Triple Double Bonus Poker (TDB) is the most volatile mainstream Bonus Poker variant on the casino floor. It splits Four of a Kind into six tiered payouts and adds two enormous "kicker" bonuses: Four Aces with a 2/3/4 kicker pays 800-for-1 (4,000 coins on a 5-coin max bet — equal to the Royal Flush jackpot) and Four 2s/3s/4s with an A/2/3/4 kicker pays 400-for-1 (2,000 coins). The trade-off is a gutted Two Pair payout (1-for-1) and a Full Pay 9/6 schedule that returns 99.58% RTP with optimal strategy. TDB is the headline pick for advantage players who can absorb the variance and execute the kicker-priority strategy under pressure.
This guide walks through the basic mechanics, the kicker-priority strategy framework, the head-to-head comparison with Jacks or Better, the four paytable variants you'll encounter on real casino floors, the most expensive rookie mistakes, and the bankroll plan that survives the variance index ≈42. Drill the strategy here at Pure Video Poker with 1,000 free practice credits before risking real money — TDB punishes any hesitation, and the right hold on the wrong hand can swing your session by hundreds of bets.
1. Always bet max (BET 5): The Royal Flush AND the Four-Aces-with-kicker hand both pay 4,000 at max bet. Sub-max betting forfeits both jackpots and quietly costs about 1.6% of total RTP.
2. Deal 5 cards, hold your best cards, then press Draw to replace the rest from the same 52-card deck.
3. Six-tier Four of a Kind: The kicker (the fifth card) determines the payout. Four Aces with a 2/3/4 kicker = 800-for-1; Four Aces with any other kicker = 400-for-1; Four 2s/3s/4s with an A/2/3/4 kicker = 400-for-1; Four 2s/3s/4s with any other kicker = 160-for-1; Four 5s-Kings = 50-for-1.
4. Two Pair pays 1-for-1: Same as a single high pair, removing the JoB cushion entirely.
5. Minimum paying hand: Pair of Jacks or higher.
9/6 Full Pay Triple Double Bonus returns 99.58% RTP with perfect strategy. Variance is among the highest in mainstream video poker — index ≈42, more than double Jacks or Better. Expect large swings, long dry stretches, and occasional massive jackpot hits.
| Hand | Payout (BET 1) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Four Aces + 2/3/4 kicker | 800 | Royal-equivalent jackpot — top priority |
| Four 2s/3s/4s + A/2/3/4 kicker | 400 | Hold all 4 + valid kicker aggressively |
| Four Aces (no qualifying kicker) | 400 | Always hold three Aces aggressively |
| Four 2s-4s (no qualifying kicker) | 160 | High-value bonus quads |
| Four 5s-Kings | 50 | Standard quad payout |
| Full House | 9 | Hold unless three-Aces draw available |
| Flush | 6 | Hold unless 4-Royal draw |
| Two Pair | 1 | ⚠️ Only pays even money — break frequently! |
Kicker priority: With a pair of Aces and a low card (2, 3, or 4), hold the kicker — drawing for Four Aces with that kicker is worth 4,000 coins. Without a kicker, plain Four Aces is "only" 2,000.
Three Aces is platinum: With three Aces, never break them. The combined EV of all Four-Aces-with-kicker outcomes plus plain quad Aces is astronomical relative to any held pair or two pair.
Two Pair is a trap: Two Pair pays only 1-for-1 — the same as a high pair. Holding two pair to "lock in a win" forecloses the Aces draw and is frequently negative-EV.
Hold low cards 2/3/4 carefully: A lone 2, 3, or 4 paired with a high card or another low card can be worth holding because of the kicker bonus, even though JoB strategy would discard it.
Breaking Full Houses with three Aces: The math says break it. The combined EV of all Four-Aces-with-kicker outcomes (≈12-14 coins on the 9-coin Full House) makes the break correct. The exception applies only when the trips are Aces.
Breaking Two Pair: With Aces-up Two Pair (e.g., AA-22), hold the Aces and the 2 kicker; discard the second pair. Drawing for Four Aces with kicker is worth far more than the 1-coin Two Pair.
Suited low cards: With low suited cards (2♠ 3♠ 4♠), don't reflexively hold them as a flush draw — the kicker EV is rarely high enough to justify forfeiting an Ace-priority hold.
Royal vs Four Aces with kicker: With four cards to a Royal AND three Aces, the math gets complex. A 4-card Royal draws to 4,000 once in 47 hands; three Aces with valid kicker draws to 4,000 about once in 1,083 hands but with much higher overall EV including secondary outcomes.
Bankroll consideration: TDB's variance index of ≈42 means you need at least 500 max bets per session — a $625 bankroll at $1.25 per spin. Drawdowns of 300+ bets are normal even with perfect play.
Searchers comparing "triple double bonus vs jacks or better" want to know whether the Royal-equivalent kicker bonus justifies the variance and the gutted Two Pair payout. Both games use Jacks or Better as the minimum paying hand, the same 52-card deck, and the same Royal Flush jackpot — but every other payout is rewritten.
| Feature | Triple Double Bonus (9/6) | Jacks or Better (9/6) |
|---|---|---|
| Four Aces + 2/3/4 kicker | 800-for-1 (4,000 max) | 25-for-1 |
| Four 2s/3s/4s + A/2/3/4 kicker | 400-for-1 | 25-for-1 |
| Four Aces (no kicker) | 400-for-1 | 25-for-1 |
| Four 2s-4s | 160-for-1 | 25-for-1 |
| Two Pair | 1-for-1 | 2-for-1 |
| Full House | 9 | 9 |
| Flush | 6 | 6 |
| Optimal RTP | 99.58% | 99.54% |
| House edge | 0.42% | 0.46% |
| Variance index | ≈42 | ≈19.5 |
| Best for | Jackpot chasers, advantage players | Strategy purists |
RTP-wise, Full Pay TDB and 9/6 Jacks or Better are nearly identical (99.58% vs 99.54%). The difference is variance: TDB's index of ≈42 produces swings more than twice as large as JoB. The Royal-equivalent kicker jackpot (4,000 coins for Four Aces + 2/3/4) is the headline draw, and over a long enough sample the math is virtually break-even with JoB. The catch is the bankroll required to ride out the swings and the strategic complexity of kicker decisions, both of which take dedicated practice.
TDB paytables are quoted as "9/6" — Full House 9, Flush 6. Adjacent cabinets can carry vastly different schedules. The 7/5 short pay drops 3.61% RTP versus Full Pay, which is more than 8x the entire house edge. Always read the paytable before depositing — the kicker bonus rows stay constant, but the Full House and Flush rows swing the entire game.
| Hand | Full Pay 9/6 (99.58%) | 9/5 (98.15%) | 8/5 (97.02%) | 7/5 (95.97%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush (max bet) | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Four Aces + 2/3/4 kicker | 800 | 800 | 800 | 800 |
| Four 2s/3s/4s + A/2/3/4 kicker | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| Four Aces (no kicker) | 400 | 400 | 400 | 400 |
| Four 2s-4s | 160 | 160 | 160 | 160 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Four 5s-Kings | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Full House | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
| Flush | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 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 |
Full Pay 9/6 is the only schedule worth playing seriously. The 9/5 short pay shaves 1.43% off RTP, 8/5 sheds another 1.13%, and the 7/5 cabinet returns just 95.97% — worse than many penny slots. The kicker bonus rows (800 / 400 / 400 / 160 / 50) and Royal Flush jackpot stay constant; the Full House and Flush rows are where casinos tune the game.
Most TDB leaks come from JoB instincts and from misreading the kicker rules. The five most expensive errors:
1. Discarding low-card kickers. A 2, 3, or 4 paired with three Aces turns a 400-coin quad payout into a 4,000-coin jackpot. Discarding that kicker is one of the largest leaks possible in TDB.
2. Holding Two Pair instinctively. Two Pair pays only 1-for-1. With Aces-up Two Pair, holding both pairs forecloses the Four-Aces-with-kicker draw and almost always loses EV.
3. Not breaking Full Houses with three Aces. The combined EV of all Four-Aces-with-kicker outcomes is roughly 12-14 coins on the 9-coin Full House. Refusing to break a "good" hand leaves serious money on the table.
4. Playing the wrong paytable. The 7/5 schedule sits next to Full Pay machines on many floors and looks identical at a glance. The 3.61% RTP gap is more than 8x the house edge — verify the Full House and Flush rows every single time.
5. Not betting max coins. A 1-coin bet caps both the Royal AND the Four-Aces-with-kicker jackpot at 250 coins; 5 coins pays 4,000 for each. The bonus accounts for ≈1.6% of total RTP — by far the biggest single leak.
Triple Double Bonus's variance index of ≈42 — more than double Jacks or Better — means you need a substantially larger bankroll. A practical rule of thumb is 500 max bets per session for casual play, scaling to 800-1,000 max bets for serious advantage play. At $1.25 per spin (5 quarters), that's a $625 buy-in for casual play and $1,250 for serious sessions. Drawdowns of 300+ max bets are normal even with perfect strategy because the Royal Flush and Four-Aces-with-kicker jackpots together account for nearly 3% of total RTP — and dry stretches between hits can run 30,000+ hands. Set a stop-loss at 50% of buy-in and a stop-win at +200% to protect against giving back a jackpot, and never raise the bet to chase losses.
Triple Double Bonus is a flagship title in IGT, Microgaming, and most major online lobbies. Pure Video Poker hosts the Full Pay 9/6 version free with 1,000 practice credits and no download required — the right place to drill kicker-priority strategy and rehearse the Two-Pair-break decision before risking real money. When you graduate to a real-money venue, prefer regulated jurisdictions and confirm the in-game paytable matches the lobby description. Related variants worth practising on the same engine include Double Bonus Poker, the kicker-heavy Double Double Bonus, and the lower-variance Bonus Poker and Bonus Poker Deluxe.
| Hand | BET 1 | BET 2 | BET 3 | BET 4 | BET 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Four Aces + 2/3/4 | 800 | 1600 | 2400 | 3200 | 4000 |
| Four 2/3/4 + A/2/3/4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four Aces | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four 2s-4s | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind (5-K) | 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 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Two Pair | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Triple Double Bonus returns 99.58% to the player (RTP) on the Full Pay 9/6 paytable with optimal strategy, leaving a house edge of just 0.42%. The 9/5 short pay drops to 98.15%, 8/5 to 97.02%, and the 7/5 cabinet returns about 95.97%. Despite the strong RTP, variance is among the highest in mainstream video poker, with an index of approximately 42.
Place your bet (1-5 coins), then press Deal to receive 5 cards from a 52-card deck. Select which cards to hold, then press Draw to replace the rest. Your final hand is evaluated against the pay table. The minimum winning hand is Jacks or Better. Always bet max coins (5) to qualify for the enhanced Royal Flush jackpot of 4,000 coins, the 4,000-coin Four Aces with 2/3/4 kicker, and the 2,000-coin Four 2s/3s/4s with kicker bonuses.
Triple Double Bonus splits Four of a Kind into six tiers based on rank and kicker. The headline payout is Four Aces with a 2/3/4 kicker at 800-for-1 (4,000 coins on max bet) — equal to the Royal Flush jackpot. Four 2s/3s/4s with an A/2/3/4 kicker pays 400-for-1, plain Four Aces pays 400-for-1, plain Four 2s-4s pays 160-for-1, and Four 5s-Kings pays 50-for-1. Two Pair drops to 1-for-1 to fund the bonuses.
Triple Double Bonus has extreme variance with an index of approximately 42 — among the highest in mainstream video poker, more than double Jacks or Better (≈19.5). The 4,000-coin Four-Aces-with-kicker bonus and 2,000-coin Four-2s/3s/4s-with-kicker bonus drive massive swings. Extended dry stretches are normal. Only recommended for experienced players with bankrolls of 500+ max bets per session.
Yes. Triple Double Bonus is completely free to play on Pure Video Poker. No download, no registration, and no real money required. You get 1,000 practice credits to play with. It works in any modern web browser on desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones. Use it to drill the kicker-priority strategy and rehearse the Two-Pair-break decisions before playing at a real casino — TDB is unforgiving for unprepared JoB players.
The best schedule is the Full Pay 9/6 version at 99.58% RTP. The maximum single-hand payout is 4,000 coins for both a Royal Flush AND Four Aces with 2/3/4 kicker on a 5-coin max bet — the only game where a Four of a Kind matches the Royal jackpot. Other top payouts: Four 2s/3s/4s with kicker 2,000, Four Aces (no kicker) 2,000, Four 2s-4s 800, Four 5s-Kings 250.
Yes, dramatically harder. The kicker-priority rules require holding low cards (2/3/4) alongside high cards in scenarios that look counter-intuitive to JoB players. The Two-Pair-break decision is also more aggressive than in Double Bonus because the kicker bonuses raise the EV of Ace and low-card draws. TDB punishes any hesitation — drill the strategy chart for at least 1,000 free-credit hands before playing for real money.
On a max 5-coin bet the top single-hand wins are: Royal Flush 4,000 coins, Four Aces with 2/3/4 kicker 4,000, Four 2s/3s/4s with A/2/3/4 kicker 2,000, Four Aces (no kicker) 2,000, Four 2s-4s 800, Four 5s-Kings 250, Straight Flush 250, Full House 45, Flush 30. The combined Four-Aces-with-kicker hit (the Royal-equivalent jackpot) occurs roughly once per 16,000 hands.