Double Bonus Poker is one of the most exciting and volatile video poker variants available, and one of the very few that crosses the 100% RTP line on Full Pay. It doubles the bonus quad payouts of standard Bonus Poker: Four Aces pays 160-for-1, Four 2s-4s pays 80-for-1, and Four 5s-Kings pays 50-for-1. The tradeoff is that Two Pair drops to 1-for-1 (even money), removing the JoB cushion that keeps non-bonus games stable. The result is a high-variance game beloved by advantage players, with a 100.17% optimal RTP on the Full Pay 10/7 schedule.
This guide covers the basic mechanics, the Two-Pair-break decision that drives optimal play, the head-to-head comparison with Jacks or Better, the four paytable variants you'll encounter on real casino floors, the most expensive rookie mistakes, and the bankroll plan that survives the high-variance swings. Drill the strategy here at Pure Video Poker with 1,000 free practice credits before risking real money — Double Bonus rewards disciplined play and punishes JoB instincts that haven't been retrained.
1. Always bet max (BET 5): The Royal Flush pays 4,000 at max bet — non-negotiable for serious players. Sub-max betting forfeits the Royal jackpot bonus and quietly costs about 1.6% of total RTP.
2. Deal 5 cards, hold your best cards, then press Draw to replace the rest from the same 52-card deck.
3. Key difference from Jacks or Better: Two Pair pays only 1-for-1 (same as a single high pair). You need at least Three of a Kind for a meaningful return, and Two Pair is no longer a "lock-it-in" hold.
4. Huge upside: Four Aces (160×) at max bet = 800 credits. Four 2s-4s (80×) = 400 credits. Four 5s-Kings (50×) = 250 credits. These tiered jackpots define the game's profile.
5. Minimum paying hand: Pair of Jacks or higher. Anything below that returns nothing.
10/7 Double Bonus Poker returns 100.17% RTP with perfect strategy — one of the few casino games with a player edge! However, variance is extremely high. Expect large swings; a large bankroll is required.
| Hand | Payout (BET 1) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Four Aces | 160 | Highest priority target |
| Four 2s-4s | 80 | High value — hold aggressively |
| Four 5s-Kings | 50 | Still excellent payout |
| Full House | 10 | Higher than most variants |
| Flush | 7 | Higher than most variants |
| Two Pair | 1 | ⚠️ Only pays even money! |
Understand Two Pair: Two Pair pays only 1× — the same as a high pair. Never stay with two pair when you have a draw to something better.
Three Aces is gold: Three Aces = 1 in 46 chance of hitting Four Aces (160×). Always hold three Aces; never break them for any draw.
Ace + kicker: With a pair of Aces, hold a low card kicker (2, 3, or 4) — Four Aces with kicker pays the same 160×, and you're positioned to draw quad Aces.
Breaking Full Houses: With three Aces and a pair (a full house), break the full house to draw for Four Aces. 160× vs. 10× makes this mathematically correct.
Breaking Two Pair: Two pair in Double Bonus pays only 1×. Frequently, holding just the higher pair and drawing 3 cards is better than holding two pair.
Flush/Straight draws: The elevated Flush (7×) and Full House (10×) payouts make flush and straight draws more valuable than in other variants.
Bankroll management: Due to extreme variance, maintain a bankroll of at least 300× your max bet before playing seriously. Sessions can swing wildly.
Suited Aces: A single Ace suited with 3 Royal Flush cards (e.g., A♠ K♠ Q♠ J♠) — always hold all four and draw 1 for the Royal Flush.
Searchers comparing "double bonus poker vs jacks or better" want to know whether the bonus quad payouts justify the extreme variance and the loss of the Two Pair cushion. Both games share the Jacks-or-Better minimum and the same 52-card deck, but the economics diverge sharply.
| Feature | Double Bonus Poker (10/7) | Jacks or Better (9/6) |
|---|---|---|
| Four Aces payout | 160-for-1 | 25-for-1 |
| Four 2s-4s payout | 80-for-1 | 25-for-1 |
| Four 5s-Kings payout | 50-for-1 | 25-for-1 |
| Two Pair | 1-for-1 | 2-for-1 |
| Full House | 10 | 9 |
| Flush | 7 | 6 |
| Optimal RTP | 100.17% | 99.54% |
| House edge | -0.17% (player edge) | 0.46% |
| Variance index | ≈28 | ≈19.5 |
| Best for | Advantage players, big-bonus chasers | Strategy purists |
Compared to 9/6 Jacks or Better's 99.54% RTP, Full Pay Double Bonus actually has a +0.63% mathematical edge over the house. The catch is variance: at index ≈28, the swings are roughly 45% larger than at JoB. The bonus quad payouts (160/80/50) and the elevated Full House (10) and Flush (7) more than compensate for the Two Pair drop, but only with perfect strategy and a bankroll that can absorb the volatility. If you can drill the Two-Pair-break and the Three-Aces-break-Full-House decisions, Double Bonus is among the most rewarding games on any casino floor.
Double Bonus paytables are quoted as "10/7" — Full House 10, Flush 7. Adjacent cabinets can carry vastly different schedules, and the difference between Full Pay and the 8/5 short pay is a brutal 3.79% RTP. Always read the paytable before depositing — the bonus quad rows stay constant, but the Full House and Flush rows swing the entire game.
| Hand | Full Pay 10/7 (100.17%) | 9/7 (99.11%) | 9/6 (98.40%) | 8/5 (96.38%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush (max bet) | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Four Aces | 160 | 160 | 160 | 160 |
| Four 2s-4s | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Four 5s-Kings | 50 | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Full House | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| Flush | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Straight | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Two Pair | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The 10/7 Full Pay version is the only positive-EV schedule. The 9/7 short pay drops about 1.06%, 9/6 sheds another 0.71%, and the 8/5 cabinet should be skipped entirely — its 96.38% RTP is worse than most penny slots. The bonus quad rows (160 / 80 / 50) and Royal Flush jackpot stay constant; the Full House and Flush rows are where casinos tune the game.
Most Double Bonus leaks come from JoB instincts that don't account for the gutted Two Pair payout. The five most expensive errors:
1. Holding Two Pair instinctively. Two Pair pays only 1-for-1 in Double Bonus. With low pairs and an Ace nearby, breaking Two Pair to draw for a high pair or the Ace bonus is often correct. Holding two low pair to "lock in a win" forecloses the Four-Aces draw.
2. Not breaking Full Houses with three Aces. The math says break it: drawing for Four Aces (160-for-1) has an EV of roughly 8.7 coins versus the 10-coin Full House. The exception only applies when the trips are Aces — never break a Full House with trips of any other rank.
3. Playing 8/5 short pay. The 8/5 schedule sits next to Full Pay machines on many floors, and a casual glance can cost you 3.79% RTP. That's bigger than most house edges in the entire casino.
4. Not betting max coins. A 1-coin bet caps the Royal at 250 coins; 5 coins pays 4,000. The Royal jackpot bonus accounts for ≈1.6% of total RTP — the single biggest leak.
5. Holding extra kickers with three Aces. Standard Double Bonus does NOT pay a kicker bonus (that's Double Double Bonus). Holding an unrelated Ace or face card alongside three Aces reduces your draw outs and lowers EV.
The 160-for-1 Four Aces bonus and gutted Two Pair payout combine to produce a variance index of approximately 28 — well above JoB's 19.5. The recommended bankroll is correspondingly larger: plan on 300-400 max bets per session. At $1.25 per spin (5 quarters), that's a $375-$500 buy-in for a 90-minute session. Because Four Aces hits roughly once per 5,000 hands and the Royal once per 48,000, dry stretches can be punishing. Set a stop-loss at 50% of buy-in and a stop-win at +100%, and never raise the bet to chase losses — the math doesn't change just because the last 200 hands didn't pay. Players specifically chasing the Aces bonus should add a further 50% headroom; even a positive-EV game can hand you a 500-bet drawdown without warning.
Double Bonus Poker is a flagship title across IGT, Microgaming, and most major online lobbies. Pure Video Poker hosts the Full Pay 10/7 version free with 1,000 practice credits and no download required — the right place to drill the Two-Pair-break decision and rehearse the Three-Aces-break-Full-House move before risking real money. When you graduate to a real-money venue, prefer regulated jurisdictions and confirm the in-game paytable matches the lobby description. Related variants worth practising on the same engine include Double Bonus 9/7, 9/6, 8/5, the kicker-heavy Double Double Bonus, and the high-variance Triple Double Bonus.
| Hand | BET 1 | BET 2 | BET 3 | BET 4 | BET 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000 |
| Four Aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2s-4s | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four of a Kind | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full House | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| Flush | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 35 |
| Straight | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Double Bonus Poker returns 100.17% to the player (RTP) on the Full Pay 10/7 paytable with optimal strategy — one of the few casino games with a positive expected value. The 9/7 short pay drops to 99.11%, 9/6 to 98.40%, and the 8/5 cabinet returns just 96.38%. Over 100,000 hands at $5 max bet on Full Pay, the expected return is roughly $50,085 against $50,000 wagered.
Place your bet (1-5 coins), then press Deal to receive 5 cards from a 52-card deck. Select which cards to hold, then press Draw to replace the rest. Your final hand is evaluated against the pay table. The minimum winning hand is Jacks or Better. Always bet max coins (5) to qualify for the enhanced Royal Flush jackpot of 4,000 coins, the 800-coin Four Aces, and the 400-coin Four 2s-4s bonuses.
Double Bonus Poker doubles the bonus quad payouts of standard Bonus Poker: Four Aces pays 160-for-1, Four 2s-4s pays 80-for-1, and Four 5s-Kings pays 50-for-1. The tradeoff is that Two Pair drops to 1-for-1 (even money) instead of the standard 2-for-1, removing the cushion that keeps Jacks or Better stable. This combination produces extreme variance with a positive RTP on the Full Pay schedule.
Double Bonus Poker has high variance with an index of approximately 28 — significantly higher than Jacks or Better (≈19.5) and Bonus Poker (≈21). The 160-for-1 Four Aces bonus drives most of the volatility. Expect frequent dry stretches punctuated by large bonus hits. Plan a bankroll of at least 300 max bets per session to ride out the swings.
Yes. Double Bonus Poker is completely free to play on Pure Video Poker. No download, no registration, and no real money required. You get 1,000 practice credits to play with. It works in any modern web browser on desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones. Use it to drill the Two-Pair-break decisions and rehearse the borderline holds before playing at a real casino.
The best schedule is the Full Pay 10/7 version at 100.17% RTP — a positive-EV game with optimal strategy. The maximum single-hand payout is 4,000 coins for a Royal Flush on a 5-coin max bet, followed by 800 coins for Four Aces, 400 coins for Four 2s-4s, and 250 coins for a Straight Flush. Avoid 9/7 (99.11%), 9/6 (98.40%), and 8/5 (96.38%) variants whenever Full Pay is on the floor.
Yes, meaningfully harder. The 1-for-1 Two Pair payout breaks Jacks-or-Better intuition: holding two pair to lock in a return is often wrong because it forecloses higher-EV draws to Aces or low-quad bonuses. The Two-Pair-break decision and the Three-Aces-break-Full-House decision are the two largest deviations, and both punish JoB-trained players who haven't drilled them.
On a max 5-coin bet the top single-hand wins are: Royal Flush 4,000 coins, Four Aces 800, Four 2s-4s 400, Straight Flush 250, Four 5s-Kings 250, Full House 50, Flush 35. The Royal hits about once per 48,000 hands, Four Aces about once per 5,000 hands, and Four 2s-4s about once per 1,800 hands.