Video poker players have their favorite game. It can be due to the pay table, bonus features or its location.
My favorite game is Joker Poker at Plaza in downtown Las Vegas. That is because of the full-pay table and complexity of the basic strategy of the game that has been fun to learn. The game is available in both quarters and half-dollars. In addition to Plaza, full-pay Joker Poker is spread at Santa Fe Station, Boulder Station and Fiesta Henderson.
Run Great on 5OAK, Not on Royal Flushes
Five of a kind is the second highest jackpot hand. It pays 200-1. I made this hand dozens of times but it was never in nines until a week ago. I have now completed the rounds of all 13 ranks of five of a kind. Below are the screenshots of those hands.
The large jackpot hand is a natural royal flush. It pays 800-1 when playing five coins. I’ve hit four of those playing the game. I have not completed the round of suits there because two were diamonds, while the others were spades.
The lone $.50 Joker Poker game at Plaza is the last of its kind in service in any casino. The images below of the kings and aces on the dim screen are from that device. The others came from a previous $.50 game that broke and the $.25 upright that is still in service.
There are three $.25 full-pay Joker Poker machines at Plaza. All were moved from Las Vegas Club when that casino closed in 2015. Some of these images were taken at Las Vegas Club before the machines were moved across Main Street to Plaza.
Joker Poker Coin Game
The Plaza Joker Poker games operate on coins. This can be annoying but it is part of the nostalgia of playing a good video poker game downtown. A five of a kind hand on the quarter machine drops 1,000 coins. This often requires a hopper fill because a bag of quarters is only $300. On the $.50 game, five of a kind is a hand pay.
My favorite five of a kind hand out of all of these is the five-6’s. I held 6-6-6 and received the fourth six and the joker. The coin hopper emptied at 666 coins paid.
I’ve never been dealt five of a kind, however, on two occasions I threw all five cards away and received the 5OAK jackpot hand. This happened on the 2’s and 9’s.
While I have never been dealt five of a kind on these machines, I was dealt a natural royal flush once. In another instance, I held a bare ace of spades and drew the other four. Those two screenshots are below the 5OAKs.
