Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker

Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker is a gambling card game is owned and licensed by Mikohn Gaming/Progressive Gaming International Corporation. The game is based on traditional multi-player Texas Hold’em poker.

Rules

* The game is played with a standard 52 card deck.
* Each player makes an ante bet of 1 unit and may make an optional bonus bet.
* The player and dealer are both dealt two cards (face down).
* After checking his/her cards, the player may decide to fold with no further play losing the ante bet or make a flop bet of two units.
* Three cards are then dealt to the board.
* The player may decide to check or make a turn bet of one unit.
* Another card is dealt to the board (making four cards in total on the board).
* The player may decide to check to make a river bet of one unit.
* One more card is dealt to the board (making five in total).
* The player and dealer make their best five card poker hand from their own hand and five board cards.
* If the dealer’s hand is better than the player’s hand the player loses all bets.
* If the dealer’s hand is equal to the player’s hand, all bets are a push.
* If the player’s hand is better than the dealer’s hand, the player wins even money on the flop, turn and river bets. The player also wins even money on the ante bet if his best hand is a straight or better, otherwise the ante bet pushes.
* A separate side bet may be wagered on the player’s starting hand. If a player’s hole cards are a pair, A-K, A-Q, or A-J, the player wins the side bet according to the pay table. This bet pays even if the player does not beat the dealer’s hand.

Notes

* Unlike in traditional Texas Hold’em poker, there is no bet after the river.
* In Atlantic City, New Jersey, there is a variation on the rules above. The player only wins even money on the ante bet if his best hand is a flush or better.

Strategy

The optimal strategy for the flop bet, assuming optimal play thereafter, is to call all hands except for 2-3 offsuit, 2-4 offsuit, 2-5 offsuit, 2-6 offsuit and 2-7 offsuit. However, said optimal “postflop” strategy for the turn and river bets, while easy for a computer to solve, is extremely complicated, because of the large number and variety of possible card combinations. No concise explanation of optimal postflop strategy, or even a simplified version thereof, has been published.