One of the more interesting hands in video poker is one that contains two pairs. This is almost always a winning hand, though in some casino games (wildcard games in particular) three-of-a-kinds are the lowest winning hands.
This article looks at some of the peculiarities of how this hand is played in various video poker games.
Contents
- The beauty of being dealt two pairs
- Sometimes holding two pairs is not the answer
- Wildcard games and two pairs
- A unique video poker game – no two pairs ever dealt
- Summary
The beauty of being dealt two pairs
Most video poker players smile when they see two pairs on the dealt hand. Unlike a plethora of other possible hands, a hand with two pairs is a winning hand by itself – except in some wildcard games where three of a kind is the lowest winning hand.
Depending on the specific pay table, a hand containing two pairs pays either 1-for-1 or 2-for-1 – the player either gets the initial bet back, or doubles it. The player can never lose when dealt two pairs.
Virtually all pay tables for the following video poker games pay 2-for-1 for two pairs:
- Jacks or better
- Bonus Poker
The wide variety of other non-wildcard games pays 1-for-1 for two pairs. These games include:
- Bonus Poker Deluxe
- Double Bonus Poker
- Double-Double Bonus
- Triple Bonus Poker
- Triple Bonus Plus
- Triple Double Bonus
- And several other jacks or better-based games
Holding two pairs eliminates any chance of a royal flush, but there is other gold to be found in the possible winning hands. When a player holds two pairs, there are 47 possible outcomes in a 52-card game. Five of the 52 cards in the deck were in the initial hand. This leaves 47 cards left in the deck. Since one card will complete the hand, there are 47 different possibilities for that card.
Of those 47 possible hands, there are:
- 43 hands containing two pairs
- 4 hands containing a full house
That means there is about a one in 11 chance of winning 8-for-1 or 9-for-1 on most pay tables. This is not a fortune by any means, but it does keep the player going for a while longer.
The strategy for the following games recommends holding the two pairs only:
- Jacks or Better
- Bonus Poker
- Bonus Poker Deluxe
- Double Bonus Poker
- Royal Aces Bonus
- USA Poker
- Aces and Faces
Sometimes holding two pairs is not the answer
Depending on the game being played, holding both pairs is not always the best play. This is true of most of the “bonus” games where certain four of a kind hands pay a bonus. Most often aces are the favored rank – but not always.
When the pays for these specific quads get high enough, the video poker strategy changes. The player then must check the rank of each of the pairs. If the rank of one of the pairs has a high enough pay, just that pair is held.
Holding one pair makes three open slots which translates to 16,215 possible resultant hands. The possible hands are:
- 11,520 – Jacks or better
- 2,629 – two pairs
- 1,852 – three-of-a-kind
- 169 – Full house
- 45- four-of-a-kind
There are multiple opportunities to improve the initial hand. In some cases four aces with a kicker pays as much as a royal flush and other combinations can pay up to half as much as a royal flush.
Since most of the pay tables for the bonus games in question pay 1-for-1 for both a pair of jacks or better and for two pairs, some players may assume that there is no reason to hold both pairs and a better platy is holding just the pair of high cards due to the multiple opportunities for high-paying hands.
They are wrong.
Unless the pay for the four-of-a-kind or four-of-a-kind with a kicker is high enough, holding both pairs is still the more profitable play.
The strategy for the following games calls for holding a pair of aces before holding two pairs:
- Double-Double Bonus
- Super Double-Double Bonus
- Triple Bonus Poker
- Triple Bonus Plus
- Triple Double Bonus
- White Hot Aces
- Double Aces and Faces
- Double-Double Aces and Faces
- Super Aces Bonus
- Royal Aces Bonus
All the above games call for holding a pair of aces alone when dealt two pairs. The strategy for one game (Super Double Bonus) calls for holding a high pair (jacks, queens, kings, or aces) when dealt two pairs. If both pairs are face cards (jacks, queens, kings), pick either one of the pairs. They will both return the same on average. If, however, one of the high pairs is aces, hold the aces.
Wildcard games and two pairs
As mentioned near the beginning, wildcard games do not follow the same patterns as non-wildcard games. This is primarily because most wildcard games require three of a kind and sometimes more in order to produce a paying hand.
The information given below may not hold true for all pay tables for the games, but are correct for the most common pay tables.
Games where the strategy calls for holding two pairs if there is no wildcard:
- Deuces Wild
- Joker Wild
Game where strategy calls for holding any one pair:
- Super Bonus Deuces Wild
Games where there is a choice of pair to hold:
- Deuces Wild Bonus – Hold a pair of aces, otherwise hold any one pair
- Deuces Wild Double Bonus – Hold one pair in priority order: Aces, 3s-5s, 6s-Ks
A unique video poker game – two pairs are never dealt
There is one unique type of game where a player never has the opportunity to hold two pairs. It is called Pick ‘em or sometimes Pick-a-Pair. Two cards are dealt face up as well as two piles of three cards with the top card of each pile displayed face up. The player must pick one of the piles of three to go with the two face up cards.
There is never an opportunity to hold anything other than a single pile with one face-up card.
Summary
A dealt hand containing two pairs is a guaranteed winner. That does not mean it is always best to hold the two pairs.
- When two pairs are held, there are only 47 possible results. They are either two pairs or a full house.
- When one pair is held, there are 16,215 possible hands including some very high-paying winners.
- Even though there are many possibilities if only one high pair is held, the proper strategy may still be to hold both pairs
- The player must know when to hold both pairs or just one of the pairs. If holding one pair, the player must know which one to hold.
A savvy player “knows when to hold ‘em” and which ones to hold.
