I played the .25 (.25, ha) version of this game the other day; it
must have been a 500x point day or something, or I needed to have my
head examined. Anyway, my buyin was a modest $1000; forty bets, or
the equivalent of buying into a single line deuces game for $50.
I had no trouble with the line-to-line strategy changes as I know
single-line MS pretty well (and there isn't any difference between
single and five line as far as stratgey goes). I stuffed the whole
thousand in as I knew what I was in for.
Well, I got shut out (GAME OVER GAME OVER GAME OVER GAME OVER GAME
OVER) on the FIRST SIX HANDS. It was Ugly Ducks that I was playing
(15/9/4/4), and these draws were: 2987, singleton deuce, one low
pair, nothing, nothing, and a low pair. I failed to improve to trips
or better on EVERY draw. After ONE MINUTE of play I was down $150.
The next few hands were no better as I had one or two survivors
advance to the second line only to have them die instantly. After
ten minutes I was down $600 and wondering if I had been hit by a
truck. The remainder of the $1000 dwindled down to almost zippo
before I hit a couple of wild royals to keep me alive and then four
deuces on the second line for $500. I cashed out $620 for a $380
loss and staggered away fromn the machine.
Remember the "this is your brain on drugs" commercials? well,
substitute, if you will, "this is your bankroll on 5-play
Multistrike VP". And by the way, if you think you can soften this
blow by playing the nickel or dime versions available, let me hasten
to add that the paytables offered on those games are in the 96-97%
range.
5-play IMHO is the single worst VP game in the universe. Don't play
it! Eccccchhhh!