Bonus poker

Bonus Poker is a variation of Jacks or Better video poker which offers bonus payouts for a 4 of a Kind. The amount of the bonus for the 4 of Kind is based on which rank the cards are in that hand. This is one of the best video poker games to play in most casinos.
On this page, we cover Bonus Poker in quite a bit of detail. We explain how to play, take a look at the pay tables, and provide details on the odds and payback percentages. There’s some strategy advice too, to help you play the game optimally.
Bonus Poker has spawned its own variants, too, and we also cover Bonus Poker Deluxe in its own section.
How to Play Bonus Poker
Bonus Poker is based on Jacks or Better video poker, so gameplay is similar. You start by inserting money into the Bonus Poker machine, and the screen updates to display the number of credits you have. You then decide how many coins you want to play for—1 to 5.
TOP TIP:
You should always go with the max bet (5 coins). The best possible payout for the top hand in any video poker game only pays with the max bet. The reduced payout does significant damage to your odds of walking away a winner. We’ll have more to say about that in the section on pay tables.
The computer then deals you a virtual hand of 5 cards. Video poker is based on draw poker, so you’re allowed to discard between 0 and 5 cards. The computer then deals you new cards to replace the ones you discarded. Based on the poker rank of your final hand, you get a payout, based on the pay table for the game.
In Jacks or Better video poker, the lowest paying hand is a pair of Jacks or Better, and the highest paying hand is a Royal Flush. Bonus Poker offers bonus payouts for the 4 of a Kind hand, based on what rank the cards are as part of that hand.
Since the odds of getting a particular hand are based on a standard 52 card deck of cards, you can calculate the appropriate strategy to maximize your odds of winning. You can also determine the payback percentage for the game, which is something that’s impossible to do with slot machines.
The reason should be clear, but in case it isn’t—you know the odds of getting a particular card out of a 52 card deck. There are only 4 cards of each rank, and there are only 13 cards of each suit.
But with a slot machine, you have no way of knowing what the odds are of a particular symbol coming up. Even though you know what the payout is for a particular combination, you have no idea what the odds of hitting that combination are.
Bonus Poker Pay Tables
We already mentioned this, but the main aspect of Bonus Poker that distinguishes it from just a plain old Jacks or Better game is the bonus payout for the 4 of a Kind. Pay tables vary from machine to machine, though, and some pay tables offer better odds to the player. Here’s a guide to the various hands and common payouts for each.
Royal Flush
This is traditionally the highest paying hand in any video poker game. It pays off at 800 to 1, but only if you’ve placed the max bet of 5 coins. That means you see a 4000 coin jackpot if you hit this one. You should NEVER play for less than max coins on any video poker game because of the reduced payout for a Royal Flush in the case of a smaller bet.
Straight Flush
This hand pays out at 50 to 1. The payouts for a Straight Flush, and for all of the lower ranked hands, remains consistent regardless of whether or not you made the max coin bet. The only final hand where that matters is the Royal Flush.
4 of a Kind – Aces
This is the big bonus hand. It pays off at 80 to 1. It’s the highest paying 4 of a Kind in Bonus Poker.
4 of a Kind – 2s, 3s, or 4s
These hands all pay out at 40 to 1.
Any Other 4 of a Kind
These hands pay out at 25 to 1.
Full House
This hand pays off at 8 to 1. It’s an important hand, because in Jacks or Better games, the size of the payout for the Full House and the Flush are the payouts that change from game to game in order to give the casino a higher or lower edge. The best versions of Bonus Poker have an 8/5 payout on these 2 hands, which means that the Full House pays off at 8 to 1, and the Flush pays off at 5 to 1.
Flush
Pays off at 5 to 1. We had more to say about the Full House/Flush relationship in the section above on the Full House.
Straight
Pays off at 4 to 1.
3 of a Kind
Pays off at 3 to 1.
2 Pairs
Pays off at 2 to 1.
A Pair of Jacks or Better
This pays off at even odds.
An actual 8/5 Bonus Poker pay table follows. Notice the difference in payouts for 1-4 coins versus the payout for 5 coins for the Royal Flush.
A pay table for Bonus Poker Video Poker
It should be obvious why you would want to make sure you bet max coins every time you play. The payout for the Royal Flush is only 250 to 1 unless you place that max bet, in which case the payout is 800 to 1.
Not all Bonus Poker games are created equal. Casinos and manufacturers can adjust the payouts for various hands. As with Jacks or Better, most of the variations occur with the Full House and Flush combination. The best combination here is 8/5, but you can find games with 7/5 and 6/5 payouts, too.
Bonus Poker also sees variations in the size of the bonuses for the 4 of a Kind hands. Some Bonus Poker games only pay 35 to 1 or 30 to 1 on any 4 of a Kind, regardless of the ranking. This has a surprising effect on your payback percentage, which we’ll discuss below.
You’ll also (rarely) find a Bonus Poker game which offers INCREASED payouts for a Full House and a Flush, like 10/8. They pay for this by reducing the payouts on the lower ranked hands, like 2 Pairs and 3 of a Kind.