Big 5 Poker Table
Big 5 Casino is a new name on the gaming scene, but it has made a huge impact with its vast games selection and its fun animal and safari theme. All this brings the site to life and gives it a strong individuality, especially with the innovative loyalty scheme and cartoon animals dotted around the site.
- Land five of a kind in Joker Poker and you’re looking at a payout of just 200 coins. This is the big pay-off, and the large positive of the pay table. Weirdly, straight flushes (aside from the Royal one) are given a payout boost. The other big difference on the pay table is the minimum hand requirement.
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Joker Poker is a popular video poker game which adds a wild 53rd card to the deck. Jester Poker switches the pay table for this popular format. The focus in on 5 of a kind hands. Where a Royal Flush is the best hand in most other forms of video poker, Jester Poker takes a very different approach.
In Jester Poker, there is a single drawing round. Having been dealt your five cards, you’ll now get to hold or discard as many cards as you like. The discarded cards are then replaced with new ones, and your aim is to have the best possible poker hand with your final five cards. The biggest prize in Jester Poker is 800x your bet.
Jester Poker can be played in states where online casino play is regulated. This page starts by detailing exactly how the game works, including key bet sizing advice. Next, the large differences between Jester Poker and Joker Poker are examined. You’ll find out how to change up your strategy for this game at the bottom of this page.
How Jester Poker Works
The first consideration when playing Jester Poker is the bet size. In virtually every other form of the game there is a huge premium for playing the maximum 5 coins. Play all five and the Royal Flush payout offers a boost, making the house edge that much smaller.
There is no such boost in Jester Poker. However many coins you play, the house edge is exactly the same. In this game, when playing optimal strategy, the house edge is 98.94%.
There are a number of options when playing. You can toggle the ‘turbo’ option on and off. With the turbo option on, the cards are dealt that much quicker. You also have the option of turning the sound on an off.
You’ve two options for changing the bet size. The first is to hit the ‘Max Bet’ option, which automatically sets the bet size to 5. You can also move the bet size up and down through 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 using the arrows on the right-hand side of the screen.
With the bet size set, you’ll now hit the deal button. Your opening five cards will appear. Now you get to choose which cards you’ll hold.
To do this simply click on a card and a yellow ‘held’ symbol will appear. If you make a mistake and hold the wrong card, or you change your mind, simply click the card again to un-hold it.
You’ll now be ready to hit ‘deal’ again, where your discarded cards are replaced with new ones. If your final hand holds two pairs or greater (in poker rankings) you’ll land a win.
Jester Poker Pay Table
Here’s a look at the payout chart for Jester Poker:
- 5 of a Kind: 800
- Royal Flush (with or without Jester): 100
- Straight Flush: 100
- 4 of a Kind: 16
- Full House: 8
- Flush: 5
- Straight: 4
- 3 of a Kind: 2
- Two Pair: 1
The payouts in Jester Poker is very different from what you would find in any other variations of video poker. One of the first things that stands out is that the payout for a Royal Flush is 100 coins. Play any other game and you’ll usually find a payout of 800 coins. In Joker Poker, for example, you get paid 800 coins for a natural Royal Flush.
You’ll also notice that the payouts for hitting a Royal Flush and a Straight Flush are exactly the same – which is strikingly unusual.
While the payouts for a Royal Flush are lower than usual, this is offset by the huge 800 coin pay out for 5 of a kind. Land five of a kind in Joker Poker and you’re looking at a payout of just 200 coins. This is the big pay-off, and the large positive of the pay table. Weirdly, straight flushes (aside from the Royal one) are given a payout boost.
The other big difference on the pay table is the minimum hand requirement. In Joker Poker, a pair of Kings or a pair of Aces will pay, but in this game, you’ll need to land at least two pairs.
Overall, this makes for a game that is higher in volatility than standard Joker Poker. You’ll receive slightly fewer smaller wins in this version, while you are more likely to land the big 800-coin win for five of a kind (five of a kind wins are slightly easier to land than a natural Royal Flush is).
Strategy for Jester Poker
While the strategy for many forms of video poker is very similar, you can throw the rulebook out of the window for this game. One thing to immediately bear in mind in Jester Poker is that there is absolutely no premium for big cards.
A straight flush pays the same as a Royal Flush and there is nothing for landing a big pair. So, while an Ace or a King might look pretty on the board, they are no more valuable than a 3 or a 7.
Your aim should certainly be to look for those big five of a kind hands. Hold any pairs and it goes without saying that any time that single joker appears you should be holding that.
Look for straight and flush possibilities – that joker will make landing these hands that little bit more likely. Look out for straight flushes too, especially if you have 3 cards to the hand. Get those held, due to the premium on the straight flush pays.
Summing Up – Jester Poker
Jester Poker is certainly one of those weird video poker games. None of the normal rules apply when it comes to strategy, meaning you’ll really have to mix up your play. Now, the whole focus is on landing those big 5 of a kind wins.
You can now play Jester Poker online in a number of states (which include NJ, PA, MI and WV) – you simply have to be within the state lines to enjoy the game. Enjoy Jester Poker alongside all other forms of video poker online.
The number five in the game’s title refers to the five largest animals that live in Africa. Microgaming has a large number of poker machines based on a safari theme and this title is one of them. Other pokies with this theme include Lions Pride, The Forgotten Land of Lemuria, and Untamed: Wolf Pack. The graphics on this particular title are relatively crude compared to some of the other safari-inspired machines, and this game doesn’t have any animations or short video clips, common features in Microgaming’s video pokies collection, even on more traditional games.
Bet Variety and Jackpots
The betting options on Big 5 are nearly as simple as the reel and line arrangement and the interface and virtual case the reels are set in. Players can wager one, two, or three coins per spin on the title’s single pay line. To change the number of credits you wager, select the option you want using the buttons underneath the title’s three spinning reels.
The value of the coins can be any of five available denominations. That’s an outstanding variety for a traditional game with just one pay line. The lowest denomination is $0.25 and the largest is $5 apiece. The player has a choice of setting the value at $0.25, $0.50, $1, $2.50 or $5, for a total range of bets between $0.25 and $15 each time the reels are set in motion. High rollers won’t be satisfied with such a low max wager, but the available bets make it a good match for budget-conscious gamblers.
The biggest payouts on the game’s pay table come from three-coin wagers, but bettors can take a shot at those big cash prizes for as little as $0.75 per spin; that represents three coins set at the minimum denomination of $0.25 each. It isn’t exactly a penny pokie, but with a max bet that costs less than $1, low rollers willing to spend a little outside their comfort zone may be swayed by the fact that a three credit bet of $0.75 could earn them $600 if they land the highest paying combo for a reward of 2,400 credits.
Layout & Reel Symbols
Looking at the game, it is easy to see why it is considered classic or traditional – the game’s case is decorated by a simple graphic featuring the five largest African safari animals crowded around the poker machine’s logo. The water buffalo, lion, elephant, rhinoceros, and leopard shown side by side with the red and yellow title would be a nice addition to the pay table as reel symbols, but only the lion (the king of the jungle) makes it onto the reels.
It would be nice if Microgaming’s designers had stuffed a few more animal symbols into the actual game, rather than just featuring a drawing of them on the case, but at least bettors still get to see the beautiful lion on the three reels. It makes sense that the lion is the animal selected, since he is also the most valuable symbol on the game’s pay table.
Speaking of the pay table, it sits just to the right of the animals and the three spinning reels. This sidebar shows every combo and its value to the player should they line up on the game’s one pay line. Seven different combinations lead to payouts. Besides the majestic lion, three game symbols in varying numbers and combinations will lead to a prize.
An image of a bunch of cherries, a line-up of the very traditional poker machine bar symbols, and a stylized and bright gold number five set against another bar (known as a Bar-Five) all fill out the rest of the winning combo schedule. The table also shows the value of each win broken up by the size of the player’s wager: one credit, two credits, and three credits.
Why Some Gamblers Love Classic Poker Machines
For fans of casino gambling, the history of the games can be really intriguing. Poker machine history is just as fascinating as the tales of table games like roulette, also known as the Devil’s Wheel, or craps, which takes its name from the French word for “toad,” weirdly enough. Classic pokies like this Microgaming release have a loyal following in land-based casinos and Internet betting venues alike.
Every poker machine game in the world, from the latest progressive ultra-HD multi-bonus game in a Las Vegas casino to the simple safari-themed Web-based poker machine covered in this review, can trace its lineage back to a single inventor in late 19th century America. The first such game was invented by an American named Charles Fey. It was intended to be a mechanical distraction and was first installed in frontier saloons as a novelty item. Back then, players fed a coin into the game, pulled a lever to set the reels in motion, and hoped to line up a matching set of cherries, stars, or playing card images.
Home Poker Tables
At first, the prizes weren’t in cash; in fact, they could hardly be called prizes at all. The machine would spit out a piece of paper or a token that could be exchanged at the bar for a small trinket like a piece of candy, a cigar, or if they were really lucky, a shot of whisky. So while Big 5 is similar to Charles Fey’s original games (the first of which was called Liberty Bell and had three reels and a single pay line) the prizes can’t be compared. What’s a cigar or a piece of gum compared to Big 5’s maximum jackpot of $9,500?
So why are classic games with very simple rules and small pay tables still popular? Some players are looking for a game they can play without much thought; think of this game as the junk food of casino gaming, easy to digest, inexpensive, and strangely addictive. No bonus games, no wild symbols, no scatter images, no side bets, no progressive jackpots – there are more things missing from this game than features that are present, compared to other modern pokies.
Big 5 Poker Table
See also:
Big 5 Poker Table Chairs
But that simplicity is a major reason for the title’s popularity. Who should play this title? Beginners trying to learn the basics of pokies or gamblers who just want to wind down by playing a mindless game are all ideal targets.