An In Depth Look at Bonus Video Poker

We talk so much about how to win at Jacks or Better video poker at Springbok online casino that sometimes we overlook other video poker variations that are also great to play. When you use the Springbok Casino no deposit bonus to play any video poker variation, you are getting excellent hands-on experience for when you’ll want to play for real money.

Jacks or Better Video Poker

Let’s first do a quick review of the most popular variation of video poker: Jacks or Better. The first thing to note is that the best version of this game is the 9-6 version where a full house pays nine coins and a flush pays six coins. You will naturally play five coins on each hand which is the maximum bet. This is because of the huge extra payout for a Royal Flush

The single most important element in the strategy for Jacks or Better is that you will often discard a low pair in order to try for a Royal Flush. This great hand is rare of course but it is a lot less are than winning a state-run lottery. In terms of the mathematical side of video poker, it often pays to give up a low-paying hand in order to go after that elusive big payout.

Bonus Video Poker Four of a Kind and Two Pair

In bonus poker, you get an extra payout for having four aces, four twos, threes, and fours and for fives through Kings. This is a huge difference over the strategy for Jacks or Better which has one payout for all four of a kinds.

Before we get into the actual playing strategy for Bonus Video Poker, we should mention that some land based casinos are running this video poker variation with only one coin as the payout for two pair instead of two coins. This translates to five coins when you play the max instead of ten coins as it ought to be.

The difference this makes when you play Bonus Video Poker with this pay table is huge.

Downgrading

The trick that some casinos play of lowering the pay table in a number of video poker variations is called downgrading. In Jacks or Better, we find many forms of downgrading so always look for a 9-6 pay table when you play Jacks or Better.

For every coin the casino takes away from your winnings as it downgrades the pay table for a given video poker variation, the return to player rate goes down by about 1.1%. This may not seem like a lot and at a land-based casino, where the game you want to play may be unavailable; many players accept the downgraded paytable and play on.

However, the regular return to player rate is already so close to 100% that by giving back 1.1% to the casino, players are virtually assuring themselves of having a losing session albeit losing small sums.

Of course, this is one of the great benefits of playing at Springbok online casino: you can always play the game you want to play with no waiting at all. In addition, at Springbok, you can go from game to game and never give up your seat since there is always room for one more player, even if there are a million people playing the same game.

Ah, the wonders of cyberspace!

Bonus Video Poker in a Land Based Casino

As we said above, the pay table in Jacks or Better may be downgraded. In a land-based casino, they may have one 9-6 Jacks or Better video poker terminal, which is always occupied, and several 8-5 terminals.

When you see that, always look for a Bonus Video Poker terminal; the return to player rate will be higher and you’ll also have a lot more fun playing it. It is worth mentioning that many players who come to video per from blackjack, find it very exciting—more exciting than blackjack. It often happens that these players find Bonus Video Poker to be even more exciting than Jacks or Better because of the enhanced bonus payouts and the changes in strategy they create.

Bonus Video Poker Strategy

The basic pay table has a return of 8-5 for a full house and a flush. In Jacks or Better, this is a pay table to avoid. But in Bonus Video Poker, it is the standard pay table and it is offset by the extra payouts for some four of a kinds.

That means that in general, you would use the standard strategy for Jacks or Better but you will more often give up the chance at a flush in favour of a chance at a hand that carries a bonus payout.

Variance

This term refers to the amount that you might end up losing in an unlucky session. The variance in Jacks or Better is about 19.5 and the variance in Bonus Video Poker is about 20.5. This level of variance is acceptable because it will generally be cancelled out in your winning sessions.

Remember, the return to player rate in video poker is close to 100% depending on the variation. So, one unlucky session may be balanced out by several winning sessions. If you play video poker and don’t hit the Royal Flush, you will still win or lose a little over the long run. That makes video poker one of the most fun games to play; the basic winning totals or losing totals are so small that most players simply play them for the fun of it.

Springbok Online Video Poker

We hope that we have whetted your appetite for some great video poker action. At Springbok, we have many bonuses that help you grow your bankroll; the CashBack programme also returns extra money to you, and the Comp Points programme also adds to your bankroll.