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EXACT ANSWER · 9/6 DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS

Four aces in Double Double Bonus — do you throw the fifth card?

Yes — discard it. Pat quad aces pay a flat 160; drawing one card for a 2, 3 or 4 kicker is worth 221.2766 per coin exactly, a gain of 61.28.

The exact numbers — A♥ A♦ A♣ A♠ 9♥

A♥ A♦ A♣ A♠ 9♥ solved on 9/6 Double Double Bonus — the best hold highlighted with its exact EV
A♥ A♦ A♣ A♠ 9♥ on 9/6 Double Double Bonus: the winning hold, solved exactly.
HoldEV per coinvs best
Four aces alone (A♥ A♦ A♣ A♠)221.2766best
All five — pat quad aces160.0000−61.2766
Three aces (A♥ A♦ A♣)3.3830−217.8936

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

Throwing a card away from a made four of a kind looks insane, and it is the defining play of the game. Twelve of the 47 unseen cards are a 2, 3 or 4, and each one turns a 160-coin hand into a 400-coin hand. You cannot lose the quad by drawing — the worst outcome is the 160 you already had. That is 12/47 of an extra 240 coins for free. This play does not exist in Jacks or Better, where every four of a kind pays 25 and the fifth card is irrelevant.

Chart line #3 of 39 — 'Four of a kind (draw for the kicker)'. Line #2 is the pat quad that already has its kicker; there is nothing to decide there. See the full solver-optimized strategy chart, or drill hands with exact-EV feedback until plays like this are automatic.

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