Jacks or Better versus Bonus Poker Part V

15 October 2022

By Jerry Stickman

[An article promoting full-pay (8/5) Bonus Poker as a good alternative when full-pay (9/6) Jacks or Better cannot be found was recently posted here. The article stated that in addition to a good return (99.17 versus 99.54 percent) and low variance, playing strategy is also nearly identical.]

I thought it might be interesting to explore playing strategy differences and similarities.

This is the fifth of several strategy quizzes on the differences (or lack thereof) between the strategy for various hands played on full-pay Jacks or Better and full-pay Bonus Poker. All hands assume the maximum five credit bet.

Let’s begin quiz number five.

You are dealt this hand: Js, Ts, 7h, 6h, 4h.

There are two reasonable holds for this hand. They are: three cards of a straight flush (7h, 6h, 4h), and two cards of a royal flush (Js, Ts).

What would you hold playing full-pay Jacks or Better?

The top holds in order of decreasing return are:

• 7h, 6h, 4h – returns 2.6827 credits, on average, for the five credits bet.
• Js, Ts – returns 2.5569 credits, on average, for the five credits bet.

Holding the three cards of a straight flush is the proper hold for Jacks or Better, followed by the two cards of a royal flush.

Now let’s look at Bonus Poker.

The top holds in order of decreasing return are:

• Js, Ts – returns 2.5017 credits, on average, for the five credits bet.
• 7h, 6h, 4h – returns 2.4838 credits, on average, for the five credits bet.

Holding the two cards of a royal flush is the proper hold for this hand.

For this particular hand, the strategy is different between Jacks or Better and Bonus Poker.

While the difference in return appears to be fairly small, it does add up. Make sure you are comfortable with all the strategy differences before switching to a different game.

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines. He authored the video poker section of "Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker!" You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com