Full Pay Bonus Poker Is Nearly As Good As Full Pay Jacks or Better

Casinos routinely change their inventory of slot machines. Usually this is done to add exciting new games or to eliminate games that aren't played enough.

Video Poker games are also routinely changed. They are moved to different locations. Banks of one type of game are changed to another type of game. The games available on Multi-game machines are changed. Pay tables are changed. Unfortunately for the Video Poker playing public, the changes generally favor the casino. Pay tables are reduced. Those games with 100+ percent payback with proper play are changed to pay well under 100 percent. Even games with 99 percent plus are being eliminated or are having pay tables reduced.

For serious Video Poker players who are fairly new to playing the games, or who play only a few times a year, I recommend a low variance, simple strategy, high paying game. Full pay Jacks or Better -- paying 9-for-1 for a Full House and 6-for-1 for a Flush -- is about the best for the serious but casual player as it satisfies all three requirements: low variance (among the lowest of all available games), among the simplest of play strategies and within less than one-half percent of 100 percent payback.

This great game is being eliminated or its payback dramatically reduced at more and more casinos. Faced with the conditions, what is a self-respecting casual player to do?

Well, the best action would be to find another casino that has the game that he is looking for. However, for many reasons, this may not be possible. So then what?

Look for the next best game in terms of payback, variance and simple play strategy. If Full Pay Jacks or Better is not available or if its pay table is 8/5 (meaning it pays 8-for-1 for a full house and 5-for-1 for a flush and returns 97.30 percent with perfect play) or worse it is time to change games.

Of the commonly available games, Bonus Poker is a very good choice when considering variance and play simplicity. It is similar to Jacks or Better except the player receives a "bonus" for certain four-of-a-kinds. Jacks or Better pays 25-for-1 for all four-of-a-kind hands. Bonus Poker also pays 25-for-1 for four 5s through kings. Four 2s, 3s, or 4s pay 40-for-1; and 4 aces pays 80-to-1. The remaining winning hands are the same as Jacks or Better except a full house pays 8-for-1 and a flush pays 5-for-1.

The Full Pay Bonus Poker game just described returns 99.17 percent with proper play and has a variance of 20.9 percent. Full pay Jacks or Better returns 99.54 percent with a variance of 19.5. Both of these measures are close, making Bonus Poker a very decent game to play.

The strategy, however, is slightly more complex. Aces now become much more important than any other denomination because of the generous payback for four of them in one hand. Similarly 2s, 3s, and 4s are more important than anything of a higher denomination because of the extra payback they receive when four of them appear in the same hand.

These changes are not insurmountable even for casual players. Simply purchase a set of strategy cards or a Video Poker strategy program and print out the strategy. Use the strategy cards or printed strategy while playing Bonus Poker and with a little practice you can be playing Bonus Poker like a pro.