For players who like volatile online video poker variants there is none better than Double Double Bonus Poker. This is offered by the leading software provider Microgaming at its online casinos. Online Casino Topic recommends Golden Riviera, All Slots and Platinum Play. This article discusses the special features in the payout table, the playing mechanism and the strategy of this online video poker variant.

Microgaming Double Double Bonus Poker follows the basic payout table of Jacks or Better with some significant changes in the Four of a Kind hands. In Jacks or Better there is a single payout of 25 coins for any Four of a Kind hand. In Double Double Bonus Poker there are five different Four of a Kind hands with payouts ranging from 400 coins to 50 coins. Four aces with the fifth card being any two, three or four pays 400 coins. This payout is greater than that of a Royal Flush. Four aces with the fifth card being any other card pays 160 coins. Four twos, threes or fours with the fifth card being an ace, two, three or four pays 160 coins. Four twos, threes or fours with the fifth card being any other card pays 80 coins. Any other Four of a Kind hand pays 50 coins. In order to compensate for this enhancement to the payout for Four of a Kind hands, the payout for Two Pairs has been reduced from 2 coins in Jacks or Better to 1 coin in Double Double Bonus Poker. This small reduction in the payout will compensate because Two Pair hands occur over 12% of the times, whereas Four of a Kind hands occur less than 1%. The payouts mentioned above are for one coin wagered. The payouts for other hands are the same as those for Microgaming Jacks or Better. With optimum strategy the average return to player is almost 99%, which is slightly less than that for Jacks or Better, but the attraction is in the larger payouts.

The most important aspect of optimum strategy for Microgaming Double Double Bonus Poker is resolving conflict hands. Some important instances are described below. If the player is dealt a Full House with three aces and a pair then he must discard the pair and retain only the three aces. The chance for ending up with a Four of a Kind Aces hand with the large payouts is worth taking. However if a player is dealt a Full House with three of any card other than aces then he must retain the Full House. The payouts for the other Four of a Kind hands are much lower and do not merit the loss of the Full House payout.

The playing mechanism is like any other online video poker variant. The player selects the coin size and number of coins. After the initial hand is dealt, the player selects which cards to hold. The remaining cards are replaced and the final hand compared with the payout table. The Microgaming optional Double feature and Auto Hold feature are available in this video poker variant. Microgaming offers Double Double Bonus Poker in the multi hand Power Poker formats as well. It is available in 4 hands, 10 hands, 50 hands and 100 hands formats.