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Posts Tagged ‘Jacks or better’

Slots Jungle offers Online Video Poker

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

I’ve found the wildest place in the jungle to play video poker - Slots Jungle.  This is a new online casino that’s opened with a jungle theme — lots of dark green, leafy green and a jungle bird as a mascot.  The casino offers one of my favorite things - an instant play option so I can play on computers without downloading software.  It also has a free play option for those who want to practice their games. 

As for video poker, the site offers a full range of video poker games and multi hand games for any video poker player.  All my favorites are there from Jacks or Better to Double Bonus poker.  The look is clean and the cards easy to read.  The site does offer the common option to place a bet after winning a video poker hand on the chance of doubling the win.  I don’t recommend that since it depends entirely on guessing and not on strategy.  (Video Poker players are not always young and I’ve come across a few sites that can make you cross-eyed.) 

But better yet, the site has a $5000 Wild Kingdom Video Poker Bonus for new players.  This is a big plus on a site since many require you to play slots to play through on the standard welcome bonus.  At Slots Jungle there is a $10,000 King of the Jungle Welcome Bonus if you’re a slots player.  But for Video Poker players, just use the code JUNGLEVP to claim the video poker bonus of 100% back on your first 10 deposits up to $500 each.   You’ll have to wager through the amount 25 times before cashing out, so don’t claim the bonus money unless you expect to spend some quality time on the site. 

Slots Jungle is owned and operated by Regalbar Limited and certified by TST, Technical Systems Testing.  The site runs on RTG Realtime Gaming software and is accepting players from the United States. 

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How casinos play with the odds

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Let’s talk pay tables for a bit.  Pay table and how casinos manipulate them and make you think your chance of winning is greater than it might be.  We’re going to look at two games, Jacks or Better and Double Bonus, but what we discuss here can be applied to other games.  I’m sticking to games without wild cards because they let you see the odds more clearly.  And I’m to start by discussing 2 different hands – jacks or better (the high pair) and two pair. 

Now, if you’ve played Jacks or Better, like you were supposed to, you know that the win for a high pair of jacks, queen, king or ace is 1 for 1 or you get your money back. You’ll find this is the same for Double Bonus and many of the bonus games.  A high pair is one for one.  Now, if you’re familiar with Jacks or Better, you know you get paid two for one if you hit two pair.  Now, that’s not a huge amount of money but you know if you play the game that you have a fair chance of hitting two pair.  Hitting two pair won’t bring in a ton of money, but they can help keep you in the game while you try to hit the elusive Royal Flush.

Now let’s look at Double Bonus poker.  We’ll see the standard pay out of one for one for a high pair, but instead of two for one for two pair, you get one for one.  So, this means that you make less money when you hit two pair.  It doesn’t seem like a big sacrifice from many players when they look at the pay out for four aces, which is often 160 for one.  That’s a win you want to make.  But the trick is that with a lower payout coming in for those smaller hands, you may need a larger bankroll to stay in the game long enough to hit one of those big hands. 

So, is it wrong to play Double Bonus poker?  Of course not.  It’s actually my mother’s favorite game. But as part of our process of learning to play poker, we’re learning to understand the odds.

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Low pair or high card in Jacks or Better?

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Today I’m going to discuss one of the choices that often frustrates me when playing video poker.  Neither is a winning hand, but both have the potential to be a winning hand.  But potential is a sometimes sort of thing.  So, here’s the problem.  A low pair of tens or lower doesn’t win a thing.  I need to draw either another low card of the same denomination for three of a kind or another pair for two pair in order to win.  Now, pay off on two pair is two for one, so if I bet a dollar, I get two dollars back.  Pay off on three of a kind is even better at three for one, so if I bet a dollar, I get three dollars back.  And then there is always the ever hopeful chance of pulling out 4 of a kind with a twenty five to one payback. Yep, for a one dollar bet, I’d get twenty five back.  I like that.  And I’m already half way there. (Though the odds are still slim for that four of kind draw, which is why it pays so well.)

So, that’s the low pair dilemma. Now the high card part of the equation.  I have a high card and if I hold it, I just have to draw a single matching card to win.  Now, let’s look at the cards for a minute. I’m not going over odds in numbers for this. Just look at the cards. With the high card, I’m holding one card, which means there are four potential spaces for another winning card to be dealt into.  So, I have more spaces for a winning draw.  And three potential winning cards sitting in the deck. So, I’m more likely to get a winning draw if I hold that high card.  But here’s the problem. A winning high pair pays 1 for 1. So if I bet a dollar, I keep my dollar.  Now, I’m all for keeping my dollar, but it just leaves me standing still, not moving ahead in the money.

So, this decision is one that always leaves me frustrated. Do I go with the better odds and stay in the game longer? Or do I take the risk and go for the better pay out?  Sometimes I depends on how my money is going and how much more time I want plan to play the game. If I’m sitting good in funds, I might take that extra risk with the low pair. Often it pays off for me.  But if I’m suffering a bit and still

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Playing the Jacks and Better in Jacks or Better

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

Let’s talk for a bit about basic strategy for Jacks or Better video poker.  The trick to video poker is to play the hands so that they lead to the best payout but the strategy is also to try to stay in the game as long as possible to hope to hit a Royal flush and win the big payout. 

When you are dealt a hand at video poker, you often have various options on how to play them.   Sometimes the option is to play safe and stay in the game longer. Other times the best option may be to toss the whole hand and draw fresh. 

The most basic part of a Jacks or Better strategy is to remember the name. You need at least a pair of jacks or higher (queen, king, ace) to make a minimum winning hand.  A lower pair doesn’t help you at all. But a winning pair only returns your money, it doesn’t move you ahead.  For that, you’re going to need two pair or better.  (With two pair or three of a kind and any other hands, the cards don’t have to be just jacks or higher.)

So, the first thing to remember when playing Jacks or Better is that if the hand doesn’t have a higher potential win of a straight, flush or better, hold the Jack, Queen, King or Ace.  A pair formed with one of them won’t be a big win, but it will keep you in the game.  So, that’s the first lesson – hold the high card of Jack or better.  Actually, just playing with that in a casino may keep you at even money for a number of hours.  But we’ll improve on that strategy as we move forward.

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