Three aces and a deuce — do you hold the kicker in Double Double Bonus?
Drop the deuce. Three aces alone are worth 12.4894 per coin on 9/6 Double Double Bonus vs 11.8298 holding the kicker with them — 0.66 better.
The exact numbers — A♥ A♦ A♣ 2♠ 8♦
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
This is the most-argued decision in the game, and the exact answer is clean. The kicker pays nothing until the fourth ace actually arrives, so holding it now is paying in advance for a card you may never need. Two draw cards give you roughly twice as many ways to catch the case ace as one does — and either of those two cards can be the 2, 3 or 4 that turns the quad into 400 anyway. The boundary is worth memorising: keep the kicker only once the quad is already made.
Chart line #6 of 39 — 'Three aces'. No line on the chart ever holds three of a kind plus a kicker; the kicker lines (#2 and #3) all start from a completed quad. See the full solver-optimized strategy chart, or drill hands with exact-EV feedback until plays like this are automatic.