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Jackpot Poker
Introduction
Jackpot Poker is a video poker variant played at Paf casino. It has a strange pay table, starting at a pair of kings, yet with no wild cards. The game makes up for no win on a pair of jacks or queens with high pays on the full house, four of a kind, and straight flush. There is also a progressive jackpot for a royal flush in hearts.
Rules
While the base game could be played anywhere, as far as I know, this game is only found at the Paf Casino. There they observe the following rules:
- Game is played in five-play mode. In other words, the player gets five hands on the draw.
- The bet is fixed at €0.50 per line.
- The game uses the following pay table.
Pay Table
| Event | Pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush in hearts | Jackpot |
| Royal flush | 800 |
| Straight flush | 200 |
| Four of a kind | 75 |
| Full house | 17 |
| Flush | 6 |
| Straight | 4 |
| Three of a kind | 2 |
| Two pair | 1 |
| Kings or better | 1 |
| Loser | 0 |
Analysis
The following return table shows the probability and return for each hand. The table assumes optimal player strategy based on a jackpot of 800 for a royal flush in hearts. In other words, no strategy deviations for the jackpot.
Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush in hearts | Jackpot | 111,391,110 | 0.000006 | ? |
| Royal flush | 800 | 334,173,330 | 0.000017 | 0.013412 |
| Straight flush | 200 | 2,922,073,236 | 0.000147 | 0.029319 |
| Four of a kind | 75 | 46,320,842,700 | 0.002324 | 0.174285 |
| Full house | 17 | 224,955,237,420 | 0.011285 | 0.191852 |
| Flush | 6 | 314,094,905,964 | 0.015757 | 0.094544 |
| Straight | 4 | 273,814,948,356 | 0.013737 | 0.054946 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 1,435,729,767,768 | 0.072027 | 0.144054 |
| Two pair | 1 | 2,483,099,710,704 | 0.124571 | 0.124571 |
| Kings or better | 1 | 2,101,798,198,620 | 0.105442 | 0.105442 |
| Nothing | 0 | 13,050,049,267,992 | 0.654688 | 0.000000 |
| Total | 19,933,230,517,200 | 1.000000 | 0.932425 + ? |
Based on the €0.50 bet per line, the return goes up by 1.12% for each €1,000 in the meter. The game becomes break-even at 12,092 bet units in the meter, or €6046.21.
Strategy
I used my own video poker strategy maker to create a strategy for Jackpot Poker. I'm afraid it doesn't treat a royal in hearts differently than any other royal, so you're on your own with that.