Texas Holdem Bonus Strategy Calculator
This poker calculator will give you the odds of a win, loss, and tie for each player. Click on any card and it will be used in the position indicated by the yellow frame. You may click on any valid card to move the frame there. Check 'folded hand' to indicate the given player is out of the hand, removing his cards from the remaining deck.
- Though perfect strategy is nearly impossible to perfect, the house edge is only slightly over 2% with optimal play, and playing the Turn and River reasonably will allow you to approach this percentage. Texas Hold’em Bonus Strategy: The Bonus Bet. Along with the normal game, Texas Hold’em Bonus also has the Bonus bet that gives the game its.
- The process is simple enough; paste the hand history into Holdem Resources Calculator, working out the total number of chips in play and adding all the payouts.
On This Page
Introduction
Texas Hold 'Em Bonus is a poker based table game I noticed at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas in September 2005. I also hear that it can be found in Atlantic City. Like real Texas Hold 'em the player may bet his hole card, after the flop, and after the turn (but not after the river). As in one on one poker all bets pay one to one, except the ante requires a straight or flush (depending on the location) or higher to pay.
Texas Hold 'Em Bonus goes by the name of Easy Poker at the Casino Bregenz in Austria.
Las Vegas Rules
- The game is played with a single 52-card deck.
- The player makes an Ante wager, plus an optional Bonus bet.
- Two hole cards are dealt face down to the player and dealer. The player may look at his own cards.
- The player must either fold or make a Flop bet. The Flop bet must be two times the amount of the ante.
- Three community cards (the Flop) are dealt.
- The player may do nothing or make a Turn bet. The Turn bet must be exactly equal to the ante bet.
- A fourth community card is dealt (the Turn).
- The player may do nothing or make a River bet. The River bet must be exactly equal to the ante bet.
- A fifth community card is dealt (the River).
- The player and dealer each make the best five-card hand using any combination of the five community cards and his own two initial hole cards. The higher hand wins.
- If the dealer has the higher hand the player will lose all wagers, except possibly the Bonus bet.
- If the player has the higher hand the Flop, Turn, and River bets will pay even money. If the player has a straight or higher the Ante bet will also pay even money, otherwise it will push.
- If the player and dealer have hands of equal value the the Ante, Flop, Turn, and River bets will all push.
- The Bonus bet will pay based only the player's and dealer's initial cards, according to the pay table posted.
The Horseshoe casino in Hammond, Indiana, follows the Las Vegas rules. Despite what the rule booklet says, the Casino Bregenz in Austria follows the Atlantic City rules.
Atlantic City Rules
There are only two rule differences under the Las Vegas rules. The player needs a flush or higher to win even money on the ante. The bonus bet does not have a line item for both player and dealer having a pair of aces.
House Edge
The following table shows all the possible outcomes assuming optimal player strategy and the Las Vegas rules. An explanation of each column follows the table. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.04%. The standard deviation is 3.51.
Texas Hold 'em Bonus Return Table — Las Vegas RulesExpand
| Turn Bet | River Bet | Outcome | Win | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | No | Dealer wins | -3 | 16191937969988 | 0.291077 | -0.873232 |
| No | No | Tie | 0 | 1259275163176 | 0.022638 | 0 |
| No | No | Player wins with less than straight | 2 | 5303424537200 | 0.095338 | 0.190676 |
| No | No | Player wins with straight or higher | 3 | 1084471210036 | 0.019495 | 0.058486 |
| No | Yes | Dealer wins | -4 | 1396173000700 | 0.025099 | -0.100394 |
| No | Yes | Tie | 0 | 167704605536 | 0.003015 | 0 |
| No | Yes | Player wins with less than straight | 3 | 2296867062000 | 0.04129 | 0.12387 |
| No | Yes | Player wins with straight or higher | 4 | 605730184164 | 0.010889 | 0.043556 |
| Yes | No | Dealer wins | -4 | 1896639509356 | 0.034095 | -0.136381 |
| Yes | No | Tie | 0 | 135581445288 | 0.002437 | 0 |
| Yes | No | Player wins with less than straight | 3 | 1247381880480 | 0.022424 | 0.067271 |
| Yes | No | Player wins with straight or higher | 4 | 252140929436 | 0.004533 | 0.018131 |
| Yes | Yes | Dealer wins | -5 | 5604708827316 | 0.100754 | -0.50377 |
| Yes | Yes | Tie | 0 | 547943447680 | 0.00985 | 0 |
| Yes | Yes | Player wins with less than straight | 4 | 12372657154480 | 0.222419 | 0.889677 |
| Yes | Yes | Player wins with straight or higher | 5 | 2747896241164 | 0.049398 | 0.24699 |
| Player folds | -1 | 2517086880000 | 0.045249 | -0.045249 | ||
| Total | 55627620048000 | 1 | -0.020369 | |||
Explanation of table
- Column 1:Yes if player makes turn bet, no otherwise
- Column 2:Yes if player makes river bet, no otherwise
- Column 3:Outcome
- Column 4: Net win
- Column 5:Total combinations
- Column 6:Probability
- Column 7:Contribution to return (win*probability)
The lower right cell shows a house edge of 2.037%. However I think this makes the game look like a worse bet than it really is. What this means is that for every dollar bet on the ante the player can expect to lose 2.037 cents. However by the end of the hand the average wager will be 3.8181 times the ante. So the element of risk, or ratio of loss to total amount bet is a much lower 2.037%/3.8181=0.5335%. The standard deviation is 3.500839.
According to Scott McIntosh the house edge is 5.5935% under the Atlantic City rules. I trust this figure because we agree exactly on the Las Vegas rules.
Strategy
The following is when the player should fold the initial two-card hand, according to the rules.
- Las Vegas: unsuited 2/3 to 2/7.
- Atlantic City: unsuited 2/3 to 2/7, and unsuited 3/4.
I have not quantified the strategy past the first decision point. I can say that under the Las Vegas rules the player who made the Flop bet will make the Turn bet 43.13% of the time, and the River bet 48.46% of the time. If the player made the turn bet, then he will also make the river bet 85.76% of the time. If the player made the flop bet, but not the turn bet, he will make the river bet 15.78% of the time.
In Beyond Counting Exhibit CAA (pages 367-371), James Grosjean presents a rather complicated and still incomplete strategy after the flop.
The following table shows the expected value of all 169 possible initial hands under both the Las Vegas and Atlantic City rules.
Two-Card Expected Values
| Initial Hand | Las Vegas Rules | Atlantic City Rules |
|---|---|---|
| 2,3 unsuited | -1.155927 | -1.195592 |
| 2,4 unsuited | -1.091604 | -1.13521 |
| 2,5 unsuited | -1.019987 | -1.067022 |
| 2,6 unsuited | -1.046723 | -1.077817 |
| 2,7 unsuited | -1.031301 | -1.050057 |
| 2,8 unsuited | -0.896002 | -0.917393 |
| 2,9 unsuited | -0.763132 | -0.784523 |
| 2,T unsuited | -0.613979 | -0.636507 |
| 2,J unsuited | -0.459414 | -0.478676 |
| 2,Q unsuited | -0.28969 | -0.305687 |
| 2,K unsuited | -0.102668 | -0.1154 |
| 2,A unsuited | 0.184373 | 0.160096 |
| 3,4 unsuited | -0.950034 | -1.009069 |
| 3,5 unsuited | -0.874456 | -0.937452 |
| 3,6 unsuited | -0.899632 | -0.946711 |
| 3,7 unsuited | -0.8854 | -0.919748 |
| 3,8 unsuited | -0.850607 | -0.872617 |
| 3,9 unsuited | -0.699497 | -0.724139 |
| 3,T unsuited | -0.549947 | -0.575726 |
| 3,J unsuited | -0.395206 | -0.417719 |
| 3,Q unsuited | -0.225563 | -0.24481 |
| 3,K unsuited | -0.038499 | -0.054482 |
| 3,A unsuited | 0.254437 | 0.226376 |
| 4,5 unsuited | -0.735126 | -0.813569 |
| 4,6 unsuited | -0.756096 | -0.819136 |
| 4,7 unsuited | -0.740561 | -0.790904 |
| 4,8 unsuited | -0.7068 | -0.744413 |
| 4,9 unsuited | -0.654394 | -0.679669 |
| 4,T unsuited | -0.487036 | -0.516079 |
| 4,J unsuited | -0.332233 | -0.358011 |
| 4,Q unsuited | -0.162612 | -0.185124 |
| 4,K unsuited | 0.024799 | 0.005551 |
| 4,A unsuited | 0.321642 | 0.290174 |
| 5,6 unsuited | -0.614318 | -0.692805 |
| 5,7 unsuited | -0.595481 | -0.661787 |
| 5,8 unsuited | -0.560487 | -0.614096 |
| 5,9 unsuited | -0.508593 | -0.549471 |
| 5,T unsuited | -0.437507 | -0.467184 |
| 5,J unsuited | -0.265364 | -0.294408 |
| 5,Q unsuited | -0.095642 | -0.12142 |
| 5,K unsuited | 0.092367 | 0.069855 |
| 5,A unsuited | 0.392893 | 0.358138 |
| 6,7 unsuited | -0.457726 | -0.536213 |
| 6,8 unsuited | -0.421014 | -0.48732 |
| 6,9 unsuited | -0.36839 | -0.421999 |
| 6,T unsuited | -0.297258 | -0.339273 |
| 6,J unsuited | -0.217975 | -0.244386 |
| 6,Q unsuited | -0.031216 | -0.056994 |
| 6,K unsuited | 0.156819 | 0.134306 |
| 6,A unsuited | 0.370719 | 0.351472 |
| 7,8 unsuited | -0.284039 | -0.362526 |
| 7,9 unsuited | -0.229986 | -0.296292 |
| 7,T unsuited | -0.157768 | -0.212535 |
| 7,J unsuited | -0.078216 | -0.116966 |
| 7,Q unsuited | 0.019887 | -0.003259 |
| 7,K unsuited | 0.224911 | 0.202399 |
| 7,A unsuited | 0.456798 | 0.434885 |
| 8,9 unsuited | -0.092377 | -0.170864 |
| 8,T unsuited | -0.016383 | -0.08401 |
| 8,J unsuited | 0.062709 | 0.011207 |
| 8,Q unsuited | 0.16144 | 0.125955 |
| 8,K unsuited | 0.282809 | 0.262927 |
| 8,A unsuited | 0.533716 | 0.511803 |
| 9,T unsuited | 0.127027 | 0.046521 |
| 9,J unsuited | 0.20434 | 0.139978 |
| 9,Q unsuited | 0.304465 | 0.256228 |
| 9,K unsuited | 0.428187 | 0.395968 |
| 9,A unsuited | 0.602407 | 0.583126 |
| T,J unsuited | 0.370279 | 0.288219 |
| T,Q unsuited | 0.471694 | 0.405776 |
| T,K unsuited | 0.600228 | 0.550453 |
| T,A unsuited | 0.78194 | 0.745643 |
| J,Q unsuited | 0.535555 | 0.472903 |
| J,K unsuited | 0.665761 | 0.619251 |
| J,A unsuited | 0.852493 | 0.819462 |
| Q,K unsuited | 0.735444 | 0.6922 |
| Q,A unsuited | 0.925311 | 0.895545 |
| K,A unsuited | 0.999317 | 0.972816 |
| 2,3 suited | -0.886985 | -0.923987 |
| 2,4 suited | -0.826008 | -0.866658 |
| 2,5 suited | -0.75798 | -0.801803 |
| 2,6 suited | -0.782881 | -0.811796 |
| 2,7 suited | -0.768076 | -0.785429 |
| 2,8 suited | -0.639021 | -0.658814 |
| 2,9 suited | -0.51015 | -0.529944 |
| 2,T suited | -0.364595 | -0.385438 |
| 2,J suited | -0.212709 | -0.23053 |
| 2,Q suited | -0.044946 | -0.059747 |
| 2,K suited | 0.141142 | 0.129363 |
| 2,A suited | 0.425022 | 0.402419 |
| 3,4 suited | -0.693044 | -0.74813 |
| 3,5 suited | -0.62123 | -0.679983 |
| 3,6 suited | -0.644776 | -0.688639 |
| 3,7 suited | -0.631082 | -0.663007 |
| 3,8 suited | -0.597478 | -0.617842 |
| 3,9 suited | -0.450882 | -0.473684 |
| 3,T suited | -0.304918 | -0.328768 |
| 3,J suited | -0.152868 | -0.173698 |
| 3,Q suited | 0.014889 | -0.002919 |
| 3,K suited | 0.201376 | 0.186589 |
| 3,A suited | 0.490618 | 0.464512 |
| 4,5 suited | -0.490199 | -0.563403 |
| 4,6 suited | -0.509707 | -0.5685 |
| 4,7 suited | -0.494853 | -0.541737 |
| 4,8 suited | -0.461634 | -0.496581 |
| 4,9 suited | -0.40913 | -0.432516 |
| 4,T suited | -0.246108 | -0.272979 |
| 4,J suited | -0.094025 | -0.117875 |
| 4,Q suited | 0.073849 | 0.053019 |
| 4,K suited | 0.260929 | 0.243121 |
| 4,A suited | 0.553554 | 0.524295 |
| 5,6 suited | -0.376191 | -0.449435 |
| 5,7 suited | -0.357989 | -0.419804 |
| 5,8 suited | -0.323018 | -0.372923 |
| 5,9 suited | -0.270833 | -0.308801 |
| 5,T suited | -0.199974 | -0.227429 |
| 5,J suited | -0.031373 | -0.058245 |
| 5,Q suited | 0.136745 | 0.112895 |
| 5,K suited | 0.324793 | 0.303963 |
| 5,A suited | 0.620767 | 0.588467 |
| 6,7 suited | -0.227072 | -0.300316 |
| 6,8 suited | -0.190276 | -0.252091 |
| 6,9 suited | -0.137464 | -0.187369 |
| 6,T suited | -0.066542 | -0.105559 |
| 6,J suited | 0.013273 | -0.011162 |
| 6,Q suited | 0.197628 | 0.173777 |
| 6,K suited | 0.385858 | 0.365029 |
| 6,A suited | 0.59982 | 0.582012 |
| 7,8 suited | -0.05986 | -0.133104 |
| 7,9 suited | -0.005551 | -0.067365 |
| 7,T suited | 0.066287 | 0.015313 |
| 7,J suited | 0.146267 | 0.110272 |
| 7,Q suited | 0.246024 | 0.22461 |
| 7,K suited | 0.451106 | 0.430277 |
| 7,A suited | 0.682911 | 0.662637 |
| 8,9 suited | 0.125648 | 0.052404 |
| 8,T suited | 0.200955 | 0.13792 |
| 8,J suited | 0.280795 | 0.232842 |
| 8,Q suited | 0.381333 | 0.348359 |
| 8,K suited | 0.50656 | 0.488168 |
| 8,A suited | 0.757219 | 0.736945 |
| 9,T suited | 0.33757 | 0.262459 |
| 9,J suited | 0.416267 | 0.356253 |
| 9,Q suited | 0.518407 | 0.473476 |
| 9,K suited | 0.646145 | 0.616192 |
| 9,A suited | 0.822276 | 0.80444 |
| T,J suited | 0.574533 | 0.497955 |
| T,Q suited | 0.677017 | 0.615537 |
| T,K suited | 0.808521 | 0.762138 |
| T,A suited | 0.990289 | 0.956538 |
| J,Q suited | 0.737666 | 0.679207 |
| J,K suited | 0.870492 | 0.82713 |
| J,A suited | 1.056211 | 1.02548 |
| Q,K suited | 0.936506 | 0.896165 |
| Q,A suited | 1.124432 | 1.096723 |
| K,A suited | 1.194024 | 1.169336 |
| 2,2 pair | -0.134137 | -0.140431 |
| 3,3 pair | 0.078584 | 0.068777 |
| 4,4 pair | 0.322289 | 0.308953 |
| 5,5 pair | 0.589457 | 0.572593 |
| 6,6 pair | 0.837465 | 0.820601 |
| 7,7 pair | 1.093669 | 1.076805 |
| 8,8 pair | 1.353048 | 1.336184 |
| 9,9 pair | 1.612114 | 1.59525 |
| T,T pair | 1.87899 | 1.860933 |
| J,J pair | 2.097415 | 2.082887 |
| Q,Q pair | 2.315838 | 2.304838 |
| K,K pair | 2.535691 | 2.528219 |
| A,A pair | 2.788899 | 2.78206 |
Bonus Bet
The bonus bet pays based only on the players hole cards, and in some cases the dealer's two hole cards. Who wins the hand does not matter. There seem to be two pay tables available for the bonus bet as follows. From what I hear the Atlantic City pay table is also used in Missouri and Indiana.
Bonus Bet — Las Vegas Rules
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player has AA, dealer has AA | 1000 | 6 | 0.000004 | 0.003694 |
| Player has AA | 30 | 7344 | 0.004521 | 0.135636 |
| Player has AK suited | 25 | 4900 | 0.003017 | 0.075415 |
| Player has AQ or AJ suited | 20 | 9800 | 0.006033 | 0.120664 |
| Player has AK unsuited | 15 | 14700 | 0.00905 | 0.135747 |
| Player has KK, QQ, or JJ | 10 | 22050 | 0.013575 | 0.135747 |
| Player has AQ or AJ unsuited | 5 | 29400 | 0.0181 | 0.090498 |
| Player has Pair 22 to 10,10 | 3 | 66150 | 0.040724 | 0.122172 |
| All other | -1 | 1470000 | 0.904977 | -0.904977 |
| Total | 1624350 | 1 | -0.085406 |
Bonus Bet — Atlantic City Rules
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA | 30 | 7350 | 0.004525 | 0.135747 |
| AK suited | 25 | 4900 | 0.003017 | 0.075415 |
| AQ or AJ suited | 20 | 9800 | 0.006033 | 0.120664 |
| AK unsuited | 15 | 14700 | 0.00905 | 0.135747 |
| KK, QQ, or JJ | 10 | 22050 | 0.013575 | 0.135747 |
| AQ or AJ unsuited | 5 | 29400 | 0.0181 | 0.090498 |
| Pair 22 to 10,10 | 3 | 66150 | 0.040724 | 0.122172 |
| All other | -1 | 1470000 | 0.904977 | -0.904977 |
| Total | 1624350 | 1 | -0.088989 |
The lower right cells show a house edge on the bonus bet of 8.5406% under the Las Vegas rules and 8.8989% under the Atlantic City rules.
6-Card Bonus
Some casinos add on a side bet known as the 6-Card Bonus. This side bet is found on multiple poker-derivative games, so I created a special page for it. For more information, please see my page on the 6-Card Bonus.
C5
At the Casino Bregenz in Austria, where the game goes by the title Easy Poker, they add a side bet called the C5, which is based on the poker-value of the player's seven-card hand. The following return table shows a house edge of 8.95%.
C5
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal flush | 100 | 4,324 | 0.000032 | 0.003232 |
| Straight flush | 60 | 37,260 | 0.000279 | 0.016710 |
| Four of a kind | 40 | 224,848 | 0.001681 | 0.067227 |
| Full house | 8 | 3,473,184 | 0.025961 | 0.207688 |
| Flush | 6 | 4,047,644 | 0.030255 | 0.181530 |
| Straight | 4 | 6,180,020 | 0.046194 | 0.184775 |
| Three of a kind | 2 | 6,461,620 | 0.048299 | 0.096597 |
| All other | -1 | 113,355,660 | 0.847300 | -0.847300 |
| Total | 133,784,560 | 1.000000 | -0.089540 |
Internet casinos using software by OneTouch feature a side bet called simply the 'side bet,' that also pays on the poker-value of the player's hand. It follows a 2-4-6-10-20-50-250 pay table, for a house edge of 6.92%.
Methodology
A brute force approach was used to cycle through all possible cominations of cards. In total 7,089,794,712,000 hands were played out, requiring 72 days of computer time to loop through them all.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Scott McIntosh of Online Poker Room Reviews for his contributions to this page. He confirmed my Las Vegas results and provided the Atlantic City house edge and expected values. His program runs in six hours compared to the 72 days mine takes, so I was happy to use his numbers. For reviews and advice on playing poker online I encourage you to visit his web site.
Links
There is a good Texas Hold 'Em Bonus calculator at beatingbonuses.com.
Analysis at ReviewPokerRooms.com.
Written by:Michael Shackleford
About Texas Hold’em Bonus
Texas Hold’em bonus is a Texas Hold’em poker variation where you play against a dealer and not against other players as usual. The main casino softwares offering this game are Cryptologic, NetEnt, Party Gaming and Wagerworks.
Texas Hold’em Bonus Rules
Player starts by placing Ante bet and is dealt two hole cards, like in Texas Hold’em. After receiving these two cards, the player chooses to either play the hand or fold the hand. If the player folds, he loses the Ante bet and the hand is over. If the player chooses to play, he has to place a second bet, which is 2 x Ante. After making this bet, three community cards a dealt. These community cards are shared between the player and dealer but dealer’s hole cards are not visible. At this point, based on the strength of your hand, you can continue to call or raise by placing additional bet which is equal to Ante bet. The fourth community card is dealt. Again you have the chance to either call or raise (the size of the ante bet) and the fifth community card is dealt. After all cards are dealt, dealer’s hand is revealed and your hand is compared to dealer’s hand. All the bets and raises you made are either won or lost depending whether your hand beats dealer’s hand. The breakdown of the pays is following:
Dealer’s hand wins – All bets made lose
Player and Dealer tie – All bets made are returned (a push)
Player Wins with Straight or Higher — All bets pay 1:1
Player Wins with Less Than a Straight — All raise bets pay 1:1, the ante bet pushes
When making the Ante bet, notice that your final bet size will be 3x – 5x the Ante bet depending on the raises you make. So pay attention to not make too large Ante bets.
Optimal Strategy
There are three strategy decisions to be made during playing the hand. The first decision is to whether raise or fold after getting the hole cards. And then there are two decisions on whether to raise or call after the flop and turn. These decisions depend on your hand versus the community cards, while dealer’s hand is unknown so the optimal strategy is complicated.
First raise vs. Fold
The first strategy decision is to either play or fold the hand before community cards are dealt. The optimal strategy (minimizing house edge) is to fold unsuited 2/3, 2/4, 2/5, 2/6, 2/7 and play all other hands. So the player should still play for example unsuited 3/6.
2nd and 3rd Raises
The player should raise his bet if the probability of winning the hand is bigger than the probability of losing the hand. The correct strategy is to raise rather often which also increases the overall variance of the game.
House Edge and Rule Variations
Under standard rules the house edge of Texas Holdem bonus with bonus wagering is 0.53% by playing optimal strategy.
Variance
Texas Holdem Bonus Strategy Calculator Rules
The variance of Texas Holdem bonus is quite high because of frequent raises. The average bet size is 3.82x the Ante which the player should take into account when deciding the size of the Ante bet. The standard deviation per wagering unit of one hand in Texas Hold’em bonus is 1.79.