Video Poker Forum

DISCLAIMER: I am not an employee of Action Gaming or a known expert figure in the gambling industry. Action Gaming and videopoker.com does not represent me in any way shape or form. I was not compensated or monetarily paid in any way. This is strictly volunteer work that took many hours (well over 50) of personal effort for learning purposes. Though I trust my many hours of hard work and am upstanding in terms of delivering quality, Please use this at your own risk. The strategy is subject to change.

[Guide Completed Prematurely as a Basic Guide - Change of Plans since the strategy is so difficult. In another words, I wave the white flag.]

This game just became available to all registered users of VideoPoker.com this month, and I hope there is a significant interest level of this game still exists even after many months have passed since its release.

CLICK on VideoPoker.com link to Play http://www.videopoker.com/play/?game=12 ... rd%20Poker

I was running low on the time set aside from the summer project plans, and since I anticipated that Split Card Poker will be quite a challenging puzzle to explore, I've decided to go with an alternative plan which is this game. Though I applied the lessons here that I've learned from the Color Match Royals Poker project, there were still more frustrating situations I've faced. I hope Vman thinks this game will do OK compared to Color Match Royals.

Possible Reasons Not to Play

Let me get one thing out of the way first and foremost:

THE STRATEGY FOR THIS GAME WILL BE MUCH DIFFICULT BEYOND YOUR WILDEST IMAGINATIONS!!!

If that does not bother you, it will also require double the wager. If that bothers you as a player, you have nothing futher to read. There are no training mode for this game on VideoPoker.com even for GOLD members, I cannot find a strategy guide online outside of this website. You are proceeding at a big risk.

Special Thanks Again to

1. Wizard Of Odds Founder Michael Shackleford and Webmaster JB

2. Bob Dancer and the late Liam Daily

3. Action Gaming

Why I should try this game?

The addition of the 6th card creates more possibility of jackpot outcomes: Four of a Kind with a Pair (2000 credits), Six Card Straight Flush (4000 credits), and the Six Card Natural Royal Flush (8000 credits). With 5 card games, there would only be 4 ways to get a Royal Flush, one of each suit. The 6th card increases that possibility to 184 ways, plus it still pays out 4000 credits!

The pay table returns for this game is generally higher than other specialty video poker games with the similar pay tables. 9/6 DDB Single Line is 98.98% but this one is 99.32% (if you can seriously play it well).

The power of dealt 2 pairs hands has its presence felt. In DDB, there are actual players who would toss. There are twice as many opportunities to get a Full House (1 in 11.75 -> 1 in 5.875). There is 1 in 540.5 chance to complete a jackpot Four of a Kind with a Pair 6 card hand. There is also possibility of Two Three of a Kinds and Three Pairs payouts.

For those that want a good challenge and ignored my earlier warning, this will be for you. The guide is incomplete since I've exhaust all the hours set aside for the past few days, but I have mined out all the data that is needed. I have information about the best hold for all initial 2598960 card deals stored in gigabytes of data. The technical details I'll provide later, the computing efforts are 30 folds as larger than Color Match Royals Poker. If it takes hours to compute the holds on that, it takes DAYS for this game.

Interesting play aspects to keep In mind while playing

Be more aware of 4 to the Royal draws. This is because in traditional video poker games, if you have 4 to the Royal Flush, you almost always go for the Royal. In this game, there is the big fortune to go for the 6 to the Royal Flush. If you have the opportunity to get that, you go for that as it is worth double the Royal Flush.

Two pairs are very valuable in Super 6 Card Draw Poker as I've suspected. Though it is even money, its potential return is 18 credits. On regular DDB, you would break two pairs if one of them is a set of Aces, in this game you keep the Ace pair.

When dealt trip Aces in this game, there will be one scenario where you hold the kicker. When you are given two different kickers, you hold onto AAA23, AAA34, AAA24. If the kickers are the same card for a Full House, you keep the trip aces and toss the Full House.
When you are dealt quad 5s through Kings, the chance to upgrade to the Four of a Kind with Pair 6 card hand is the same regardless if you hold the 5th card or not.

The 6th card creates more possibilities for flushes and straights, whether it'd be 5 or 6 cards. Also more possibilities for 2 pairs and three of a kind. That is the sole reason the game will become so difficult to get a grasp of.Therefore treating inside straights is a high priority.

An Ace and 10 suited will be a viable play in this game if the other 3 cards are low and have no flush or straight potential. Two to the Royal is less valued in this game in general.

All 3 to a 5 Card Straight Flush is superior than 2 to the Royal. Even the lowest rated 236 3-card Straight Flush is 0.5 credits superior than the highest rated QJ 2-card Royal.

You will rarely hold 1 card or discard your hand.

Work In Progress - Strategy Chart for 9/6 DDB (Action Gaming Computes 99.32% with optimal play no one might be able to achieve)

6 Card Payouts:

6 Card Royal Flush - 8000
6 Card Straight Flush - 4000
4 of a Kind with a Pair -2000
2 Three of a Kinds - 200
6 Card Flush - 125
6 Card Straight - 75
3 Pairs -50

Five Card Payouts:

Royal Flush - 4000
4 Aces With Any 2, 3, 4 - 2000
4 Aces - 800
4 2s, 3s, 4s with Ace, 2, 3, 4 - 800
4 2s, 3s, 4s - 400
4 5s Thru Kings - 250
Straight Flush - 250
Full House - 45
Flush - 30
Straight - 20
3 of a Kind - 15
Two Pair - 5
Jacks or Better - 5

Strategy - The Easy Part

5 Card Royal Flush (4085.11)
4 Aces with any 2, 3, 4 (2000)
4 Aces (1396.11)
4 2s, 3s, 4s With Ace, 2, 3, 4 (876.60)
4 2s, 3s, 4s (675.3)
9 Thru King Straight Flush (494.68)
Straight Flush (409.57)
4 5s Thru Kings (361.7)
5 to Inside 6 Card Royal Flush [9 Thru Ace] (212.77 to 215.43)
Flush [ 8 / 10 / Jack / Queen / King ] (210.11)
4 to Royal Flush (186.72 to 202.5)
5 to Inside 6 Card Straight Flush (127.66 to 130.32)
Three of a Kind Aces (107.06 to 109.52)
Three of a Kind Aces + 2, 3, 4 Kicker (105.31) *NOTE: if two different kickers are dealt, not full house.
Full House (93.19)
Three of a Kind 2s, 3s, 4s (61.4 to 62.95)
4 to Straight Flush (9 Thru Queens) (48.9 to 50.20)
5 Card Flush with 2 Possible 5 Card Straight Flush Outs (47.34)
4 to Straight Flush No Gaps Excluding 2345 (45.02 46.23)
5 Card Flush with 1 Possible 5 Card Straight Flush Outs (44.68)
Three of a Kind 5s Thru Kings (42.74)
5 Card Flush (42.02)
4 to Straight Flush 2345 (40.96 to 41.89)
4 to Inside Straight Flush except A-low (31.35 to 36.12)
5 Card Straight excluding A-low and A-High (29.36 to 30.32)
4 to Inside Straight Flush A-low (27.58 to 28.03)
5 Card Straight A-low and A-High (24.68)
4 to Inside 6 Card Royal Flush [9 Thru Ace] (21.71 to 22.05)
4 to Inside 6 Card Straight Flush 8-low (21.16 to 21.75)
3 to Royal Flush (18.43 to 21.13)
2 Pairs (18.4)
3 to Royal Flush A-High with Six Card Straight Penalty Card (17.95 to 18.395)
4 to Inside 6 Card Straight Flush with 1 High Card (16.77 to 17.88)
Pair of Aces (15.79 to 16.48)
4 to Flush (12.47 to 13.8)
4 to Straight with 1 or 2 High Cards (10.69 to 11.18)
High Pair (10.52 to 10.69)
4 to Straight with No High Cards (10.14 to 10.53)
3 to Straight Flush with No Gaps (9.59 to 10.92)
Low Pair 2, 3, 4 (9.43 to 9.75)
4 to a Straight (9.01 to 9.25)
3 to Inside Straight Flush QJ9 (9.45)
3 to Inside Straight Flush 1 High Card and 1 Gap (8.77 to 9.23)
3 to Inside Straight Flush 0 High Card and 1 Gap or 2 High Card 2 Gaps (8.05 to 8.69)
Low Pair 5s thru 10s (7.87 to 8)
3 to Inside Straight Flush 1 High Card and 2 Gaps (7.20 to 7.74)
5 to Inside Six Card Straight With 4 High Cards (7.66)
4 to Inside Straight with 2 High Cards (6.52 to 7.47)
5 to Inside Six Card Straight With 3 High Card (7.34)
5 to Inside Six Card Straight With 2 High Card (7.02)
4 to Inside Straight with 3 Suited Low Cards (6.79)
3 to Inside Straight Flush 0 High Card and 2 Gap (6.75 to 7)
5 to Inside Six Card Straight with 1 or No High Card (6.33 - 6.56)

The exception for this strategy

A ♥ 8 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♦ Q ♥ , instead of 3 to the Royal, if there is a straight penalty with Ace + 10, prefer 4 to the Flush A ♥ 8 ♥ 10 ♥ Q ♥


Strategy - Hard Part - Please refer to the Appendix on the 2nd post of this thread for details on the lower ER plays. I have simplified as best as I could.

3 to 6 Card Royal Flush or 3 to Flush with Ace + High Card + 2-9
3 to 6 Card Straight Flush with High Cards
3 to Flush with 2 High Cards
4 to Inside Straight with 2 High cards
2 to Royal Flush KJ / KQ / QJ
4 to Inside Straight with 1 or 3 High cards
2 to Royal Flush JT / QT / AQ / AJ / AK
4 to Inside Straight A-Low and No High Cards
3 to Flush 1 High Cards or 3 to 6 Card Straight Flush with No High Cards
2 to Royal Flush KT / AT
3 to Flush No High Cards
3 to Outside Striaght 9TJ - KQJ
2 High Card QJ / KQ / KJ forming 3 to Inside Straight with a 10 or 9
2 to Straight Flush 56, 67, 78, 89, 9T
Ace < 2 to Flush High Card + Accompanying Card < 2 to Flush A2, A3, A4, A5
3 to Outside Striaght 345 - 89T
2 High Card, QJ / KQ / KJ if both high card does not have another suited card
2 to a Flush with 1 Gaps or Suited Flush (34 or 45)
Jack < Jack + 10 Unsuited < 3 to Inside Straight with J < 2 to Flush J7, J8, J9
2 to a Flush with 2 Gaps or Suited Flush (35 or 24)
Queen < 3 to Inside Straight with Q < 2 to Flush Q3, Q4, Q7, Q8, Q9
King < 2 to Flush K + 2-9
2 to a Flush with 3 Gaps or Suited Flush (23 or 24)
3 to Inside Straight with 1 Gap No High Cards
Prefer Single Card 10 if there are no other cards matching its suit. If there is a matching suit, hold the Single Card 4 if it is is present. If both 4 and 10 are suited, discard entire hand.
Single Card 4 if there are no 10, J, Q, K, A present and no other card with a matching suit
Discard Entire Hand

Coming Later Contingent on Gauging Interest

Possible Live Casino Paytable Strategies

9/5 DDB
8/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe
9/5 Jacks or Better

To understand the strategy easier, I felt it was best to breakdown the rest of the strategy into three separate groups, with each group having a category of hold types. I will arrange the priorities on the strategy chart thereafter later on. It is vital to know about these holds.

Group #1 - Creating Opportunities for a BIG Outcome

Category A - Types of 3 Card Flushes

Three to a Flush Holds are very vital to a player's success towards this game, and I have listed out the 10 different types of 3 Card Flush Holds in their order of descending expected return.

1 - 3 to the 6 Card Royal Flush AK9 + AQ9 + AJ9 (6.74)
2 - 3 to 6 Card Straight Flush with 2 High Cards (6.71)
3 - 3 to Flush with 2 High Cards Ace + High + 2/3/4 (6.33)
4 - 3 to the 6 Card Royal Flush AT9 (6.31)
5 - 3 to Flush with 2 High Cards Ace + High + 5-9 (6.28)
6 - 3 to Flush with 2 High Cards 6.28
7 - 3 to 6 Card Straight Flush with 1 High Card (6.27)
8 - 3 to Flush with 1 High Cards (5.82)
9 - 3 to 6 Card Straight Flush with No High Cards (5.52)
10 - 3 to Flush with 0 High Cards (5.11)

Category B - Suited Two Cards To the Royal

If a player is not dealt a pair or 3 flush cards, then two Royal Flush card holds are essential when the opportunity is available. The rankings for the 2 to the Royal may be different than normal video poker game

1 - Queen and Jack (6.52)
2 - Jack and Ten (6.31)
3 - King High with Queen or Jack (6.16)
4 - Ace High + King or Queen or Jack (6.03)
5 - Queen with Ten (5.95)
6 - King with Ten (5.59)
7 - Ace with Ten (5.45)

Category C - Types of 4 to Lesser Inside Straights

With 2 cards to draw, it is more opportunistic to hold inside straights in Super Draw 6 Card Poker. The chances of completing the straight are better, and if a 6 card straight it achieved, the payout may make it worthwhile to go for it. Even if it does not complete the straight, achieving a high pair, two pairs, and three of a kinds are possible as a consolation.

1 - 4 to Inside Straight with 3 High Cards (6.66)
2 - 4 to Inside Straight with 2 High Cards (6.46)
3 - 4 to Inside Straight with 4 High Cards (6.24)
4 - 4 to Inside Straight Jack High (6.14)
5 - 4 to Inside Straight No High Card (5.43 to 5.45)
6 - 4 to Inside Straight Ace Low (5.33)

Group 2 - Dealing with High Cards, Two Card Flushes, Three Card Straights

Important Things to Consider:

In a five card initial draw and when there are 4 suits in a deck of cards, there will be at least 2 cards of the same suit. Also about 5 out of every 6 five card initial draw, there will be at least one (quantity wise) of the high ranking card dealt (J, Q, K, A).
In traditional video poker games, you pay more close attention to the high ranking cards as you are likely to hold them in case a pair or 4 to a flush are not present. In this Super Draw 6 Card Poker, you must think the reverse, it is a priority to pay attention to the two suited cards, for the following reasons: (1) if they are close together in rank it would increase the Straight Flush possibilities or (2) if a high card is suited with a low ranking card.
Two card straight flushes from 56 through 9T have greater value than all the high cards. For the ones with one gap and 45, it is greater than the Jack, King, Queen but less than the Ace. The Jack is superior than the 23, 34, and the 2 gap Straight Flushes while the Queen and King are not.
When you see the high card also with a suited low card, hold both cards when it is an accompanying card. Not doing so can have losses on average of 0.2 to 0.6 credits.

Chart of Accompanying Low Flush Card for a High Card

Ace with suited 2, 3, 4, 5
Jack with suited 7, 8, 9
Queen with suited 8, 9
King with suited 2 through 9

For two or three high cards draws, the one that has
the accompanying Flush Card is held over the others. If the high cards do not have accompanying flush cards, that is when you hold multiple high cards. But the Ace is held alone if there are 2 high cards, but between Ace, Queen, Jack, it is Queen+Jack.

In addition to 2 card Flush holds, in Super Draw 6 Card Poker 3 to a Straight are viable as well because the possibilities are greater to fulfill the 5 or 6 card straights. Also there is an off chance a Quad can be achieved with this play with the 6th card. When multiple high cards are close together, see if you are able to chain them into a straight regardless of suit.

Category D - Types of 3 Card Straights

1 - QJT (> QT Suited Royal) 5.77
2 - JT9 (5.28)
3 - KQJ (4.87)
4 - QJ9 Inside (4.83)
5 - 456 thru 89T (even with 2 of 3 suited) (4.81)
6 - 345 (4.65)
7 - KJT, KQT (4.43)
8 - JT8, J98, QT9 (4.15)
9 - 3 to Inside Striaght No High Card (3.65) * This Belongs in Group 3

Category E - 2 Card Straight Flushes

1 - 56, 67, 78, 89, 9T (4.9)
2 - 45, 46, 57, 68, 79, 8T (1 gap 2 to Straight Flush, this will be less than Ace alone)
3 - 23, 34, 36, 47, 58, 69, 7T (2 gap 2 to Straight Flush, this will be less than Jack alone)

Category F - When you determined you have to resort to holding high cards

Holding the High Card Dealt

For Aces (Highest Precedence)

1 - Suited A2, A3, A4 (4.92)
2 - Suited A5 (4.5)
3 - Lone Ace [No other cards held] (4.36 - 4.88)

For Jack (2nd Highest Precedence)

1 - 2 to a Flush J7 (4.47), J8 (4.82), J9 (5.15)

2- Jack and Ten Offsuit

3 - Lone Jack (4.11 - 4.5)

For Queens (3rd Highest Precedence)

1 - 2 to a Flush Q9 and Q8 (4.64)

2 - Queen (4.01 - 4.44)

For King (Least Precedence)

1 - 2 to a Flush King + Low Card

2- Lone King (4.01 - 4.25)

Group 3 - Better than nothing holds, when no high cards are dealt

In this game, there are no situations where discarding the entire hand is the best play, although a few situations it is a very close second best decision. Discarding all the cards may reduce chances of possible straights and flushes.

1 - Three to a Straight with 1 Gap is acceptable play
2 - Two card straight flush card with 3 gaps is a good play
3 - If #1 or #2 is not found prefer the single card unsuited with the other 4 cards in the following order of precedence: 10 high if not suited with other 4 cards, 4 (if 10 is suited and the 4 is not suited with other 4 cards)

I had an error with the straight calculations with discarding the entire hand; so I had to do the calculations all over again which took more downtime. Now there will be situations where you discard the entire hand, with no high cards, no 10, and no 4. The 2 to the Straight hold is no longer a viable play as soon as this calculation error was discovered.

Another change, low pair 2s, 3s, 4s does not beat 4 to a straight.

I've simplified the Hard Part of the strategy by grouping and arranging the lower ER plays in which I think fits best. It will be hard to arrange each one in precise order because of the possible penalty situations.

I am confident no one can play this game 99% accurately without putting a very serious commitment. At least 100 hours of practice, but plain old TDB will remain king on these forums.

Because of the difficulty of the game, I will not be doing a variance and/or return breakdown of the game. I think with this strategy, I assume you will get at least 99.22% return (0.1% off of optimal).

Although the strategy is basic, I do have for my own use what the optimal plays of all 2598960 card draws.

To conclude, playing this game with the same mindset as 5 Card Standard DDB will have devastating consequences.

To conclude, playing this game with the same mindset as 5 Card Standard DDB will have devastating consequences.

With this program you're using, can you easily compute the return of a given strategy? I would be curious to know more precise numbers of return using standard DDB strategy. But don't worry about it if it isn't an easy addition. I know how tedious this stuff is. I saw it starting to catch on in Vegas. But I rarely saw someone actually playing it either.

Hope you had another amazing time in Vegas.

I am also curious about the return about using the standard DDB strategy on this game. I did not and will not close the door on this project as I made it seem. The core portion of it is completed, so I will insist on trying to find out the return. I have an idea in mind to achieve this, I will have it completed in the next few days hopefully.

I made that statement about the standard DDB approach since the standard play will carry significant losses if not corrected.

Since this game has to be done in 3/5/10 play, the losses will get magnified.

Not holding A + 2,3,4 suited will cost at least 0.2 coins, but with 5 play it will be a full coin.

A normal DDB player will not

* Holding 2 or 3 card flushes (the biggest penalty of them all), there is no 7 for 1 flush paytable that I recall for DDB that will make people consider doing this.

* Hold 2 pairs with one being Aces

* Put all 3 card straight flushes on a higher priority

* They may or may not realize holding the 5th flush card if the other 4 are to the Royal Flush

* Inside straights have much more value

I did not use a third party tool. It is mainly about exhausting combinations and evaluating the poker hand value; afterwards, the results get stored into a file database. 5 card hands are much easier since it has about 60 million combinations starting with 0 to 5 cards held/discarded, but the 6th card raises that value to 1.28 billion combinations before recording the data of the holds. What I am lacking is the ability to place strategy tags like the other commercial video poker software can. I had to look through thousands of results in sorted order to determine the strategy. More details on it later.

I've followed the Wizard of Odd's method of solving the video poker part.

My Methodology for Video Poker Analysis

It was hard to grasp, but once things got working, I cannot thank Shackleford enough for coming up with it.

I personally like the game's concept, but it is deceptively difficult for those playing without any knowledge of the impact the 6th card can have. I could not find a discussion about this game on various public gambling forums online, I do not have access to private forums. If it catches on in Vegas I'd better ramp up the progress, but I do not expect this to be in the same class as Ultimate X, Spin Poker, and Super Times Pay.

Messed up one part really bad, the pay table was based on 9/5 DDB table so this strategy is 9/5 DDB. Must do it for 9/6 DDB.

I am fully committed to restoring the 9/6 Strategy, will take the next few days.

The update for now is to address a lingering concern some people may have with this game, the affect where a player approaches the game with the standard 9/6 DDB 5 card strategy without any strategy deviations.

I have for now completed the simulation, and have posted all my findings here. The result is even worse than I have originally feared. Sorry guys.

The idea that I've executed was to evaluate all the optimal holds on the standard 5 card 9/6 DDB.

Although there are 2598960 ways to deal 5 cards from a deck of 52 cards, there are 134,459 unique ways to deal 5 cards in the order of rank and suit, with the weight of 4 ways, 12 ways, or 24 ways.

I have collected the expected returns from all 32 hold outcomes for each of the 2598960 card combinations. Took a long time to get it processed, but I stored so that I do not have to run it for several hours again.

Whatever the best cards to hold in 9/6 DDB for a given 5 card deal, I took the corresponding number of each poker hand outcome in the 6 card dimension and tallied it all up. The numbers are on the millions.

I used Shackleford's Least Common Multiple normalization to translate into expected return.

Since we are dealing with 6 Cards it will be

5 * (47 choose 6) = 53687865

With 2598960 combinations, multiplying the LCM of 53687865, we get the total of 139532613620400.

Before seeing the return tables, there is something you must know: the accuracy rate of applying regular DDB strategy on this unique Super Draw 6 Card Poker game.

Out of the 134,459 unique draw combinations, the player will only make 96,068 optimal holds. This is a success rate of 71.4478%.

Furthermore, 19,411 of 38,391 those hold mistakes cost at least 1 credit in Expected Return!

I scoped out the 134,459 unique draws into the 2,598,960 total possible draws using the assigned weight of 4 ways, 12 ways, or 24 ways. The player gets 1,822,408 optimal results. This is a success rate of 70.12066%.

As you can tell, the strategy deviates much more than the normal strategy.

Now for the return tables

Combinations and Odds using the Standard 9/6 DDB Strategy



Variance Breakdown and Return using the Standard 9/6 DDB Strategy



Because you have to bet 10 coins, you have to multiply the expected return by 5/10 since the payouts are based on 5 coins.

Combinations and Odds using the Optimal Strategy that no one may be able to achieve



Variance Breakdown and Return using the Standard 9/6 DDB Strategy Optimal Strategy that no one may be able to achieve



Thus as I have suspected earlier, playing with a regular DDB mindset is quite dangerous. Only 96.097% out of the 99.3233% can be achieved.

I have done a little more and included the top mistakes in expected return.



Some more random ones



Although it is clearly vital to avoid this game without knowing the strategy, I could not come across any gambling websites or forums with advice on how to play this game.

I will have to rework my strategy again because of the mistake I did not notice. One small mistake can cause disasterous outcomes, it is tough it get it right since everything has to go right.

I like the game's concept, but this game is deceptively brutal...

Thanks for the effort of throwing standard strategy in there. 96% return isn't a terrible number considering the changes in strategy. But unfortunately I think it will also help doom the game because casinos are greedy and are offering inferior paytables usually. They probably could still have a field day with a full pay version.

Many people assumed on Wizard of Vegas that 3% was the error rate when playing Ultimate X until I estimated it to be only about 0.6%. That smaller error rate with standard strategy has helped that game thrive.

Thanks again for all your efforts.

You're welcome. The many hours of effort were worthwhile to be able to hear your verdict with regards to this game which does not sound like a positive outlook.

It would take so much play to get the last 0.4% return in the 6 Card Royal Flush even if people played it right (1 in 370k) or not (1 in 470k).

I did use Mr. Shackleford's analysis on this game on Wizard of Odds/Vegas as a guideline to make sure I was doing things right. Otherwise I would not be able to do a reasonable comparison.

I do not know what pay tables the ones in Vegas are set to. The best one nearby tribal casino is 9/5 DDB, so it is not worthwhile. The true purpose was to see if this is a viable option to still earn comps in Vegas if VP continues to degrade (the Strip is forgettable, and the locals one does not provide much if the full pay games are played). The knowledgeable members at the WoV forum have said that playing the right amount of a 97% game might be the best overall play, but will take guesswork to find out. I was hoping playing this game effectively even at a lowered paytable can be beneficial to the player (playing at a higher return than the assigned ADT theo), but learning the strategy is a tough order.

I have also completed the guide that I put off for a while. Unfortunately I heard about the Atlantis Casino contest earlier this month with this Super Draw 6 Card Poker. But this is for those interested in playing for real wagers at the Atlantis casino in Reno.

It will be a guideline in which the key differences and adjustments that proficient DDB players (the standard 5 card game) should make while playing this game. No point in learning a difficult strategy from scratch.

It is still darn difficult to achieve the 100% correct strategy to this game. I think it will cover about 98-99% of the strategy provided all the adjustments are made, with the misses being less than 0.3 credits EV.

I listed out 20 of the major ones:

1.     Hold 5 to the Six Card Royal Flush, in normal DDB the 9 suited card is dropped to attempt for the Royal Flush.

Dealt Cards - A ♥ 9 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - A ♥ 9 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 218.297872340426
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - A ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 184.185938945421
EV Difference - 34.1119333950046

2.     Hold the 8-10-J-Q-K Flush, in normal DDB the 8 suited card is dropped to attempt for the Royal Flush.

Dealt Cards - 8 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 8 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 212.978723404255
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥ K ♥
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 198.445883441258
EV Difference - 14.5328399629972

3.     When dealt a 5 card straight with 4 cards being an outside straight flush, hold the outside straight flush instead of holding the straight.

Dealt Cards - 9 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥ K ♦
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 9 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 50.1295097132285
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - 9 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ Q ♥ K ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 37.0212765957447
EV Difference - 13.1082331174838

4.     When dealt a 4 cards to the Six Card Royal Flush and a high pair (including Ace pair) is present, hold the 4 to to the Six Card Royal Flush.

Dealt Cards - J ♥ J ♦ A ♥ 9 ♥ 10 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - J ♥ A ♥ 9 ♥ 10 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 23.168362627197
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - J ♥ J ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 10.5486222072716
EV Difference - 12.6197404199254


5.     Same as #4, but it also applies to the Six Card Straight Flush as well.

Dealt Cards - K ♥ K ♦ 8 ♥ 10 ♥ Q ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - K ♥ 8 ♥ 10 ♥ Q ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 22.6549491211841
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - K ♥ K ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 10.5221035517058
EV Difference - 12.1328455694783

6.     Three Cards suited to the Royal Flush beats a High Pair

Dealt Cards - Q ♥ Q ♦ 2 ♦ 10 ♥ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - Q ♥ 10 ♥ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 19.5479494295405
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - Q ♥ Q ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 10.5280464216634
EV Difference - 9.0199030078771

7.     Four Cards to the Six Card Royal Flush or Six Card Straight Flush is preferred over 3 Cards to the Five Card Royal Flush.

Dealt Cards - A ♥ 2 ♦ 9 ♥ J ♥ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - A ♥ 9 ♥ J ♥ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 23.1174838112858
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - A ♥ J ♥ K ♥
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 17.8152944804194
EV Difference - 5.30218933086648

8.     Four to the Flush is preferred over the High Pair

Dealt Cards - J ♥ J ♦ A ♥ 4 ♥ 5 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - J ♥ A ♥ 4 ♥ 5 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 14.9352451433858
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - J ♥ J ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 10.584363524234
EV Difference - 4.35088161915174


9.     Three Card Straight Flushes with 2 gaps beats the High Card (two if unsuited) and 4 to Inside Straight

Dealt Cards - 6 ♥ 7 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♦ K ♣
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 6 ♥ 7 ♥ 10 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 7.3940795559667
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - J ♦ K ♣
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 4.07722927704426
EV Difference - 3.31685027892243

Dealt Cards - A ♦ 7 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥ K ♣
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 7 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 8.10206598828245
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - A ♦ 10 ♥ J ♥ K ♣
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 5.59204440333025
EV Difference - 2.51002158495221

10.     Three to a Straight Flush with NO or 1 gap beats low pairs

Dealt Cards - 6 ♥ 6 ♦ 9 ♣ 10 ♣ J ♣
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 9 ♣ 10 ♣ J ♣
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 11.104532839963
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - 6 ♥ 6 ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 7.96529588203964
EV Difference - 3.13923695792336


11.     Three Card Straight Flushes with 1 gap beats the Two Suited High Cards

Dealt Cards - A ♦ 7 ♥ 8 ♥ 10 ♥ K ♦
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 7 ♥ 8 ♥ 10 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 8.92383595436324
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - A ♦ K ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 6.05012194096375
EV Difference - 2.87371401339949

12.     Three to Royal beats two pairs

Dealt Cards - 10 ♥ 10 ♦ Q ♥ Q ♦ J ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 10 ♥ Q ♥ J ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 20.9555966697502
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - 10 ♥ 10 ♦ Q ♥ Q ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 18.1082331174838
EV Difference - 2.84736355226642

13.     Four to Outside Straight beats low pair 5s thru 10s (EDITED, does not beat 2s,3s,4s)

Dealt Cards - 6 ♥ 6 ♦ 3 ♥ 4 ♦ 5 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 6 ♥ 3 ♥ 4 ♦ 5 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 9.83811285846438
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - 6 ♥ 6 ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 7.84856894570123
EV Difference - 1.98954391276315

14.     Three to a Flush Card is preferred over discarding hand

Dealt Cards - 3 ♥ 4 ♥ 8 ♦ 9 ♥ 10 ♣
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 3 ♥ 4 ♥ 9 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 5.59975331483195
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold -
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 3.66778833540876
EV Difference - 1.93196497942319

15.     Two pairs with a set of Aces is retained rather than discarded

Dealt Cards - A ♥ A ♦ 10 ♥ 10 ♦ 2 ♣
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - A ♥ 10 ♥ A ♦ 10 ♦
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 18.1082331174838
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - A ♥ A ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 16.2175594987806
EV Difference - 1.89067361870322

16.     Jack-Ten Suited is superior over Queen-Jack Unsuited and the lone Ace

Dealt Cards - 3 ♦ 4 ♣ 10 ♠ J ♠ Q ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 10 â™  J â™ 
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 6.11050374232613
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - Q ♥ J ♠
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 4.23835954363244
EV Difference - 1.87214419869369

17.     3 to Flush beats high card, and 3 to Flush with high card beats two or three unsuited high cards

Dealt Cards - 2 ♥ 3 ♦ 6 ♥ 10 ♥ J ♦
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 2 ♥ 6 ♥ 10 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 5.42059821153253
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - J ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 4.31888099852732
EV Difference - 1.10171721300521

Dealt Cards - 3 ♥ 5 ♦ 8 ♥ Q ♥ K ♦
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 3 ♥ 8 ♥ Q ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 5.86894850447117
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - Q ♥ K ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 4.1228660331343
EV Difference - 1.74608247133687

18.     Four to Inside Straight Flushes preferred over high card

Dealt Cards - 6 ♠ 8 ♥ 9 ♠ 10 ♦ Q ♣
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 8 ♥ 10 ♦ Q ♣ 9 ♠
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 5.60129509713228
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - Q ♣
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 4.28087101247181
EV Difference - 1.32042408466047

Dealt Cards - 6 ♠ 7 ♥ 8 ♦ 10 ♣ Q ♠
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 7 ♥ 8 ♦ 10 ♣ 6 ♠
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 5.28677150786309
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - Q â™ 
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 4.19560034655876
EV Difference - 1.09117116130433

19.     Three Suited Cards (either or with 2 to the 5 Card Royal Flush) preferred over Four to Inside Straight

3 to 6 Card Straight Flush

Dealt Cards - 2 ♦ 3 ♦ 4 ♥ 6 ♥ 9 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 4 ♥ 6 ♥ 9 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 5.946037619488132
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - 4 ♥ 6 ♥ 2 ♦ 3 ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 5.004625346901028
EV Difference - 0.94141227258711

3 to 5 Card Straight Flush with 2 Gaps

Dealt Cards - 7 ♥ 9 ♥ J ♥ Q ♦ K ♣
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - 7 ♥ 9 ♥ J ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 7.85229725562751
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - 9 ♥ J ♥ Q ♦ K ♣
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 6.2118408880666
EV Difference - 1.6404563675609
3 Suited Cards with 2 High Cards

Dealt Cards - A ♥ 8 ♥ 10 ♦ Q ♦ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - A ♥ 8 ♥ K ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 6.59697810669133
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - A ♥ K ♥ 10 ♦ Q ♦
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 5.59204440333025
EV Difference - 1.00493370336109

20.     Hold 5 to Inside 6 Card Straights

Dealt Cards - A ♥ 2 ♦ 3 ♦ 4 ♣ 6 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw Hold - A ♥ 2 ♦ 3 ♦ 4 ♣ 6 ♥
Super 6 Card Draw EV - 5.42553191489362
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB Hold - A ♥
Standard 5 Card 9/6 DDB EV - 4.67520220817125
EV Difference - 0.750329706722367


21.     Hold additional suited cards over suited High Cards when available
22.     Hold 2 Card Straight Flushes over garbage
23.     Hold King-Ten, Jack - Ten, Ace - Ten, Queen - Ten Suited Over Ace
24.     Hold QJT Unsuited over QJ Unsuited
25.     Hold 3 Card Straight over lone high card
26. When 3 Aces appear on the deal, hold a 2, 3, 4 kicker if one of them appear. If it appears on a full house, discard both kickers.

EV Difference can be at least 1 credit for NOT doing so

Two Card Flush Rules -- Added from the Original Guide

Category E - 2 Card Straight Flushes

1 - 56, 67, 78, 89, 9T (4.9)
2 - 45, 46, 57, 68, 79, 8T (1 gap 2 to Straight Flush, this will be less than Ace alone)
3 - 23, 24, 34, 36, 47, 58, 69, 7T (2 gap 2 to Straight Flush, this will be less than Jack alone)

Category F - When you determined you have to resort to holding high cards

Holding the High Card Dealt

For Aces (Highest Precedence)

1 - Suited A2, A3, A4 (4.92)
2 - Suited A5 (4.5)
3 - Lone Ace [No other cards held] (4.36 - 4.88)

For Jack (2nd Highest Precedence)

1 - 2 to a Flush J7 (4.47), J8 (4.82), J9 (5.15)

2- Jack and Ten Offsuit

3 - Lone Jack (4.11 - 4.5)

For Queens (3rd Highest Precedence)

1 - 2 to a Flush Q9 and Q8 (4.64)

2 - Queen (4.01 - 4.44)

For King (Least Precedence)

1 - 2 to a Flush King + Low Card

2- Lone King (4.01 - 4.25)