Video Poker Winpoker question...

Hi!
I have the app Winpoiker on my phone. I really like it, but when I practice 10/7 Double Bonus,
it seems to me to be inconsistent when holding Just an Ace, or for instance an Ace and unsuited
Queen. I think sometimes it tells me to just hold the Ace and sometimes the Ace AND the Queen.
Has anyone else noticed this? Or am I just " misremembering " it?

 

You are remembering correctly. The lone Ace is usually the correct hold, but sometimes the other cards shift the math in favor of Ace Queen.

Usually it happens when one other card shares the same suit as the Ace. Now the Ace hold loses value because a flush will be more difficult to achieve. This is sometimes referred to as a "penalty" card situation.

 

This is that crazy hand where if you have the Ace and a different suited high card, you keep just the Ace, unless you have a 2-5 of the same suit with the Ace, then you keep both, but if you have a 2-5 of a similar suit in the hand along with a ten of a different suit than the Ace, then you keep just the Ace. Don't ask me to explain, I'll leave it to the math gurus and penalty experts.

 

I attended a class that Bob Dancer held a few years back on 10/7 DB. I felt like a kid back in algebra class or trig. The bottom line was the effect that "penalty cards" have on a hand. Certain cards will lessen the chance of drawing a straight or a flush. So if you are dealt a lone ace with an unsuited king, queen, or jack, you have to see if the other cards in the hand are suited to the ace or can make a low ace straight. If these penalty cards are there then you would hold the ace and the unsuited K, Q, or J. If there are no penalty cards then the lone ace would be held. The crazy hand as bman77 stated above is if you get an ace with an unsuited 10. Then you just hold the ace.

When in doubt I hold the lone ace. The difference is very minor, but in the long run it will effect you playing to perfection. 10/7 DB is probably one of the hardest games to play perfectly. One reason why I like to play DDB. In DDB just hold the ace.

I learned a lot listening to Bob Dancer. The guy definitely knows his trade.

 

There are a lot of penalty card situations in 10/7 and 9/7 DB and you can safely ignore them if you're willing to sacrifice pennies per hour.

KQ/KJo vs Kxx suited and KQ/KJs vs KQxs/KJxs are other common ones.