Reason #2 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

No-hassle practice games

Most online casinos spend more effort trying to separate you from your money than they do trying to give you a good experience. They have all kinds of popup windows, they usually make you download their software, and if they do offer play-in-browser games then you have to register an account before you can play. And if you register they start sending you emails trying to get you to deposit real money.

But Bovada is different. They have no popup windows at all, and their practice games play right in your browser, with no download, and no registration required. You don’t even have to give up your email address. It couldn’t be simpler: just one click and you’re playing the game.

I wish all online casinos showed this much respect for their players. Other casinos practically ask for your first born child to play for free. Meanwhile Bovada is patient and does not twist anybody’s arm to play for real money. You can play as long as you like for free with no obligation. The real-money games are available if that’s your preference, but if not, you can play the free practice games for as long as you like without hassle.

Visit Bovada

4-5 Bonus Poker

Last Update: Apr 15, 2006

4-5 Bonus Poker is a video poker game I noticed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 8, 2006. The game plays like conventional video poker except the player only gets four cards on the deal. The makes it harder to get strong hands going into the draw, but the game compensates with a more generous pay table.

It was a Saturday night when I saw the game and every machine was taken. So the best I could do was copy down one pay table (Bonus Poker) as I lurched over a stranger's shoulder taking notes.

The following return table shows the pay table, probability, and return for each hand.

4-5 Bonus Poker
Hand	Payoff	Combinations	Probability	Return
Royal Flush	800	25,268,712	0.000011	0.008722
Straight Flush	100	122,051,604	0.000053	0.005266
Four aces	200	328,366,104	0.000142	0.028334
Four 2-4	100	680,971,104	0.000294	0.029380
Four 5-K	80	2,182,645,344	0.000942	0.075335
Full House	12	11,953,051,848	0.005157	0.061884
Flush	10	16,998,834,204	0.007334	0.073340
Straight	6	13,028,869,188	0.005621	0.033727
Three of a kind	4	127,022,432,184	0.054803	0.219210
Two pair	2	197,648,978,040	0.085274	0.170547
Pair of aces	2	141,799,463,640	0.061178	0.122356
Pair: J-K	1	343,532,231,028	0.148214	0.148214
Nonpaying hand	0	1,462,494,339,000	0.630979	0.000000
Total	0	2,317,817,502,000	1.000000	0.976315

My Video Poker Offerings
Basic Video Poker Info My main Video Poker page Return tables: Probability of Ruin for single-play video poker Random simulations of multi-play video poker The standard deviation of n-play video poker Practice / Play Video Poker for Free Play my free video poker game/trainer Video Poker Calculator Analyze the return for almost any video poker paytable Other Stuff Jacks or Better quiz Probability distribution for each hand by number of cards held in Full-Pay Deuces Wild Video poker programming tips San Diego County video poker survey	Strategies Full-Pay Jacks or Better: Simple Strategy (return of 99.46%) Intermediate Strategy (return of 99.52%) Optimal Strategy (return of 99.54%) Full-Pay Deuces Wild: Simple Strategy (return of 100.71%) Optimal Strategy (return of 100.76%) 3 to a wild royal (ace-high) vs. Deuce only 2 to a royal (king-high) with a straight penalty 2 to a royal (king-high) with no penalty Quick Quads: 9/6 Jacks or Better 8/5 Bonus Poker 9/7 Double Bonus 9/6 Double Double Bonus 8/5 Triple Bonus Other Strategies: "Not So Ugly Ducks" 8/5 Bonus Poker 10/7 Double Bonus 9/6 Double Double Bonus

4-5 Bonus Poker

Basic Video Poker Info

Practice / Play Video Poker for Free

Video Poker Calculator

Other Stuff

Strategies

Full-Pay Jacks or Better:

Full-Pay Deuces Wild:

Quick Quads:

Other Strategies: