You could make quite the ‘prophet’ by playing Bonus Poker

Bonus Poker is one of the most common forms of poker around. Along with Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild it is extremely popular at online casinos. Part of its popularity is due to the fact that if you know the game well and play it as perfectly as possible, the house advantage can be reduced to less than 1% or better. It also has some of the best payouts in online casino poker that you will be able to find.

We will take a look at the basics of the game before moving onto some tips and strategies that you can employ to improve your odds and maximise the amount of profit you will make. Bonus poker is suitable for any player looking to make money but it is particularly suited to people who are already familiar with other games such as Jacks or Better. It will give these players a new challenge to work out different ways of getting the best odds on a new game.

How to play bonus poker

The style of game is similar to Jacks or Better but with the added benefit of bonus payouts if you have four of a kind. The bonus amount varies depending on the rank of cards in that hand. You start by choosing the number of coins you want wager from one to five. You may also be able to play multiple hands at the same time. If you do this then each hand obviously has to be paid for, that means the coins selected is multiplied by the number of hands you wish to play.

You will then be dealt five cards once you have placed your bet. Like draw poker, you choose the cards you want to keep and discard the ones you don’t between zero and five cards. You will then be dealt replacement cards and then be paid or not depending on your final hand.

Similarly to Jacks or Better you will get your money back if you are holding a high pair (jacks through aces), and you will double your money if you have two pair

With quads there is quite a difference. With Jacks or Better you are paid around 25-1 for all four of a kind winning hands. So there is no difference whether that is four aces or four twos. With Bonus Poker the payout is the same for four fives to four kings (25-1). But if you have four Aces the payout is 80-1, and 40-1 for having from four twos to four fours. A flush will get you 50-1, while a Royal Flush is worth a massive 800-1.

Bonus Poker Strategy

A good strategy to start with is to judge which cards in your hand are worth keeping and which you should discard in the hopes of making up a better hand. This is not an exhaustive list of course but is something to get you started on.

• Royal Flush, 4 of a kind, Straight Flush
• 4 cards to a Royal Flush
• 3 of a kind – discard the other 2
• Flush, Straight, Full House
• 4 cards to a straight flush
• 2 pairs
• 2 Jacks or better
• 3 to a Royal flush or 4 to a Flush
• A pair
• 4 Cards to a Straight (Open-Ended)
• 2 Same suited high cards
• 3 Cards to a Straight Flush
• 2 Different suited high cards
• 10 and a same suited face card
• 1 High Card

If you have none of these it might be best to discard all of your cards and hope for a better hand with the new redraw.

Tips and tricks

To get a good grip on the game and be comfortable and confident with your strategies it could be worth your while playing some free games first before making profit on the paid games. There are plenty of online casino poker games that will let you do this and it is a good way of building your confidence up.

It is recommended to place the maximum bet possible with each hand for several reasons. The first is that the payout will be higher when you win obviously. But also, the full jackpot for the top ranking hand can sometimes only be paid out on a max bet, and your odds of being a winner at the end of the day will be much higher than if you bet small.