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EXACT ANSWER · 9/6 DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS

Aces full in Double Double Bonus — keep the full house or the aces?

Break it. Three aces alone are worth 12.7169 per coin on 9/6 Double Double Bonus vs 9.0000 for the pat full house — a 3.72 edge, not a close call.

The exact numbers — A♥ A♦ A♣ 8♠ 8♣

A♥ A♦ A♣ 8♠ 8♣ solved on 9/6 Double Double Bonus — the best hold highlighted with its exact EV
A♥ A♦ A♣ 8♠ 8♣ on 9/6 Double Double Bonus: the winning hold, solved exactly.
HoldEV per coinvs best
Three aces (A♥ A♦ A♣)12.7169best
Pat full house (all five)9.0000−3.7169
Three aces + one eight6.5957−6.1212
Two pair (A♥ A♦ 8♠ 8♣)1.5106−11.2063

EVs are exact — every possible draw enumerated, not simulated — at max bet on 9/6 Double Double Bonus. Check it yourself: the analyzer runs the same solver in your browser.

See all 32 holds of this hand ranked

Why

Two draws at the case ace, with every 2, 3 and 4 in the deck also live as a 400-coin kicker, beat a sure 9 coins by a wide margin. The same five cards make a three-game staircase, all solved exactly: on 9/6 Jacks or Better keep the full house (9.0000 vs 4.3080 for the aces); on 10/7 Double Bonus breaking it barely wins (10.1147 vs 10.0000); on Double Double Bonus it wins by 3.72. The cards never change — only the top of the paytable does.

Chart line #6 of 39 — 'Three aces' sits above line #7, 'Full house'. Game-specific: never do this on Jacks or Better. See the full solver-optimized strategy chart, or drill hands with exact-EV feedback until plays like this are automatic.

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