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Multistrike Poker Strategy

Before you get too far into this article, you should read Parts 1 and 2 (on this page), especially if you're not familiar with this exciting, new entry into the Video Poker arena. If you're already acquainted with how this game operates, you know that a different strategy applies to each "level" of play. (The game itself calls each level a "hand" and you may play 1,2,3 or 4 "hands" or levels.) For my purposes here, I'm going to assume that the maximum bet is made, which requires a 20-coin bet: 5 coins on each of 4 hands or levels.

As you move up in the levels of this game, the playing strategy you should use gets closer and closer to the proper playing strategy that would be used in a "regular" version of the underlying game. In fact, at the top level - hand 4 by the game's terminology - the proper strategy is exactly the same as one would use in a single-line version of the game. Because I've been showing you the strategy for a 9/6 Jacks or Better version of Multistrike Poker, the proper playing strategy for Level 4 is identical to the strategy for any type of 9/6 Jacks game.To practice playing at Level 3, you should add 2 coins to each of the single-coin payouts of a 9/6 Jacks game on your copy of "Bob Dancer Presents WinPoker" (BDPWP). Here's what it looks like:

Hand Single-coin Payout
Jacks or better 3
Two-Pair 4
Trips 5
Straight 6
Flush 8
Full House 11
Four-of-a-Kind 27
Straight Flush 52
Royal Flush 802

You can easily see that two credits have been added to each payoff, but remember that this is for Level 3 only! To practice Level 1, add six to each payout and to practice Level 2, add four to each payout. No changes are needed for practicing Level 4.

The Strategy Chart - Level 3

Comments: Please remember that the chart below is for Level 3 only of a 9/6 Jacks or Better version of this game. In Part 1, I covered the strategy for Level 1 and in Part 2, I covered Level 2. These tables all were generated by "Video Poker Strategy Master" (available at www.zamzone.com /). I adjusted the pay schedule as mentioned above, did some judicious editing, then verified it all on BDPWP, and hopefully caught any glaring errors.

JACKS OR BETTER Level 3, Multi-strike Poker (Hands are in descending order of preference.)

Note: "s" means suited

The Strategy Chart - Level 4

JACKS OR BETTER Level 4, Multi-strike Poker (Hands are in descending order of preference.)

My Experience Playing Multistrike Poker

A friend and I went to the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, Missouri recently to play some "Chase the Royal" VP, but only one of the four machines was available, so he went cruising around while I played and he found 4 Multistrike Poker machines. They're in $.25 denomination and offer a variety of different games, none of which were full-pay. It appears that the highest-return game available at Ameristar St. Charles is 9/7/5 Double Bonus, which has a return of 99.11% in its "regular" version when played properly. According to Bob Dancer in his article about Multistrike Poker that appeared in the Feb., 2003 issue of Casino Player Magazine, this short-pay version of Double Bonus will return 99.29% in the Multistrike Poker format, if (and only if) the proper playing strategy is used at all levels. Because I had not yet run any strategy charts for this version of the game, I chose to play the 7/5 Bonus Poker game that was available on the machine.

Jacks or Better in any form, let alone in the full-pay version, was not one of the choices on these machines, so I went with the Bonus Poker game because its playing strategy is very close to full-pay Jacks, even though the return on 7/5 Bonus Poker is a horrible 98.01%. It was only because I was playing in the "interest of science" that I put any $$$ into this vacuum cleaner, so I cannot recommend you do the same. Anyway, in went the cash and that began one of the best times I've had at playing VP in recent memory. Multistrike Poker is a lot of fun, even when you're losing, which I did on a frighteningly consistent basis. If you get nothing on Level 1, your entire 20-coin ($5) bet is lost and that happens a lot. The "Free Ride" provision of the game helps overcome these dry spells somewhat, but it wasn't at all unusual to have 5 or 6 hands in a row where I lost the entire bet and that, in a word, sucks. My pal, who had not played the game before was actually doing pretty well at it, with the highlight being a four-of-a-kind (5-K) that he hit on Level 4, where all wins are multiplied by 8. That totaled 1000 coins, which got him into the profit zone with room to spare. The best hand I hit was a Full House on Level 4 that paid 320 coins (8 x 40).

During the several hours we played, players would come and go at the other two available games and nearly all of them lost, which tells me that the casinos are going to make a bunch of $$$ with this game, at least until the smart players learn the strategies needed to at least pare their losses. Of course, with no full-pay examples available, very few "pros" are going to play these games, so the casinos will have a nice ride for a while. Still, it is a lot of fun - as well as challenging - to play, so I hope Multistrike Poker stays around for a while. In the meantime, I'll be working on the strategy for the 9/7 Double Bonus game. Imagine hitting quad Aces on Level 4...$1600!

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