About Quick Quads
Quick Quads is a six-coin variation of the existing video poker games. IGT and Action Gaming introduced it in 2008. The initial versions were Triple Play, Five Play, and Ten Play and these had a variety of possible pay-outs. However, the single-line versions of this fun and exciting game have recently appeared in some casinos. There are no Wild Deuces or Wild Jokers, but the machine announces “Quick Quads” whenever you hit one, so this winning sound will soon cause thrill and excitement and you will start to enjoy it really quickly.
Differences to video poker
This game requires examining the cards much more carefully, as the ones you’d normally throw away might just be the ones that will bring you the jackpot. What certainly makes Quick Quads more interesting and challenging than regular video poker is the fact that this is a variation of the video poker and to some extent, the rules have variations, too.
Five coins per line are required in most video poker games to get maximum value. Quick Quads, however, requires six coins per line. In video poker you receive 4-of-a-kind shorthand, but when you pay the extra coin in Quick Quads, your chances of receiving a 4-of-a-kind, known as quads, are largely increased. In video poker, having 5555 means you have 4-of-a-kind and you earned a shorthand.
When you have a 3-of-a-kind in the hand, the ranks of your 4th and 5th card have to add up to the rank of your 3-of-a-kind card in order to get paid for a Quick Quad. For example, if you end up having 55523, you get paid for four 5s (since 2+3= 5). So, the rank of your 4th and 5th card added up equals the regular 4th card in poker. This logically means you get about twice as many possibilities for quads in this game as you do in playing regular video poker. So, Quads have higher chances of payment and are both more exciting and tactically challenging to get.
Learning to play a video poker game well is best done when practiced on a computer. It can be extremely useful to get acquainted with the rules and possible strategies. Until recently, no commercially available software included Quick Quads, which made it more difficult to master the game. A new game on the market requires practicing and a bit of expertise, and now that there are free playing sites and guides to the game, it is expected of Quick Quads to surpass regular video poker.
Basics and concept
The ace card counts as “1” in Quick Quad. Quick Quads can be in the range of Twos-Tens (2s-Ts) only. 222AA is the lowest possible Quick Quad, and since the ace always counts as 1 for Quick Quad 222 and 1+1=2 for this purposes gives the lowest possible Quick Quad. The highest possible Quick Quad is made out of tens: TTT9A, TTT82, TTT73, TTT64, or TTT55. Now, even though it is said that 222AA is the lowest possible Quick Quad, 222AA has more value than TTT9A in most of the games that Quick Quad offers. This is because in all of the games, except for Jacks or Better, four 2s, 3s, and 4s are worth more than four 5s, 6s and all the way to four Ks.
Although in theory it is possible to assign a value of 11 to Jacks, 12 to Queens, and 13 to Knights to make a hand such a KKK85 count as a Quick Quad, Quick Quads were not designed in that way. Although you might now think that this means a loss of possible money, think about the fact that if hands like KKK76 counted as a 4-of-a-kind, the value of the full house and the flush would probably suffer to fit the needs of casinos and what they are willing to offer.
TTT > 999 > 888 > 777 > 666 > 555 > JJJ = QQQ = KKK and 444 > 333 > 222. (Here the “>” sign, which is called a “greater than” sign, means that the cards on the left are more valuable than the cards on the right of this sign.) This differs from regular video poker. In most video poker games, three 6s are worth exactly the same as three 4s. However, in this game the value of these for 3-of-a-kinds is enhanced by how many different combinations can be made to lead to a Quick Quad.
So, the higher the rank of Quick Quad listed here, the more ways there are to create the 4-of-a-kind. So, although a 222AA quick quad pays more, it is said that a combination of a TTT Quick Quad is worth more because there are more chances of winning, since a TTT can be combined with 9+1, 8+2, 7+3, etc.
Strategy
A kicker that is half as large as the rank of a 3-of-a-kind is not as valuable as having a kicker that is not precisely half as large in some games. If you hold 666A, 6662, 6664, 6665, you have higher chances of winning a Quick Quad than having a combination of 6663. In games where you would hold both 6664 and 6662, it is suggested to break up a 66622 and 66644 full house to hold 6662 for chances of a Quick Quad, but you are supposed to keep 66633 intact, because it is already a Quick Quad. The best chances of winning a Quick Quad are given with a set of 3 Tens. In most video poker games, 555 has the same value as 666 = 777 = 888 = 999 = TTT. However, in Quick Quads, as already mentioned, 555 has less value in holding than a < 666 < 777 < 888 < 999 < TTT. Three tens are so valuable by themselves because they offer the most Quick Quad combinations. So, never hold a TTT5, for example. Even though Quick Quads is a variation of Video Poker, there are six games of Quick Quads and all of them have a special twist, which makes them different from the others. That means that anyone who tries to develop a single tactic for all of them is doomed to fail.
