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Jackpot Hold 'Em
Introduction
Jackpot Hold'em® is a poker-based casino game in which the player may make one raise at any time during the course of the hand. The earlier the raise is made the higher it may be. The game is very similar to Ultimate Texas Hold' Em. Unlike in that game, in Jackpot Hold 'Em the player may see one of the flop cards before the big raise decision. That comes at a cost of being able to raise 3x only on the big raise, as opposed to 4x.
The game is distributed by AGS.
Rules
These rules assume the player has a basic understanding of Texas Hold 'Em rules.
- The game is played with a single ordinary 52-card deck.
- The player must make an equal bet on both the Ante and X-TRA Bonus, and can also make an optional Player Bonus bet.
- Two cards are dealt face down to the player, which he may look at.
- In addition, the first card of a three-card flop is dealt face up.
- The player can check or make a Play bet equal to three times the Ante.
- The dealer turns over the next two flop cards.
- If the player previously checked, then he may make a Play bet equal to two times his Ante. If the player already made a Play bet, then he may not bet further.
- Two final community cards are turned over.
- If the player previously checked twice, then he must either make a Play bet equal to exactly his Ante, or fold, losing both his Ante and X-TRA Bonus bets. If the player already raised he may not bet further.
- The player and dealer will both make the best possible hand using any combination of their own two cards and the five community cards.*
- The dealer will need at least a pair to open.
- The following table shows how the X-TRA Bonus, Ante, and Play bets are scored, according to who wins, and whether the dealer opens.
Scoring Rules
Winner Dealer Opens X-TRA Bonus Ante Play Player Yes Win Win Win Player No Win Push Win Dealer Yes Lose Lose Lose Dealer No Lose Push Lose Tie Yes or No Push Push Push - Winning Ante and Play bets pay 1 to 1. Winning X-TRA Bonus bets pay according to the following pay table.
X-TRA Bonus Pay Table
Player Hand Pays Royal flush 500 to 1 Straight flush 50 to 1 Four of a kind 10 to 1 Full house 4 to 1 Flush 2 to 1 Straight 1 to 1 All other Push - The Player Bonus bet will pay according to the poker value of the player's hand regardless of the value of the dealer's hand, according to one of the Trips bet pay tables below.
Strategy
Following is a strategy for the first decision point, created by Steve Howe, and kindly provided to me by AGS. I'm afraid I don't know what exactly he means by "reach for straight." According to Steve, the cost of errors using this strategy is an increase in house edge of 0.1875%.
Make the 3X raise with any of the following, otherwise check:
- three-of-a-kind
- 3-suited Q+ hole cards
- any hole cards paired with flop
- A w/ 5 or better hole cards
- K w/ 8 or better hole cards
- JT+ or QT+ hole cards when reach for straight w/ flop
- pocket 5's or better
- Ace-high hole cards when reach for straight w/ flop
As for the medium and small raises, I think the player would be fairly safe using the medium and small raise strategies in Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em. Exact strategy would not be same, because the X-Tra bonus pay table is different than that of the Blind pay table, but differences only matter for player hands of a flush or higher.
Base Game Analysis
The following table shows every possible outcome of the game, what it pays, number of combinations out of all possible, probability, and contribution to the return. The lower right cell shows a house edge, defined as the ratio of the expected player loss to the Ante bet, of 2.38%. By the end of the hand, the average combined wager between the Ante, X-Tra Bonus, and raise will be 3.66 units. The element of risk, defined as the ratio of expected player loss to average bet, is 0.65%.
Base Game Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player folds | -2 | 16,851,237,072,120 | 0.201953 | -0.403906 |
| Small raise player loses, dealer doesn't qualify | -2 | 220,193,019,312 | 0.002639 | -0.005278 |
| Small raise player loses, dealer qualifies | -3 | 10,603,001,821,128 | 0.127071 | -0.381214 |
| Small raise push | 0 | 1,455,502,686,804 | 0.017443 | 0.000000 |
| Small raise player wins with royal flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 501 | 25,917,984 | 0.000000 | 0.000156 |
| Small raise player wins with straight flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 51 | 843,819,588 | 0.000010 | 0.000516 |
| Small raise player wins with four of a kind, dealer doesn't qualify | 11 | - | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Small raise player wins with full house, dealer doesn't qualify | 5 | - | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Small raise player wins with flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 3 | 133,128,700,164 | 0.001595 | 0.004786 |
| Small raise player wins with straight, dealer doesn't qualify | 2 | 450,599,419,020 | 0.005400 | 0.010800 |
| Small raise player wins with three of a kind or less, dealer doesn't qualify | 1 | 2,789,253,813,264 | 0.033428 | 0.033428 |
| Small raise player wins with royal flush, dealer qualifies | 502 | 152,792,856 | 0.000002 | 0.000919 |
| Small raise player wins with straight flush, dealer qualifies | 52 | 6,100,907,352 | 0.000073 | 0.003802 |
| Small raise player wins with four of a kind, dealer qualifies | 12 | 3,169,503,240 | 0.000038 | 0.000456 |
| Small raise player wins with full house, dealer qualifies | 6 | 149,967,716,064 | 0.001797 | 0.010784 |
| Small raise player wins with flush, dealer qualifies | 4 | 624,131,265,732 | 0.007480 | 0.029919 |
| Small raise player wins with straight, dealer qualifies | 3 | 1,307,110,561,812 | 0.015665 | 0.046995 |
| Small raise player wins with three of a kind or less, dealer qualifies | 2 | 5,494,992,560,280 | 0.065854 | 0.131709 |
| Medium raise player loses, dealer doesn't qualify | -3 | 33,030,447,840 | 0.000396 | -0.001188 |
| Medium raise player loses, dealer qualifies | -4 | 4,665,080,847,468 | 0.055908 | -0.223634 |
| Medium raise push | 0 | 489,150,998,040 | 0.005862 | 0.000000 |
| Medium raise player wins with royal flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 502 | 39,563,496 | 0.000000 | 0.000238 |
| Medium raise player wins with straight flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 52 | 901,395,396 | 0.000011 | 0.000562 |
| Medium raise player wins with four of a kind, dealer doesn't qualify | 12 | - | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Medium raise player wins with full house, dealer doesn't qualify | 6 | - | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Medium raise player wins with flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 4 | 103,621,441,356 | 0.001242 | 0.004967 |
| Medium raise player wins with straight, dealer doesn't qualify | 3 | 136,582,316,412 | 0.001637 | 0.004911 |
| Medium raise player wins with three of a kind or less, dealer doesn't qualify | 2 | 2,581,900,311,324 | 0.030943 | 0.061885 |
| Medium raise player wins with royal flush, dealer qualifies | 503 | 397,846,224 | 0.000005 | 0.002398 |
| Medium raise player wins with straight flush, dealer qualifies | 53 | 6,975,609,840 | 0.000084 | 0.004431 |
| Medium raise player wins with four of a kind, dealer qualifies | 13 | 27,493,563,492 | 0.000329 | 0.004283 |
| Medium raise player wins with full house, dealer qualifies | 7 | 535,943,583,480 | 0.006423 | 0.044961 |
| Medium raise player wins with flush, dealer qualifies | 5 | 435,495,056,436 | 0.005219 | 0.026096 |
| Medium raise player wins with straight, dealer qualifies | 4 | 417,951,165,060 | 0.005009 | 0.020036 |
| Medium raise player wins with three of a kind or less, dealer qualifies | 3 | 5,283,074,002,536 | 0.063315 | 0.189944 |
| Large raise player loses, dealer doesn't qualify | -4 | 135,960,313,464 | 0.001629 | -0.006518 |
| Large raise player loses, dealer qualifies | -5 | 9,529,766,146,200 | 0.114209 | -0.571045 |
| Large raise push | 0 | 727,140,145,608 | 0.008714 | 0.000000 |
| Large raise player wins with royal flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 503 | 250,496,280 | 0.000003 | 0.001510 |
| Large raise player wins with straight flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 53 | 827,328,816 | 0.000010 | 0.000525 |
| Large raise player wins with four of a kind, dealer doesn't qualify | 13 | - | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Large raise player wins with full house, dealer doesn't qualify | 7 | - | 0.000000 | 0.000000 |
| Large raise player wins with flush, dealer doesn't qualify | 5 | 155,070,222,120 | 0.001858 | 0.009292 |
| Large raise player wins with straight, dealer doesn't qualify | 4 | 200,284,249,968 | 0.002400 | 0.009601 |
| Large raise player wins with three of a kind or less, dealer doesn't qualify | 3 | 4,603,346,975,232 | 0.055169 | 0.165506 |
| Large raise player wins with royal flush, dealer qualifies | 504 | 1,701,839,160 | 0.000020 | 0.010279 |
| Large raise player wins with straight flush, dealer qualifies | 54 | 6,378,053,328 | 0.000076 | 0.004128 |
| Large raise player wins with four of a kind, dealer qualifies | 14 | 96,554,154,360 | 0.001157 | 0.016200 |
| Large raise player wins with full house, dealer qualifies | 8 | 1,198,403,714,376 | 0.014362 | 0.114898 |
| Large raise player wins with flush, dealer qualifies | 6 | 694,249,172,832 | 0.008320 | 0.049921 |
| Large raise player wins with straight, dealer qualifies | 5 | 598,024,569,888 | 0.007167 | 0.035835 |
| Large raise player wins with three of a kind or less, dealer qualifies | 4 | 10,686,422,965,248 | 0.128071 | 0.512284 |
| Total | 83,441,430,072,000 | 1.000000 | -0.023819 |
Player Bonus Analysis
The following pay table shows my analysis of the Player Bonus bet.
Player Bonus Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 100 | 4,324 | 0.000032 | 0.003232 |
| Straight flush | 40 | 37,260 | 0.000279 | 0.011140 |
| Four of a kind | 30 | 224,848 | 0.001681 | 0.050420 |
| Full house | 8 | 3,473,184 | 0.025961 | 0.207688 |
| Flush | 7 | 4,047,644 | 0.030255 | 0.211785 |
| Straight | 4 | 6,180,020 | 0.046194 | 0.184775 |
| Three of a kind | 3 | 6,461,620 | 0.048299 | 0.144896 |
| All other | -1 | 113,355,660 | 0.847300 | -0.847300 |
| Total | 133,784,560 | 1.000000 | -0.033363 |
External Links
- Demo game at the AGS web site.
- Discussion about Jackpot Hold 'Em in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.