Video Poker Strategy

8/5 Bonus Poker Strategy Chart

Jacks or Better with a bigger four of a kind. Same feel, a few tweaks, and 80 coins for four aces.

99.17%return, perfect play

Play it almost exactly like 9/6 Jacks or Better. The larger quad payouts raise the value of three of a kind, especially three aces, but the top of the strategy is unchanged.

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The pay table

HandPer coinMax (5 coins)
Royal Flush2504,000
Straight Flush50250
Four Aces80400
Four 2s-4s40200
Four 5s-Ks25125
Full House840
Flush525
Straight420
Three of a Kind315
Two Pair210
Jacks or Better15

The strategy chart: every hold in order

This is the complete 8/5 Bonus Poker strategy chart, our cheat sheet with every play ranked by expected value.

Look at your dealt hand, find the highest entry here you can make, and hold exactly those cards. The number is the expected value per coin of that play, computed by the engine.

01Four aces80.00
02Four 2s-4s40.00
03Four 5s-Ks25.00
044 to a royal19.43
05Full house8.00
06Three aces6.58
07Flush5.00
08Three of a kind4.24
09Straight4.00
104 to a straight flush3.38
11Two pair2.51
12High pair (JJ+)1.53
133 to a royal1.30
144 to a flush1.02
15Low pair0.81
164 to an outside straight0.68
17Two suited high cards0.59
18One high card0.48

The plays that cost the most

Three aces are worth chasing
three aces 6.58  vs ranks above a flush (5.00) — hold them · costs  

Why five coins, always

The royal flush pays 250 per coin on one through four coins, then jumps to 800 per coin (4,000 total) on the fifth. That single bonus is worth about 1.5 percent of return. Bet within your bankroll, but always bet max coins.

Practice it

Reading strategy is not playing it. The free trainer deals real Bonus Poker hands, grades every hold against this exact strategy, and shows the precise expected value you give up on a mistake.

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How it differs from Jacks or Better

Barely different from Jacks or Better. The bigger quads make three of a kind worth a little more, but the ranked order is essentially the same. The catch is the lower full house (8) and flush (5), which is why the return is 99.17 percent instead of 99.54. If you have Jacks or Better down, you already play Bonus Poker near-perfectly.

More strategy

Common questions

Is Bonus Poker better than Jacks or Better?
Its top return of 99.17 percent is a touch below 9/6 Jacks or Better, but the bigger four-of-a-kind payouts make it more exciting, and many casinos offer it where they do not offer full-pay Jacks or Better.
How much is four aces worth in Bonus Poker?
80 per coin, 400 on a max five-coin bet, versus 25 for any quad in Jacks or Better.