MultiStrike Poker

If you haven't played Multistrike, you need to find one and give it try. It is, to me, the most interesting variety of video poker yet to surface.

For those who haven't played Multistrike, it goes something like this. For a 25c game, your bet is 20 credits. You play a single hand, and if you don't draw a winning hand (or get a "free ride"), you lost your 20 credits and move on to the next hand.

If you make a winning hand, or received a "free ride", you are dealt a second hand, just like the first, but the payoffs are doubled. If you make a paying a hand on the second hand, you move to a third hand where the payoffs are doubled again (i.e., quadrupled). Finally, if you make a paying hand on the fourth hand, the payoffs are 8x the first hand. For example, a fourth-hand Royal typically pays 32,000 credits ($8,000 for quarter games).

Now, it takes a bigger bankroll, since you can lose 20 credits on a single hand. But a winning streak can bring you back in a hurry. On Jacks or Better, four of a kind on the top line will pay 1,000 credits. Even a straight or flush on the top line becomes meaningful.

Every now and then (about 7% of the time), you get a "free ride" -- which lets you advance to the next level even if you lose on the current level. Bob Dancer has computed the optimal return on 9/6 JB Multistrike at 99.79%. But you have to modify the strategy for the first, second and third hands slightly.

This is a great game that everyone should try. Bob Dancer has written a great analysis of the game you can find here:

http://www.igtproducts.com/IGTproducts/GameReview/MultiStikePoker/MultiStrikePoker.htm

Also, there is an online practice game you can use to get familiar with the process -- this game is identical in function to the live games you'll find in casinos (you need shockwave player to play it):

http://www.ledgaming.com/MultiStrikePoker/html/shockwave.shtml

You find very little Multistrike in the South -- It is almost nonexistent in Tunica (Gold Strike has a severely short pay version). Rainbow in Vicksburg has a couple of games, and Harrahs in New Orleans has a couple of full-pay versions. I have not seen any in Biloxi, but haven't spent any time there since The Storm. We found good Multistrike games at Gold Coast and Green Valley Ranch in Vegas. Most of the Strip casinos also have it but the pay tables are, well, what you'd expect on the Strip.

One last thing -- Multistrike is also available in a 5-play version; if you're going to play this, keep in mind that you have to be betting the max on all five hands (100 credits) to qualify for the big payoff on the Royal.

These games don't seem to get much play in most places. I really can't figure out why.