands.
Example
After betting seven coins, here is the hand I was given on the deal. The little ace of diamonds on the left is the next card in the deck.
In conventional video poker, the correct play in this situation is to hold the ace and jack. However, knowing the next card is the ace of diamond, I choose to keep the ace of hearts only.
As promised, the game replaced the first discard, the four of clubs with the ace of diamonds. Unfortunately, I didn't improve upon the pair of aces I knew I would get, so was paid for a high pair.
Please note that using my video poker hand analyzer will not give the correct numbers because after the Look Ahead card, you're drawing into a 46-card deck, not 47.
Games and Pay Tables
IGT kindly provided me a list of all games and pay tables that Look Ahead Poker is available in.
The returns indicated in the following tables are based on a full seven-coin bet.
Bonus Poker
Poker Hand
99.40%
98.24%
97.83%
96.05%
ROYAL FLUSH
800
800
800
800
STRAIGHT FLUSH
50
80
50
50
FOUR ACES
100
100
100
100
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's
60
60
60
60
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's
30
30
30
30
FULL HOUSE
9
8
8
8
FLUSH
6
6
6
6
STRAIGHT
4
4
4
3
THREE OF A KIND
3
3
3
3
TWO PAIR
2
2
2
2
JACKS OR BETTER
1
1
1
1
Bonus Poker Deluxe
Poker Hand
99.80%
98.68%
97.68%
96.51%
95.70%
ROYAL FLUSH
800
800
800
800
800
STRAIGHT FLUSH
90
120
50
80
120
FOUR OF A KIND
95
95
95
95
95
FULL HOUSE
10
9
9
8
7
FLUSH
6
6
6
6
6
STRAIGHT
5
5
5
5
5
THREE OF A KIND
3
3
3
3
3
TWO PAIR
1
1
1
1
1
JACKS OR BETTER
1
1
1
1
1
Deuces Wild
Poker Hand
99.27%
98.00%
97.41%
97.08%
96.27%
95.42%
ROYAL FLUSH NO DEUCES
800
800
800
800
800
800
FOUR DEUCES
200
200
200
200
200
200
ROYAL FLUSH WITH DEUCE
25
20
20
30
20
30
FIVE OF A KIND
16
13
13
17
11
16
STRAIGHT FLUSH
10
11
10
14
9
12
FOUR OF A KIND
5
5
5
5
5
5
FULL HOUSE
4
4
4
3
4
3
FLUSH
3
3
3
2
3
2
STRAIGHT
2
2
2
2
2
2
THREE OF A KIND
1
1
1
1
1
1
Deuces Wild Bonus Poker
Poker Hand
99.50%
98.87%
97.72%
96.72%
95.49%
ROYAL FLUSH NO DEUCES
800
800
800
800
800
FOUR DEUCES + ONE ACE
400
400
400
400
400
FOUR DEUCES
200
200
200
200
200
ROYAL FLUSH WITH DEUCE
25
25
25
25
25
FIVE ACES
100
100
120
120
120
FIVE 3's, 4's, 5's
50
50
50
50
50
FIVE 6's THROUGH K's
30
30
30
30
30
STRAIGHT FLUSH
14
13
10
13
11
FOUR OF A KIND
4
4
4
4
4
FULL HOUSE
4
4
4
4
4
FLUSH
3
3
3
2
2
STRAIGHT
1
1
1
1
1
THREE OF A KIND
1
1
1
1
1
Double Bonus
Poker Hand
99.23%
98.18%
96.65%
94.49%
ROYAL FLUSH
800
800
800
800
STRAIGHT FLUSH
50
100
140
100
FOUR ACES
200
200
200
200
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's
120
120
120
120
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's
60
60
60
60
FULL HOUSE
10
10
10
9
FLUSH
7
6
6
6
STRAIGHT
5
5
4
4
THREE OF A KIND
3
3
3
3
TWO PAIR
1
1
1
1
JACKS OR BETTER
1
1
1
1
Double Double Bonus
Poker Hand
99.01%
98.20%
97.19%
96.09%
94.72%
ROYAL FLUSH
800
800
800
800
800
STRAIGHT FLUSH
100
150
180
200
120
FOUR A's + ANY 2, 3 OR 4
400
400
400
400
400
FOUR 2's,3's,4's + ANY A,2,3,4
200
200
200
200
200
FOUR ACES
200
200
200
200
200
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's
100
100
100
100
100
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's
70
70
70
70
70
FULL HOUSE
10
10
9
8
8
FLUSH
6
5
5
5
5
STRAIGHT
4
4
4
4
4
THREE OF A KIND
3
3
3
3
3
TWO PAIR
1
1
1
1
1
JACKS OR BETTER
1
1
1
1
1
Jacks or Better
Poker Hand
99.73%
98.63%
97.46%
96.98%
95.48%
ROYAL FLUSH
800
800
800
800
800
STRAIGHT FLUSH
120
50
80
150
50
FOUR OF A KIND
30
30
30
30
30
FULL HOUSE
9
10
9
8
8
FLUSH
7
6
6
6
6
STRAIGHT
4
4
4
4
4
THREE OF A KIND
3
3
3
3
3
TWO PAIR
2
2
2
2
2
JACKS OR BETTER
1
1
1
1
1
Triple Double Bonus
TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS POKER
99.62%
98.44%
97.06%
96.08%
94.97%
ROYAL FLUSH
800
800
800
800
800
STRAIGHT FLUSH
100
140
50
80
100
FOUR A's + ANY 2, 3 OR 4
800
800
800
800
800
FOUR 2's,3's,4's + ANY A,2,3,4
400
400
400
400
400
FOUR ACES
200
200
200
200
200
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's
100
100
100
100
100
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's
60
60
60
60
60
FULL HOUSE
10
10
10
9
8
FLUSH
7
6
6
6
6
STRAIGHT
4
4
4
4
4
THREE OF A KIND
2
2
2
2
2
TWO PAIR
1
1
1
1
1
JACKS OR BETTER
1
1
1
1
1
Analysis
It takes my computer three days to run through all the combinations for any given pay table, on a single core, so forgive me for the small number of pay tables analyzed for this game. As always, these tables assume optimal player strategy.
In these tables, the return is the product of the win, probability, and 5/7. The reason for multiplying by 5/7 is that the player must bet seven coins, but the win is only five times as much as the "pay" indicates.
10-6-4 Double Double Bonus
Hand
Pays
Combinations
Probability
Return
Royal flush
800
60,100,115,292
0.000036
0.020511
Straight flush
100
348,036,025,680
0.000208
0.014847
Four aces + 2-4
400
134,655,743,124
0.000080
0.022977
Four 2-4 + A-4
200
333,883,756,332
0.000199
0.028487
Four aces + 5-K
200
287,549,935,848
0.000172
0.024533
Four 2-4
100
676,405,891,728
0.000404
0.028855
Four 5-K
70
3,066,123,704,448
0.001831
0.091559
Full house
10
35,553,627,217,080
0.021234
0.151670
Flush
6
38,692,376,838,612
0.023108
0.099036
Straight
4
48,760,613,357,316
0.029121
0.083204
Three of a kind
3
132,268,313,400,384
0.078995
0.169275
Two pair
1
293,264,282,158,848
0.175147
0.125105
Jacks or better
1
304,865,065,482,096
0.182075
0.130054
Nothing
0
816,080,329,818,012
0.487389
0.000000
Total
1,674,391,363,444,800
1.000000
0.990112
10-7-4 Triple Double Bonus
Hand
Pays
Combinations
Probability
Return
Royal flush
800
55,827,487,800
0.000033
0.019053
Straight flush
100
357,641,145,792
0.000214
0.015257
Four aces + 2-4
800
157,698,610,272
0.000094
0.053819
Four 2-4 + A-4
400
419,336,026,704
0.000250
0.071555
Four aces + 5-K
200
230,854,735,188
0.000138
0.019696
Four 2-4
100
558,065,083,212
0.000333
0.023807
Four 5-K
60
2,991,319,902,648
0.001787
0.076565
Full house
10
32,941,051,437,672
0.019673
0.140525
Flush
7
44,715,058,097,976
0.026705
0.133526
Straight
4
49,676,392,631,544
0.029668
0.084767
Three of a kind
2
129,536,619,778,440
0.077363
0.110519
Two pair
1
281,533,946,483,160
0.168141
0.120101
Jacks or better
1
297,825,527,340,432
0.177871
0.127051
Nothing
0
833,392,024,683,960
0.497728
0.000000
Total
1,674,391,363,444,800
1.000000
0.996238
9-6-4 Bonus Poker
Hand
Pays
Combinations
Probability
Return
Royal flush
800
57,777,225,660
0.000035
0.019718
Straight flush
50
300,781,663,812
0.000180
0.006416
Four aces
100
352,084,163,256
0.000210
0.015020
Four 2-4
60
1,015,231,075,740
0.000606
0.025986
Four 5-K
30
3,062,878,723,044
0.001829
0.039198
Full house
9
36,913,475,261,880
0.022046
0.141724
Flush
6
37,422,033,921,468
0.022350
0.095784
Straight
4
46,642,635,726,960
0.027856
0.079590
Three of a kind
3
129,490,734,791,376
0.077336
0.165720
Two pair
2
337,692,546,047,808
0.201681
0.288115
Jacks or better
1
273,725,942,113,260
0.163478
0.116770
Nothing
0
807,715,242,730,536
0.482393
0.000000
Total
1,674,391,363,444,800
1.000000
0.994040
Strategy
Sorry, you're on your own with that.
Comparison to Super Look Ahead Poker
There is a similar game called Super Look Ahead Poker. The only differences are:
In Super Look Ahead Poker the player may decline the Look Ahead card.
In Super Look Ahead Poker the player must pay three extra coins for the Look Ahead feature, as opposed to two.
