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Peek and Play Poker

Introduction

 
 

Peek and Play is a video poker variant where the player can see first card to be dealt for the draw before he discards. Of course, nothing in the casino is ever truly free, so the player must pay a non-refundable fee of two-coins per hand, above the normal maximum of five-coins per hand, to enable this feature. If this sounds familiar, it is the same concept as the game Look Ahead Poker, which I already analyzed.

Rules

 
 
  1. The game is based on standard single-play video poker rules, except as noted.
  2. The player may play normally, betting one to five coins, or may bet seven coins to invoke the Peek and Play feature.
  3. The wager must be made before the deal.
  4. If the Look Ahead feature is active, then after the deal, the game will reveal the next card to be dealt.
  5. The player will indicate which cards he wishes to hold, as usual.
  6. In addition to the extra two coins paying for the Peek and Play feature, it also bumps up the pay table on some of the hands.
 

Example

 
 

In a normal game of video poker the right play for the hand above would be to go for the outside straight. However, I could see the next card was the six of clubs, which would have caused the straight draw to lose. Instead, I kept the six of spades only, knowing the next card would pair it, and I would have three more cards after it to improve on the low pair.

 

As you can see from the picture above, I improved to a full house on the top hand and a two pair on the middle hand.

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

Hand 98.553% 97.139% 96.979%
ROYAL FLUSH 800 800 800
STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 50 50
FOUR ACES 90 100 90
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's 50 50 50
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's 40 40 40
FULL HOUSE 8 7 7
FLUSH 6 6 6
STRAIGHT 4 4 4
THREE OF A KIND 3 3 3
TWO PAIR 2 2 2
JACKS OR BETTER 1 1 1

 

Bonus Poker Deluxe

Hand 98.848% 97.404% 96.798% 95.621%
ROYAL FLUSH 800 800 800 800
STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 50 50 50
FOUR OF A KIND 95 105 110 110
FULL HOUSE 10 9 8 7
FLUSH 7 6 6 6
STRAIGHT 4 4 4 4
THREE OF A KIND 3 3 3 3
TWO PAIR 1 1 1 1
JACKS OR BETTER 1 1 1 1

 

Deuces Wild

Hand 98.134% 97.839% 96.799% 95.533%
ROYAL FLUSH NO DEUCES 800 800 800 800
FOUR DEUCES 200 200 200 200
ROYAL FLUSH WITH DEUCE 30 30 27 29
FIVE OF A KIND 17 16 18 17
STRAIGHT FLUSH 14 14 14 12
FOUR OF A KIND 4 4 5 5
FULL HOUSE 4 4 3 3
FLUSH 3 3 2 2
STRAIGHT 2 2 2 2
THREE OF A KIND 1 1 1 1

 

Deuces Wild Bonus Poker

Hand 98.076% 97.868% 96.561% 95.367%
ROYAL FLUSH NO DEUCES 800 800 800 800
FOUR DEUCES + ONE ACE 400 400 400 400
FOUR DEUCES 200 200 200 200
ROYAL FLUSH WITH DEUCE 29 28 29 29
FIVE ACES 84 84 84 84
FIVE 3's, 4's, 5's 44 44 44 44
FIVE 6's THROUGH K's 24 24 24 24
STRAIGHT FLUSH 11 11 13 11
FOUR OF A KIND 5 5 5 5
FULL HOUSE 3 3 3 3
FLUSH 3 3 2 2
STRAIGHT 1 1 1 1
THREE OF A KIND 1 1 1 1

 

Double Bonus

Hand 98.366% 97.936% 96.551% 95.519%
ROYAL FLUSH 800 800 800 800
STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 50 50 50
FOUR ACES 200 200 200 200
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's 100 90 90 110
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's 60 60 66 65
FULL HOUSE 10 10 10 10
FLUSH 7 7 7 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

Hand 98.066% 97.935% 96.991% 95.735%
ROYAL FLUSH 800 800 800 800
STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 50 50 50
FOUR A's + ANY 2, 3 OR 4 400 400 400 400
FOUR 2's,3's,4's + ANY A,2,3,4 200 200 200 200
FOUR ACES 200 200 200 200
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's 110 110 100 100
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's 66 65 60 62
FULL HOUSE 10 10 10 9
FLUSH 6 6 6 6
STRAIGHT 4 4 4 4
THREE OF A KIND 3 3 3 3
TWO PAIR 1 1 1 1
JACKS OR BETTER 1 1 1 1

 

Jacks or Better

Hand 98.001% 97.434% 96.427% 95.232%
ROYAL FLUSH 800 800 800 800
STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 50 50 50
FOUR OF A KIND 35 32 35 37
FULL HOUSE 9 9 8 7
FLUSH 6 6 6 6
STRAIGHT 4 4 4 4
THREE OF A KIND 3 3 3 3
TWO PAIR 2 2 2 2
JACKS OR BETTER 1 1 1 1

 

Triple Double Bonus

Hand 98.174% 97.056% 96.287% 95.351%
ROYAL FLUSH 800 800 800 800
STRAIGHT FLUSH 50 50 50 50
FOUR A's + ANY 2, 3 OR 4 800 800 800 800
FOUR 2's,3's,4's + ANY A,2,3,4 400 400 400 400
FOUR ACES 200 200 200 200
FOUR 2's, 3's, 4's 86 100 100 120
FOUR 5's THROUGH K's 57 60 65 65
FULL HOUSE 10 10 9 8
FLUSH 7 6 6 6
STRAIGHT 4 4 4 4
THREE OF A KIND 2 2 2 2
TWO PAIR 1 1 1 1
JACKS OR BETTER 1 1 1 1

 

Analysis

 

The following table shows the probability and return for all possible outcomes in 35-9-6 Jacks or Better. It takes my computer three days to run through all possible combinations in this game so please forgive me for having one return table only.

35-9-6 Jacks or Better

Hand Pays Combinations Probability Return
Royal flush 800 57,896,859,888 0.000035 0.019759
Straight flush 50 300,840,348,816 0.000180 0.006417
Four of a kind 35 4,436,630,353,512 0.002650 0.066242
Full house 9 36,974,861,757,288 0.022083 0.141959
Flush 6 37,531,316,403,756 0.022415 0.096064
Straight 4 45,498,776,697,696 0.027173 0.077638
Three of a kind 3 130,029,122,272,896 0.077658 0.166409
Two pair 2 338,882,906,655,216 0.202392 0.289131
Jacks or better 1 272,842,446,785,832 0.162950 0.116393
Nothing 0 807,836,565,309,900 0.482466 0.000000
Total   1,674,391,363,444,800 1.000000 0.980012

 

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.

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Strategies

Full-Pay Jacks or Better:

Full-Pay Deuces Wild:

Quick Quads:

Other Strategies: