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Joker Poker: Tricks, Strategies and Playing Tips
Joker Poker is one of those online casino games that even fund managers and investment advisors love to play. The reason is really quite simple - the ROI is one of the best in cyberspace, provided you learn to play the game the best way you can.
What makes Joker Poker the standout prospect at our Springbok branded Angola online casino? Well, along with bonus pays for five of a kind and a jokerised royal flush, there’s a seriously wicked win in crisp hard cash for anyone who hits a sequential royal. Say what? We’ll get to the details of that little beauty further down the page.
What is Joker Poker?
Joker Poker is a variant of video poker. It has its origins in five card draw poker and is one of the most popular online casino games in terms of hit rate. It also has a wild card in the form of the joker in play… so expect to be blown away by the frequency of the payouts generated by winning poker hands.
The aim of the game is really quite simple - to accumulate the highest scoring five-card hand according to conventional poker hand rankings. At most gambling destinations - including our star rated Angola online casino - you have to hold a pair of kings or better to be in the money.
What Can You Win Playing Joker Poker at Springbok Angola Online Casino?
At Springbok we feature online casino games developed by Real Time Gaming (RTG). What that means is you’ll be playing certified-fair real money games. You’ll also be dipping into a sophisticated software suite that performs seamlessly on any device, be it your desktop or iOS, Windows or Android smartphone and tablet.
RTG’s version of Joker Poker is what is known as a 6/5 game. What does that mean in the greater scheme of things? It refers to the payouts generated by full house and flush respectively.
What’s more important is that when the mathematicians have done their stuff, it means that the average payout rate of this particular form of Joker Poker is 98.51%... and that tells us the house edge is only 1.49%!
Now that you’re aware of the tiny advantage the house has over you, the player, let’s take a look at the winning combinations, the cards they consist of and how much they pay out to players like you and I.
RTG Joker Poker Pay Table
Pair | Five cards that include a pair of kings or better | 1:1 |
Two Pair | Two pairs of two cards of the same value | 1:1 |
Three of a Kind | Three cards of the same value | 2:1 |
Straight | Five cards in numerical sequence | 3:1 |
Flush | Five cards of the same suit | 5:1 |
Full House | One pair and one three of a kind | 6:1 |
Four of a Kind | Four cards of the same value | 20:1 |
Straight Flush | Five cards of the same suit in consecutive numerical order | 50:1 |
Royal Flush with Joker | 10 to Ace of the same suit with the joker as substitute | 80:1 |
Five of a Kind | Four cards of the same value plus the joker | 150:1 |
Royal Flush | 10 to Ace of the same suit | 250:1 |
Sequential Royal | 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in that exact order | 500:1 |
With Joker Poker - and all video poker variants for that matter - you can choose how many casino chips or coins you want to bet per hand. You can also choose the value of those chips.
When you play RTG Joker Poker you can usually select from three different chip sizes - $5, $25 and $100. That means if you wager one $5 chip and hit a straight, you’ll be paid out $15 - winnings that would jump to $75 if you’d bet a single $25 chip.
Bet Max and Break the Bank
You now know what the Joker Poker payouts are on a one-coin wager. When you bet the maximum five coins, there’s a massive amount of money available on the pay table. That’s when the game really becomes exciting and lives up to its reputation as a cash generator.
Here’s what you can bank right now playing Joker Poker on a maximum bet at our Angola online casino with green and gold trim:
- Pair - 5:5
- Two Pair - 5:5
- Three of a Kind - 10:5
- Straight - 15:5
- Flush - 25:5
- Full House - 30:5
- Four of a Kind - 100:5
- Straight Flush - 250:5
- Royal Flush with Joker - 400:5
- Five of a Kind - 750:5
- Royal Flush - 4000:5
- Sequential Royal - 10 000:5
That’s not to say you’re going to hit a high paying hand every time you play. The probability of that happening is virtually nil. It does mean that you don’t lose a cent when you hit king or better or two pair. It also means you double your money when you hit three of a kind.
With the joker in-play these low paying hands do come up relatively frequently. You do however have to play the game according to the optimal Joker Poker strategy in order to beat the proverbial bank. To top it all there’s always the chance you’ll accumulate a straight, full house or glory be, one those of jaw dropping royal flushes!
What is Optimal Joker Poker Strategy?
What is an optimal strategy? It’s the best way to play the game according to the cards you’ve been dealt. As you probably know, you are dealt five cards. You can hold the cards or discard one or more and draw replacement cards.
The Joker Poker strategy details which cards to hold and which to discard based on the cards in your hand. It may sound a bit confusing at first but once you’ve got the hang of it, it’s actually quite simple.
Take for example a hand containing three cards to a royal flush - 10, Queen and Ace of clubs. The best way to play the hand is to discard the remaining two cards, even if they can form a pair with the 10, Queen or Ace. Why? The royal flush is the highest paying combination and pays out up to 250x what a pair does.
Print Out the Joker Poker Strategy Table - Play the Best You Can
The beauty about playing casino games online is that you can print out the Joker Poker strategy and refer to it in-game. With practice and over time, you’ll automatically be able to make the decisions you need to make in order to get the best return in the game.
Where can you find a Joker Poker strategy? There are dozens of gaming websites that feature easy to understand strategies that you can cut, paste and print out. We then recommend you play Joker Poker in the free play mode until you can make the right decisions without referring to the print out.
Once you’re hitting winning hands with boring alacrity then, and only then, is it safe to upgrade to Joker Poker in the real money mode. You can play right here at our secure and trustworthy online casino… with its neat South African spin!
