I think if it has a suffix, its not an EMD. It might have some advantages, like getting you your preferred anchor text when people link to you, or letting people in the SERPs know exactly what your website is about, but I don't believe you get a direct bonus in the search engines if you have a suffix on your exact keyword.
Personally I prefer to get EMD, if I can't then I pick a brandable name ... I don't mess with almost-emd's.