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The game is 9/6 Jacks or Better with a progressive royal at $1300. Normally, the correct play is to hold the pair of kings, but with the royal at that level, the numbers look like this:

Hold 3 clubs: 8.0712
Hold K,K: 7.7521

The game is the very popular Double Bonus which pays 10 for a full house, 7 for a flush and 5 for a straight. That being the case, the play might be to go for the flush or the Royal, but that's not the correct play. A lot of people miss the proper play:

Hold 10, J, Q: 2.4699
Hold J, Q: 2.3361
Hold 4, 10, Q: 2.3034
Hold 10, Q: 2.1909

Video Poker Review #3

This review is based upon the Double Bonus machines which have become so popular; the first to gain any following in spite of the fact that two-pair pay only 5 for 5. The 'mini-jackpot' of 800 for 5 on four Aces is a big part of the appeal, but the long term payback on the full-pay versions is 100.15% for expert play, so that keeps these busy as well.. There are a lot of short-pay versions around which pay 45 for 5 on the full house, so be sure to check before you play. Most people want to use a standard 'Jacks or Better' strategy on these machines and that's a mistake. With the following hands, we'll explore some of the differences. As always, I've shown the expected return on a 5-coin bet; the highest return is the correct play.

#1.

Hold K, 8, 2: 2.3173
Hold K only: 2.1535

The higher payout on the flush makes this the right play.

#2.

Hold 8, 9, J, Q: 2.7660
Hold J, Q: 2.3423
Hold J, 6, 8: 2.3034

A pay of 25 for 5 on the straight makes drawing to this inside straight worthwhile.

#3.

Hold 2-pair: 8.8298
Hold 2, 2: 4.1551

In case you're tempted to break it up. After all, 2-pair pays only 5 and 4 twos pay 400, but you're not figuring in the full house possibilities.

#4.

Hold K, 10, 6: 2.3173
Hold K, 10: 2.1631

Don't worry; you weren't going to hit the royal, anyway.

#5.

Hold A, J: 2.2467
Hold A only: 2.2417

This is no different than a 'Jacks" game, however if we weren't discarding another diamond card, we'd hold the Ace alone.

#6.

Hold 6, 7, 8, 10: 2.1277
Hold 3 diamonds: 1.8178

The inside straight is a lot better than the 3-card flush.

#7.

Hold A, J, K: 2.2294
Hold J, K: 2.2288

Normally we drop the Ace from a hand like this, but because we're discarding a 9 (which reduces the chances for a J, K straight), we hold all 3.

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