A more accurate description of Double Bonus Poker is that it is a variant of Bonus Poker, which is, in turn, a variant of Jacks or Better. The word “bonus” is included in the game’s name because of the heightened payouts available for players who achieve a four-of-a-kind while playing the game. The game “pays” for the larger payouts for a four-of-a-kind by changing the payoff for two pairs from two to one to even money. This “pays” for the larger payouts for a four-of-a-kind.
Overview
This page provides an overview of the game and instructions on how to play, in addition to an analysis of the game’s pay tables and the percentage of money won from playing the game. A section on tactics has also been included in this document.
Since we almost always proceed from the premise that our readers have yet to gain prior knowledge of the game of video poker, the fundamentals of the game are covered first. Many readers have experience with slot machines, and some believe that video poker games are merely a different variety of slots.
Nothing could be further from the truth:
Slot machines and video poker games share many similarities. Both plays display symbols on a video screen, and different payoffs are associated with various combinations of those symbols. However, most slot machine games use meaningless logos and icons, such as fruits and bars. Playing cards are utilized in video poker machines.
This is significant because there is no way to know the probability of getting a particular symbol on a slot machine. This information is not available to you. On the other hand, authentic video poker games (as opposed to pulling tab games, which only give the impression of being video poker games) use the same probability as a standard deck of playing cards.
You can find the payoffs for various combinations of symbols in slot machines and video poker by looking at the pay table provided by the casino. On the other hand, the varieties of video poker are determined by the rankings of poker hands, and the odds of achieving particular poker hands are already known.
If you know the odds of getting a particular hand and the payoff for that hand, you will be able to calculate the expected return for the entire machine.
You need to find out which slot machines offer better odds than other slot machines because you cannot compare them. Some variations of video poker offer better odds than others, and it’s not hard to tell which ones those are.
Another cool thing about VP games is that they allow you to make choices that can impact the game’s results. Consider these games to be analogous to draw poker and their variations. You will initially be dealt 5 cards, but you can throw away anywhere from 0 to 5 cards to strengthen your hand.
Summary
In most situations, the decision of which cards to keep and which to discard significantly impacts the expected return you receive. For instance, if you were dealt a royal flush on your first deal, which pays out at 800 to 1, and threw any of the cards away, you would be making a hugely incorrect mathematical decision. Because this is the best payout available in the game, you will lose money if you do anything other than keep this hand in your hand.
