Here are some sample hands from Jacks or Better, Double Double Bonus Poker and Double Bonus Poker to illustrate. If you’re dealt J-J-6-6-9, you’re going to hold both pairs regardless of whether full houses pay 10, 9, 8, 7 or 6 for 1.īut the difference between a 7-for-1, 6-for-1 or 6-for-1 pay on flushes can change optimal play for holding potential flushes and straight flushes. There’s not much you can do to increase the frequency of full houses. When they change, players’ approaches to the games must change too.įlush payoffs drive most video poker strategy shifts. The most common changes in pay tables are on full houses and flushes. The same goes for offline video poker games. If you’re playing Double Double Bonus Poker in an online casino and you see a 9-6 pay table where full houses pay 9 for 1 and flushes 6 for 1, video poker strategy is different than if you see an 8-5 pay table. When casinos change pay tables on video poker games, they not only change the payback percentage players can get, they change optimal strategy.