Powerhouse Poker

Powerhouse Poker is a recent offering from International Gaming Technologies (IGT) and Action Games. It is a 5 coin maximum bet game and allows for jackpots up to 4000 coins.

Along with the jackpots, Powerhouse Poker also awards winners with bonus hands and extra multipliers on winning hands. The bonus hands and multipliers are available through a side bet option. The buy in for the side bets are an additional 5 coins and are optional.

While there are a few websites that offer Powerhouse Poker video poker, the game is mostly found in brick and mortar casinos. The website videopoker.com shows that only 36 casinos in the United States have Powerhouse Poker video poker and almost 2/3^rds are located in Nevada.

Powerhouse Poker video poker is based on traditional 5 card draw. It is a 3/5/10 multiple hand game, meaning you will choose to play 3, 5, or 10 at one time. In these cases, you’re dealt the same hand for all of the hands. The cards you chose to discard are the same for each hand. The cards you’re dealt as replacements will be different for each hand.

If you’re playing 3 hands, for example and are dealt 3s, 4d, 7c, 9d, and Qh, that is your hand for all 3 hands. You may choose to discard 3s, 4d, and 7c. When the replacements are dealt out you will get 9 new cards, 3 for each hand, making each hand different as opposed to when you started.

Powerhouse poker is offered in several versions. They are:

Each of these games have slight variations in the rules, for instance with Jacks or Better, the minimum winning hand is a pair of jacks. In the deuces wild games, all 2s are wild which will make the pay tables different to allow for 5 of a kind.

This is a game that has bonus hand multipliers and bonus hands. To qualify for these multipliers, you must bet the maximum bet and place a side bet of 5 coins (so on the 3 game option you must spend 30 coins to qualify). The maximum multiplier you can win is 3 times your bet. The maximum amount of bonus hands is 9.

All bonuses are based on the initial deal and not the final hand. Since the initial deal is the same for all hand you’re playing the bonuses aren’t given per hand. So if you’re playing a 10 hand game, you don’t have a chance at winning 90 bonus hands. The most you can win is 9.

Because Powerhouse Poker video poker is a newcomer to the video poker world, there isn’t detailed information on odds and expected returns. We can tell you that IGT and Action Gaming state in their marketing literature that the game had an expected return of 95.4% – 98.9% depending on the version. However, it doesn’t state specifics.

The payouts on Powerhouse Poker video poker vary based on the version. Here we show the payouts for the Double Bonus Poker:

In the Deuces Wild Poker version, the pay table for 5 coin play is:

In addition to the pay tables, each game has a side bet bonus which can provide bonus hands and jackpot multipliers. Here is the bonus structure for Deuces Wild:

These bonuses and multipliers are all based on the initial deal. Once the initial deal is made, the bonus hands and multipliers are added.

Your strategies for playing Powerhouse Poker video poker will vary based on the version of the game you’re playing. A standard strategy should be used for use for each version. For instance a Jacks or Better strategy should be used for the Jacks or Better. The same goes for other games like Deuces Wild, Deuces Wild Bonus, etc.

Since you have no control over winning bonus hands and multipliers, they shouldn’t factor into any strategy in Powerhouse Poker.

Powerhouse Poker video poker offers a wide variety of choices for play. Between the 7 different games and the 3, 5, or 10 hand options, that gives you 21 different playing options.

Although not the greatest, you can expect up to a 98.9% return on your game play and can win up to 4000 credits per game.

If you’re an experienced player and know strategies for Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, or the other variants offered, you can apply those strategies in Powerhouse Poker. There is no difference in the standard game play, as the bonuses and multipliers are actually determined after the initial deal.

Normally we would recommend playing a game of a free play site before trying to play from real money, but Powerhouse Poker is so new that there are no free play games that we could find. You can, however, play a game such as Deuces Wild to develop your skill and then apply the techniques to your real money game when you’re ready.