The Paytable Changes What You Hold
Double Bonus video poker is a five-card draw game where the machine deals you five cards, you choose which to keep, and the machine replaces the rest. The name comes from the paytable: four-of-a-kind payouts are boosted, with four aces paying the most. That single change reshapes the entire game, because it changes which cards are worth holding.
Before you put money in a machine, read the paytable shown on the screen. Video poker variants that look similar can have materially different payouts for the same final hand. In Double Bonus, the key numbers to check are the one-coin payouts for a full house and a flush, and the payouts for the four-of-a-kind ranks. Those numbers tell you which version of Double Bonus you are looking at, and the correct strategy for one version is not automatically correct for another.
The Round from Start to Finish
You begin by choosing how many coins to wager. Most machines accept between one and five coins per hand, and the royal flush payout is usually structured so that the five-coin bet returns proportionally more than any smaller bet. The machine deals five cards face up. You select the cards you want to keep and press the draw button. The discarded cards are replaced, and the final five-card hand is compared against the paytable.
There is no dealer hand and no opponent. The machine pays according to the printed schedule, and every decision you make happens before the draw. Once you press draw, the hand is settled and the next hand begins. The sequence repeats at whatever speed you choose, which is one of the few things about the game that is fully under your control.
What the Paytable Tells You
Every video poker game publishes its full paytable on the screen before you play. The paytable lists every winning hand from a pair of jacks or better up to a royal flush, with the payout for each coin denomination wagered. In Double Bonus, the paytable also splits four-of-a-kind into separate lines by rank: aces, twos through fours, and fives through kings.
The return to player (RTP) of a video poker machine is a theoretical percentage of total wagered money a game returns to players over a very large number of spins or hands. It is a long-run statistical average, not a per-session guarantee. The house edge is the mathematical advantage the operator holds on a given game, expressed as a percentage of each wager. House edge and RTP are complements: they sum to 100% for the same game. The paytable is the document that determines the RTP for the specific machine you are sitting at.
Decision Points and What They Mean
Video poker looks simple because there is only one decision per hand, but that decision carries the whole game. You are choosing which cards to hold based on the expected value of each possible hold. Expected value is the average return a given hold produces across all possible replacement cards, weighted by how often each replacement appears.
In Double Bonus, the boosted four-of-a-kind payouts change the arithmetic. A single ace is often a better hold than in other video poker variants, because the chance to draw into four aces is worth more. A low pair is worth more when the four-of-a-kind payout for that rank is higher. A three-card royal flush draw competes against other holds differently depending on the flush and full house payouts.
Published strategy charts derive from the specific rule set in use. A chart written for a different paytable will lead you to hold the wrong cards. When you find a strategy chart, check that it matches the full house, flush, and four-of-a-kind lines printed on the machine in front of you.
How the Main Hands Compare
Different final hands pay at different rates, and the gap between them is what drives every hold decision. The table below shows the standard relationships in Double Bonus, using a five-coin bet as the reference point. The exact numbers vary by machine, so treat the payouts as the structure to look for rather than as fixed amounts.
| Final hand | What it is | Why it matters in Double Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | Ten through ace of one suit | The top payout; the five-coin bet usually carries a disproportionate bonus |
| Four aces | All four aces | The highest four-of-a-kind payout, and the defining feature of the variant |
| Four 2s, 3s, or 4s | All four cards of one of those ranks | Second-highest four-of-a-kind payout, above the remaining ranks |
| Four 5s through kings | All four cards of one of those ranks | Lower four-of-a-kind payout, still above a straight flush on many paytables |
| Straight flush | Five consecutive cards of one suit | Pays below the boosted four-of-a-kind hands on many Double Bonus schedules |
| Full house | Three of a kind plus a pair | The payout here is a key number for identifying the machine's overall return |
| Flush | Five cards of one suit, not consecutive | The other key number; lower flush payouts signal a lower-returning machine |
The relationship between the full house and flush payouts is the first thing a careful player checks. A machine that pays less for those hands is returning less over the long run, regardless of how the four-of-a-kind lines read.
What Changes and What Stays Fixed
Volatility in video poker describes how payouts are distributed over time. High volatility means rarer but larger payouts; low volatility means more frequent but smaller ones. Volatility does not change a game's RTP. Double Bonus has a different volatility profile than a game like Jacks or Better, because the boosted four-of-a-kind payouts are large but infrequent, and the machine pays for that boost by trimming other hands.
What stays fixed is the arithmetic. The paytable determines the long-run return, and the strategy chart that matches the paytable determines how close you can get to that return. No holding pattern changes the built-in edge of a negative-expectation game. What a good strategy chart does is reduce the rate at which the edge is applied, by avoiding holds that give up more than they should.
Procedural Mistakes to Avoid
The first mistake new players make is holding a high card instead of a low pair. In most video poker variants, a low pair is worth more than a single high card because the pair can improve to two pair, three of a kind, a full house, or four of a kind. In Double Bonus, the low pair is worth even more when the four-of-a-kind payout for that rank is boosted.
The second mistake is discarding a paying hand to chase a bigger one. A made hand is already worth its paytable amount. A draw to a bigger hand is worth only the probability of completing it. The expected value calculation decides which is better, and it is not always the exciting choice.
The third mistake is playing a strategy chart written for a different game. A Jacks or Better chart, or a chart for a Double Bonus paytable with different full house and flush lines, will steer you wrong on specific holds. Check the paytable first, then use a chart that matches it.
FAQ
Does Double Bonus video poker pay more than Jacks or Better?
The two games have different paytables, and the return depends on the specific numbers printed on the machine. Double Bonus shifts payout weight toward four-of-a-kind hands and away from full houses and flushes. A Double Bonus machine with a poor full house or flush payout can return less than a Jacks or Better machine with a strong paytable, so the variant name alone does not settle the question.
Why does the machine pay more for four aces than for four kings?
The paytable is designed that way, and it is the defining feature of Double Bonus. Because four aces pays so much, the correct hold strategy changes: a single ace becomes a more valuable hold than it would be in a game where all four-of-a-kind hands pay the same. The machine compensates for the boosted payouts by reducing other lines, typically the full house and flush.
Can I use a basic strategy chart from any Double Bonus machine?
Only if the chart was built for the same paytable. The full house and flush payouts, and the exact four-of-a-kind lines, determine the correct hold in many situations. Two machines can both carry the Double Bonus name and still require different charts. Match the chart to the paytable shown on the screen before you rely on it.
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This article is general information about how these mechanics work. It is not legal advice and not a recommendation to gamble or to use any particular operator. Availability and legality differ by jurisdiction — check the rules that apply where you are.