8-5 Bonus Poker question

[Mikeinri]

I have never seen an online strategy for 8-5 Bonus Poker (the 99.17% version I play at Resorts AC) so I use the 9/6 strategy.My question is whether to hold a 4 card flush over a pair of dueces, 3's or 4's.In JOB of course we hold  the 4 to a flush and dump the low pair.Which is correct in 8-5 Bonus Poker?While we're at it, are there any MAJOR differences in 8-5 strategy from 9-6 strategy?

[BillyJoe]

Bob Dancer shows a higher EV (earned value) in single-line 8/5 Bonus Poker for holding the 4 to the flush rather than the TTF pair. The numbers are 4.78725 for the four to the flush vs 4.27565 for holding the pair. This assumes the four to the flush are non-sequential, with no straight or straight flush possibilities, and no paying pair opportunity.

For 9/6 Bonus, the flush is even stronger over the pair, with an EV of 5.7447 vs 4.32655 for the pair.
Hope this helps...

[Mikeinri]

Sure does.  Thanks.9/6 Bonus?  That's just a dream for us Easterners.

[New2vp]

The Wizard of Odds has a strategy for 8-5 Bonus Poker posted at http://wizardofodds.com/videopoker/stra ... poker.html .  I don't know how good it is; he generally ignores "penalty card" situations like a lot of people and sometimes combines things together that could be separated and made a bit more precise.  Look for it to be quite close to 9-6 Jacks or Better strategy.If you use a 9/6 Jacks or Better strategy while playing 8/5 Bonus Poker, you're not going to get appreciably lower expected value (EV) unless you get a bunch of the few hands that could be played differently.  Computer- perfect 8/5 Bonus Poker has an EV of 99.166%; using computer-perfect 9/6 Jacks strategy on 8/5 Bonus Poker yields 99.158%, so you generally lose very little playing 9/6 strategy.To answer your question about MAJOR differences, I'd say there were none and only a few MINOR differences.  Here are most of the plays that are played differently on the two games if you want to increase your EV (substitute a diamond when you see "; I lost something in the font translation), but don't expect big improvements in your results:








If you
are dealt
Best Play with
Jacks 9-6
Best Play with
Bonus 8-5
 
If you are dealt
Best Play with
Jacks 9-6
Best Play with
Bonus 8-5


AeKeTe2e Tc
AeKeTe2e
AeKeTe
 
Q` Je 5¨3¨2¨
5¨3¨2¨
Q` Je


AeKeTe2e Jc
AeKeTe2e
AeKeTe
 
J` T` 5¨3¨2¨
5¨3¨2¨
J` T`


A` Kc QeJe 2c
QeJe
A` Kc QeJe
 
K` Je T¨8¨7¨
T¨8¨7¨
K` Je


Q`J` 5¨4¨3¨
5¨4¨3¨
Q`J`
 
A` Je 5¨3¨2¨
5¨3¨2¨
A` Je


K`J` 5¨4¨3¨
5¨4¨3¨
K`J`
 
A` 5e 9¨7¨6¨
9¨7¨6¨
A`


A`J` 9¨8¨7¨
9¨8¨7¨
A`J`
 
J` 4e 8¨7¨5¨
8¨7¨5¨
J`


A`K` 5¨4¨3¨
5¨4¨3¨
A`K`
 
A` 6` 5¨4¨2¨
5¨4¨2¨
A`


K` Qe J¨9¨7¨
J¨9¨7¨
K` Qe J¨9¨
 
J` 6` T¨9¨7¨
T¨9¨7¨
J`


K` Qe J¨8¨7¨
J¨8¨7¨
K` Qe J¨
 
J`T` K¨8¨2¨
J`T`
J` K¨


K` 9e J¨8¨7¨
J¨8¨7¨
K`J¨
 
J`T`2` A¨8¨
J`T`
J` A¨


Q` 8e J¨T¨7¨
J¨T¨7¨
Q` J¨
 
Q`T` A¨7¨6¨
Q`T`
Q` A¨


Q` 2e J¨8¨7¨
J¨8¨7¨
Q` J¨
 
K`T`2` 8¨7¨
K`T`
K`

Many of these plays involve what are called penalty situations, meaning that if the discards were different, the held cards might also be different.  Some find paying attention to penalty cards objectionable or confusing and believe the increase in EV is not worth the extra time it takes to spot them or might cause other errors that are more costly; that is up to each player to decide for himself.The list also did not include any special plays.  For those, you'll have to go to another source.Mike, I don't think you'll find 9/6 Bonus Poker out West either, unless you're referring to something like 9/6 Bonus Poker Deluxe that reduces the payoff for Two Pair.

[Mikeinri]

Thanks so much for the help.  I must have somehow missed that on Wizard Of Odds, of which I am a great fan of.Given the minute difference I will stick with using the 9-6 JOB strategy but it is nice to know I am losing nothing substantial doing so.As far as the "special plays": if you read his latest post he has "quit playing".

[shadowman]

The only reason you may want to consider some of the changes new2vp showed above is because they reduce the variance slightly. When I play BP it's almost always a progressive (same with JOB). As a result there are even more changes than those given. It's not a bad idea to understand the differences as I find it makes the game more enjoyable to be looking more closely at the hands. But, that's more of a personal thing.