Guide to Playing Ace on the Deal Video Poker

Ace on the Deal video poker makes getting the most coveted card in the entire deck a sure thing. All you have to do to be ensured of receiving an ace on your video poker deal is to bet six coins instead of five. To spice things up a little bit more, the game boosts payback for several hands including aces on the pay table when you make the extra bet.

One of the most enjoyable characteristics about video poker is its variety. You can keep it simple if you choose by playing the basic Jacks or Better version of the game that has been in existence for decades. But if you want to branch out, there is an endless selection of variations on the basic game available to you in casinos and as part of online gambling websites.

Ace on the Deal video poker stands as intriguing one of those variations. It requires you to make a slightly larger bet than normal to have access to the game’s special feature. For those who are worried about their budget, betting six coins per hand might seem a little bit too steep.

But for those who are willing to take the chance on higher betting exposure, the rewards for Ace on the Deal video poker can be worth it. If you bet six coins per hand, you’ll get at least one ace as part of your five-card deal. You’re assuring yourself of never going into the draw with no cards held.

On top of that, Ace on the Deal video poker gives you another reason to hold those aces dear. The pay table for the game mimics what you would expect from Double Double Bonus Poker. In Double Double Bonus, you’re receiving expanded payback on four of a kind hands in a tradeoff for lower payback on common hands like two pair.

Double Double Bonus pay tables already prioritize four of a kind hands made with aces. But Ace on the Deal video poker adds much higher payback for several winning hands where aces are included than what Double Double Bonus can offer. In other words, the ace leads you to higher-paying hands.

The Ace on the Deal video poker is a game where you can win a lot of money in a short amount of time. There are many different ways to score payback that dwarf what you would expect from other pay tables, which usually save their jackpots for the royal flush hand and nothing else.

In the following article, we’ll tell you about all the highs and lows of playing Ace on the Deal video poker. We’ll explain how to play video poker and we’ll show you how the twist of Ace on the Deal video poker changes the game. Finally, we’ll talk about what you can expect in terms of payback percentage while also getting into developing a winning strategy.

The Advantages of Playing Video Poker

Ace on the Deal video poker might seem like an odd game if you’ve never played video poker before. But once you get the hang of the basic game, variations like this one won’t be hard to learn. The basic mode of play is the same, even if some of the elements are altered somewhat.

If you are new to video poker, you’ll be happy to know it’s one of the most gambler-friendly of all casino games. It takes the best elements of table games and slot machines, mixes them up, and comes out with something much better than the individual sources.

To get an idea of all that video poker has to offer, take a look at all of the advantages waiting for you when you play the game.

• You can play video poker all by yourself. In other words, you won’t be bothered by other players or casino employees. As a result, you can play at your own leisure with the utmost privacy.
• You can find the video poker game that suits you the best. Many casino games feature a pretty rigid format. But video poker is known for tweaking the formula, as is the case with Ace on the Deal video poker, to create something totally new out of familiar parts.
• You’ll understand how to play video poker with ease. This is the case even if you’ve never played a hand of poker in your life. But if you do have a little bit of background, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting started right away.
• You’ll get to use strategy when you play video poker. This might not sound like a big deal, but we mention it because many people consider video poker to be just another type of slot machine. But slot machines don’t give you the chance to exert any control over gameplay.
• You’ll get complete transparency from your video poker game. Look at the pay table to see what you’ll get paid for each winning hand. And then look to basic probability to understand the likelihood that you’ll achieve those winning hands.
• You’ll have a better chance of winning at video poker than you will when playing other games. For example, the payback percentage of video poker, on average, is well above what you could get from slot machines. It also ranks highly with the top table games in the payback department.
• You can play video poker online and not miss out on anything. The top online gambling websites generally possess an excellent selection of the best video poker games. And you’ll get enjoy the same gameplay with online action that you will when playing in a casino.

We hope that you now understand a little bit about why video poker is so beloved by gamblers who want the best. Now, it’s time to learn how to play the basic game. We’ll then explain how the special feature involved with Ace on the Deal video poker works.

How to Play Basic Video Poker

Step 1: Your Bankroll

When you hear people talking about bankroll in reference to gambling, they’re talking about the money used to make bets. They’re also referring to where winnings are collected. In terms of creating a video poker bankroll, machine players will insert money, while online gamblers will have to fund a betting account at the website offering the game.

Once you have a bankroll in place, it will be divided by the game into units known as credits or coins. Each of these units will equal whatever the denomination you happen to be playing. For example, on a 25-cent machine, one credit equals 25 cents, two credits equal 50 cents, and so on.

Step 2: Your Bet

Most video poker games give you the option of wagering between one and five coins per hand. Ace on the Deal video poker deviates from this slightly by allowing you the chance of betting six coins per hand, which activates the feature for which the game is named. You can change you bet every hand if you want or stick with the same amount every time.

One rule of thumb that is generally true with all video poker games is that the payback for any game is at its highest when you bet the maximum amount. This is the case for Ace on the Deal video poker, even though you have to bet six coins for the max bet. The makers of the game are actually hoping that you bet less, because that will increase the house edge.

In addition, you’ll be bringing the special feature into play, which also includes the boosted pay table. Even though you’re raising your bet above the normal maximum, the reward makes it worthwhile, at least compared to bets of one through five coins.

You might be worried about the financial burden of betting six coins per hand. But you shouldn’t play the game at less than its maximum payback potential either. If you can’t do six coins per hand, you might want to pick a standard video poker game and forget about Ace on the Deal video poker.

Step 3: Your Hand

Video poker plays out, in many ways, like the card game known as Five-Card Draw. There is a five-card deal and a subsequent draw round. You get to keep cards from the deal if you want and draw new ones to replace the ones that you don’t want.

In both cases, this process is meant to provide you with the best possible poker hand. But Five-Card Draw requires you to beat multiple players at the table. That might mean a really great hand or bluffing your way through to force out the other players.

But video poker doesn’t put that much of a burden on you. You’re the only one playing, so you don’t have to worry about anyone else. All you have to do is to make one of the winning hands on the pay table for Ace on the Deal video poker, which are as follows:

• Pair of jacks or better
• Two pair
• Three of a kind
• Straight (five cards of consecutive rank, like 3-4-5-6-7)
• Flush (five cards of same suit)
• Full house (three of a kind and two pair in the same hand)
• Four of a kind
• Straight flush (straight with five cards of same suit)
• Royal flush (ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit)

The hands on the top of this list will appear often during gameplay, but their payback is modest. As you move down the list, you’ll see hands that are difficult to achieve. But these hands also pay more than the common ones.

The Deal

There are two ways that a deal can take place in Ace on the Deal video poker. If you bet between one and five coins, you’ll receive the first five cards off the top of a simulated deck of 52 cards. This deck will be shuffled constantly by random number generator software within the game.

Yet if you bet six coins on a hand of Ace on the Deal video poker, you are guaranteed an ace. How does this happen? Within the software, random deals take place until a deal with at least one ace occurs, which is the deal that will show up on your screen.

In both cases, the 47 cards remaining after the five cards appear on your screen go back to being shuffled within the game’s software. When you hit the draw button, the top cards in the deck at that moment will appear on the screen to replace the cards that you chose to discard, if any.

It’s important to understand this process so that you don’t make poor decisions. Many people play video poker under the misconception that they’re on a “hot” or “cold” machine. They also might make decisions about what to hold and discard based on what cards they think are “due” to appear.

None of these concepts are real in video poker. Your chances of winning or receiving certain cards never change and are completely left to chance. Don’t go looking for trends or patterns as you make your decisions about betting or holds and discards.

The Decision

Once you have your five cards, with or without an ace, you have to decide which cards you’re going to hold and which you’re going to discard. This is your chance to exert some strategy on the game.

The cards that you hold will be part of your final hand. You’ll draw new cards from the deck to replace the ones you’ve discarded.

You can hold all five cards if you have a winning combination you don’t think you can improve. Or you can discard all five if you don’t like anything. In most cases, you’ll be holding some and discarding others.

This decision will be made based on your chances of creating a winning hand from the cards you have and the ones still remaining in the deck. But you’ll also have to consider how much payback is attached to each winning hand. Sometimes it might be worth it to run the risk of losing a hand if it means that you can win big should you get the right cards on the draw.

Let’s take a look at an example to see how this process all plays out.

Sample Ace on the Deal Video Poker Hand

Imagine that you bet the six coins to activate the feature in Ace on the Deal video poker and you receive the following five cards on the deal:

You knew you’d be getting an ace because you bet the six coins. But you don’t necessarily have to hold onto any aces you get. In the case of this hand, you have some interesting choices at your disposal.

There aren’t any winning combinations in this deal. But what about the combinations that can be turned into winners if you end up with the right cards on the draw?

For example, you can hold the pair of sixes. That would mean you’d be drawing three cards to replace the ones you’ve discarded. With some luck, you could potentially end up with winners like two pair, three of a kind, a full house, or four of a kind.

Another way to play this hand would be to hold all the hearts. You have four of them, which is just one short of a flush. In this scenario, you would drop the six of spades and draw just one new card.

If you’re looking to go in another direction, you could hold onto the six, seven and eight of hearts and drop the other two cards. Doing this would give you the widest range of potential winning hands. But you’d have to get lucky with both of the cards that you draw.

As you can see, making choices in Ace on the Deal video poker is not always easy. Many deals that you get will be pretty clear in terms of what you should hold and discard. But then there are hands like this where the possibilities are very evenly-matched and the risk and reward is harder to judge.

In any case, once you make your decision, you’ll press the buttons on the machine (or on the screen) which are corresponding to the cards you want to hold. Once you press the draw button, the cards you’ve discarded will be replaced. The game will tally up any winnings you’ve earned and add them to your total, which will already have had your initial bet deducted from it.

That should give you a pretty good idea of how to play a hand of Ace on the Deal video poker. Now, it’s time to talk about the pay tables you’ll be using.

Ace on the Deal Video Poker Pay Tables

Pay tables represent crucial pieces of information for any video poker player. At first glance, they might simply seem to show you how much each winning hand pays for the amount bet. But pay tables should also be the basis for your strategy, since how much each hand pays will help you decide which ones to go for on the draw.

Let’s take a look at the most common pay table that you’ll find for Ace on the Deal video poker:

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins	6 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000	4,799
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250	250
Four aces without any 2,3,4	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000	3,200
Four 2s, 3s, 4s without any A,2,3,4	160	320	480	640	800	800
Four aces	160	320	480	640	800	2,000
Four 2s, 3s, 4s	80	160	240	320	400	400
Four 5s through Ks	50	100	150	200	250	250
Full house	9	18	27	36	45	45
Flush	5	10	15	20	25	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5	5
Pair of jacks +	1	2	3	4	5	5

This pay table might seem a little unusual at first because it includes a spot for the six-coin bet. But it’s necessary to include that because several of the win amounts for winning hands are different at the six-coin level.

You can see that there are three winning hands that do receive a boost at the six-coin level. They are the royal flush, four aces with two, three, or four kicker, and four aces. And the one thing that they have in common is that they all include aces.

By doing this with the pay table, Ace on the Deal video poker is giving you even more incentive to go for the extra feature. You’ll automatically be getting a card that is a big part of the hands that are being prioritized.

For the most part, Ace on the Deal video poker follows the structure of the pay table for Double Double Bonus Poker. Take a look.

Double Double Bonus Poker Pay Table

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250
Four aces without any 2,3,4	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000
Four 2s, 3s, 4s w/ any A,2,3,4	160	320	480	640	800
Four aces	160	320	480	640	800
Four 2s, 3s, 4s	80	160	240	320	400
Four 5s through Ks	50	100	150	200	250
Full house	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	6	12	18	24	30
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5
Pair of jacks +	1	2	3	4	5

You can see that, from one through five coins wagered, these two pay tables are almost identical. The only difference is that the Double Double Bonus pay table offers 6 to 1 on a flush, compared to 5 to 1 for the Ace on the Deal video poker game.

This gives you another reason why you should make the six-coin bet if you’re going to play Ace on the Deal video poker. Otherwise, you would be playing at an inferior pay table compared to Double Double Bonus.

Ace on the Deal Volatility

One important thing to know about the Double Double Bonus structure on which Ace on the Deal video poker is based is the way that it discounts two pair. In many video poker variations, two pair pays off at 2 to 1. But in these tables, the payback is only 1 to 1, also known as even-money.

Low-volatility games feature a relatively steady grind for the player, with a bankroll that hovers close to the level where it began. In high-volatility games, that bankroll will soar above its base level at times and sink way below it at others.

Ace on the Deal video poker also raises the volatility because of the required bet for the extra feature. Any time a bet is raised from its normal amount, the volatility level rises as well. You’re putting more at stake each hand after all.

Now, consider what happens when you only receive even money for two pair. Two pair is a hand that will come up quite often during gameplay, an average of about once every ten hands. That means that it will be used to keep your bankroll afloat while you search for higher-paying hands.

At only even-money, two pair won’t perform that sustaining function as well in Ace on the Deal video poker. As a result, the pressure on your bankroll put on by the six-coin wager will be amplified.

High volatility isn’t always a bad thing in video poker. After all, some people might not mind the risk of their bankroll falling if it also means they have more chances to win big in a hurry. Ace on the Deal video poker certainly provides that.

But you also have to make sure that you keep your bankroll stout if you want to have plenty of opportunities at those high-paying hands. Otherwise, the high volatility of the game could cause you to lose it all before one of those quick-strike hands comes around.

Progressive Ace on the Deal Pay Table

Let’s take a look at one other pay table that you might be able to find in the Ace on the Deal video poker family, featuring progressive jackpots.

Coins/Hand	1 Coin	2 Coins	3 Coins	4 Coins	5 Coins	6 Coins
Royal flush	250	500	750	1,000	4,000	Progressive
Straight flush	50	100	150	200	250	Progressive
Four aces with any 2,3,4	400	800	1,200	1,600	2,000	3,200
Four 2s, 3s, 4s without any A,2,3,4	160	320	480	640	800	Progressive
Four aces	160	320	480	640	800	Progressive
Four 2s, 3s, 4s	80	160	240	320	400	400
Four 5s through Ks	50	100	150	200	250	250
Full house	7	14	21	28	35	35
Flush	5	10	15	20	25	25
Straight	4	8	12	16	20	20
Three of a kind	3	6	9	12	15	15
Two pairs	1	2	3	4	5	5
Pair of jacks +	1	2	3	4	5	5

Progressive paybacks rise the longer the game is played without someone hitting the required hand. In the case of a casino, progressive payback for Ace on the Deal video poker might be based on a bunch of machines, all near each other and all feeding into the pool. If you’re playing online, you might have a progressive jackpot composed of all the people playing at the same website.

Regardless of how it is put together, a progressive form of Ace on the Deal video poker will only raise the volatility even higher. More of the overall payback will be dependent on the high-paying hands. And you can see that you’ll only be getting 7 to 1 for a full house, which is much more common than the hands that trigger the progressive.

Once a progressive hand is hit, the payback goes back to the base level and the process starts all over again. As a result, the best way to try to up the payback for this game is to play it when the progressive payback levels are all pretty high.

Payback Percentage for Ace on the Deal Video Poker

In terms of the progressive version of Ace on the Deal video poker, payback percentage is impossible to determine without knowing where the pay amounts stand. You would need to put the specific amounts in the progressive spots into a video poker calculator to come up with exact figures at the moment you’re playing for an accurate take.

As for the non-progressive pay table that we listed for the game, you can expect a payback percentage in the neighborhood of 98%. In other words, when you bet $100 playing Ace on the Deal video poker, you can expect $98 of it to be remaining after all the money is wagered. You’d be looking at an average loss of $2 for every $100 you play.

That doesn’t mean that your results will mimic that every single time you play. Payback percentage is just an average, computed by combining the probability of winning hands with the payback allotted for those hands.

During a short session, you might do very well or very poorly. Your personal payback percentage could be well above 100% if you’re winning and well below it if you’re losing. Luck will be the driving force behind those results.

In terms of Ace on the Deal video poker, 98% is a bit shy of what you should be seeking. Ideally, you should seek out a payback percentage of above 99%, which would reduce the house edge to under 1%. When the house edge is that low, you can offset it with rewards earned from casinos and gambling sites for frequent play.

At 98 percent, you probably couldn’t ever hope to make a long-term profit playing Ace on the Deal video poker. But more casual video poker players might actually enjoy the game, especially if they’re looking to win a lot of money in a short amount of time. This game, with the special feature and the huge bonuses for four aces, certainly provides that.

Understanding Ace on the Deal Video Poker Strategy

Strategy in video poker refers to the decisions that you make on betting and on what cards to hold and discard. The betting part is easy. To maximize your winnings playing Ace on the Deal video poker, you should be betting six coins on every hand.

The holds and discards are another story. Every time that you receive five cards on the deal in Ace on the Deal video poker, there will be 32 different options open to you in terms of the combinations of holds and discards. Only one of those combinations is correct.

The correct combination of holds and discards is the one that will earn the most money if you were to play that deal an infinite amount of times. Thinking about it in those terms will help you understand that you shouldn’t ever vary the way you play a hand based on what’s happened in the past playing it. Eventually, the luck of the draw will be evened out by constant play and the one correct play will shine through.

Figuring out what the right plays are for all of the possible deals you might receive can seem like a daunting task. This is especially true for a pay table as involved as Ace on the Deal video poker, where there are kickers, special boosted payback for aces and all kinds of quirks.

Trying to do the math on the fly is a no-go. There will be many hands where your instinct about the correct holds and discards will be correct because the choice will be obvious. But once you start getting into deals like the sample one above, where there are many choices, you’re going to need some help.

Ace on the Deal Video Poker Strategic Resources

Luckily, you can find the help you need for learning Ace on the Deal video poker strategy. These resources have already explored the possibilities on all the different deals you might receive. With the math out of the way, all you have to do is take the time to learn the results.

Make sure whatever instructional tool you use is set up specifically for an Ace on the Deal video poker pay table. Otherwise, you could be getting the wrong information. Luckily, a Double Double Bonus pay table is similar enough that you can learn the strategy for that and still be all right.
Here are the two resources we recommend.

Video Poker Training Software

Training software is thorough and effective if you’re willing to take the time to use it. It is by no means a quick fix. You might need to play for months before you have all the information you need to achieve perfect play so that you can maximize your winnings.

The software is set up to allow you free video poker play, meaning that you can make decisions about what to hold and discard without having to worry about losing. As you go, the software will alert you to your mistakes and show you the proper plays for every possible deal. Eventually, you’ll learn it all and won’t need the instruction any longer.

Strategy Charts

Strategy charts are the way to go if you want to learn a specific game’s strategy in a hurry. All you need to do is memorize the chart and you’ll have all the information you need. That’s not as easy as it sounds however, as the chart can have dozens of different card combinations on it.

These card combinations are ranked in terms of their value heading into the draw. Once you’ve memorized them all, you’ll be able to tell which is the highest-ranked combination you have in all of your potential deals. As a result, you’ll know which cards to hold.

Pros and Cons of Ace on the Deal Video Poker

Ace on the Deal Video Poker Conclusion

Ace on the Deal video poker gives you the chance at seeing at least one ace in every deal you receive. From there, you can use that ace as the basis for many lucrative winning hands. As long as you’re willing to pay a little extra for that privilege, you can do well playing this unique video poker variation.