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International Gaming Technologies (IGT) and Action Gaming have an extensive video poker portfolio. One of their lesser known games is Random Rewards Poker. It’s a 6 coin, 3/5/10 game that has jackpots of up to 4000 coins.
The game differentiates itself from other offerings by randomizing the amount of winnings certain hands win before each hand starts.
How to Play Random Rewards Poker
Random Rewards Poker (like most video poker games) is based on 5 card draw poker. You first decide how much to bet for each hand. You can play up to 6 coins per hand. By placing the maximum bet (6 coins on all hands) you activate the bonus option.
This bonus option adds random bonus pay out amounts to certain hands. The bonus option is what makes this game “Random Rewards”.
After you place your bet, you’re dealt 5 cards. These 5 cards represent all of your hands. You decide which cards to keep and which to discard. You click on the cards you want to keep. Then you press the “deal” button.
The game automatically searches through each hand, comparing it to the pay table to determine the winners. Winning hands with 4 of a kind, straight flush, full house and flush have random bonuses added to the pay table.
The lowest ranked winning hand is a pair of jacks. This is true for all variants of the game.
The game has 16 different variations to choose from. The choices are partially based on the number of hands you wish to play at one time with choices of 3, 5 or 10 games.
The available games are:
| 1 Hit | 2 Hits | 3 Hits | |
| Triple Play | Five play | Ten Play | |
| Bonus Triple Play | Bonus Five Play | Bonus Ten Play | |
| Bonus Deluxe Triple Play | Bonus Deluxe Five Play | Bonus Deluxe Ten Play | |
| Double Bonus Triple Play | Double Bonus Five Play | Double Bonus Ten Play | |
| Double Double Bonus Triple Play | Double Double Bonus Five Play | Double Double Bonus Ten Play | |
| Triple Double Bonus Ten Play |
Each game has the same basic rules. The winning hands, however, may have different rankings than traditional 5 card draw.
Example
In Triple Double Bonus Ten Play, 4 of a kind rankings are split into subsets. The hand ranks in this case are:
- Royal Flush. A royal flush contains the top 5 card ranks all of the same suit. This hand contains an ace, a king, a queen, a jack and a 10. All the cards are of the same suit.
- 4 of a Kind (Aces with any 2, 3, or 4). In this hand, you have all 4 aces. This hand also needs an additional card of either a deuce, 3 or 4 (known as a kicker).
- 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, or 4s with Ace, 2, 3 or 4). In this hand, you have 4 matching deuces, 3s or 4s. The kicker is an ace, deuce, 3 or 4 to make this hand.
- 4 of a Kind (Aces). This hand also requires 4 aces, but the kicker card can be any card other than a deuce, 3 or 4.
- 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, or 4s). In this hand, you have 4 cards ranked 2, 3, or 4. You also have a kicker ranked 5 through king.
- 4 of a Kind (5s through Kings). To make this hand, you can have any 4 matching ranked cards not mentioned above with any kicker card.
- Straight Flush. 5 cards in consecutive order all of the same suit. The lowest ranking straight flush is an A, 2, 3, 4, and 5. All the suits match.
- Full House. 3 cards of matching rank and 2 cards of another matching rank. It’s a combination of 2 lower ranking hands: three of a kind and a pair. The lowest ranking full house is a hand containing 3 2’s and 2 3’s
- Any five cards of the same suit. Here’s an example: 3, 5, 8, 9, and jack–all of clubs.
- A straight contains 5 cards in order of different suits. The lowest ranking straight would be an A, 2, 3, 4, and 5, all different suits.
- Three of a Kind. A three of a kind contains 3 cards of the same rank, For example, 3 queens.
- Two Pair. When you have two pair, you have 2 cards of one rank and 2 cards of another rank. The lowest ranking two pair hand would be 2 deuces and 2 3s.
- One pair (Jacks or Better). This is when you have 2 cards of the same rank. The lowest ranking pair is 2 jacks to have a winning hand.
The most important aspect of game play is the Random Rewards. With this concept, the game gives random jackpot amounts for a straight flush, 4 of a kind, full house and flush hands. These jackpots are only available when you place the maximum bet of 6 coins.
Random Rewards Poker Odds and Pay Tables
Random Rewards Poker has a maximum payout of 4000 coins. In all variants; a royal flush pays out the top jackpot. In some variants, you have 2 chances to hit the 4000 coin pay out. (4 of a kind pays out in some of these variations).
This chart shows the pay tables for Triple Double Bonus Ten Play:
| 1 Coin Play | 2 Coin Play | 3 Coin Play | 4 Coin Play | 5 Coin Play | |
| Royal Flush | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 4000 |
| 4 of a Kind (Aces with any 2, 3, or 4) | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 4000 |
| 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, or 4s with Ace, 2, 3 or 4) | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| 4 of a Kind (Aces) | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| 4 of a Kind (2s, 3s, or 4s) | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| 4 of a Kind (5s through Kings) | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full House | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Flush | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 35 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 3 of a Kind | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 2 Pair | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 1 Pair (Jacks or Better) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
The pay table only lists the minimum you can win however. Because of the random element of the game, as we mentioned before straights, flushes, full houses, straight flushes and 4 of a kinds have a random amount added to the jackpot. In some cases, usually 4 of a kind, the bonus can be well over 1000 coins.
Using Michael Shackleford’s Video Poker Strategy Calculator, we were able to determine the expected return on Triple Double Bonus Ten Play at 96.05%. We also were able to verify that the Triple Play version of Random Rewards Poker was 98.37%.
The expected return is the amount you can expect to win back versus what was wagered when gambling. This is not based on any one hand, but based on multiple hands after extended play.
An example of expected return would be:
- A game has a 98.03% expected return
- You have wagered $3000 over several hours
- You have played a perfect strategy on every game
- You are expected to have won $2940.90
- The formula is 3000 x .09803 = 2940.90
All expected return assume a perfect strategy in game play.
Random Rewards Poker Strategies and Tactics
You start seeing real money in these games when you get 4 of a kind. This is because of the bonus structure. You can expect a bonus of over $100 for anything above a straight flush. So keeping this in mind should be part of you overall strategy.
With a maximum bet of 60 coins in Triple Double Bonus Ten Play Random Rewards Poker, you should focus on hands that are 3 of a kind or higher to at least break even. Matching 6 out of 10 hands in the game is the break-even point with 3 of a kind.
Since you have no control on the bonuses, a basic 5 card draw strategy can be used. Some of the basic strategies are:
- If you have 4 to a straight flush, hold the 4 cards and discard the 1 that will not make your straight flush.
- If you have 2 pair, hold the highest pair and discard the other 3 cards.
- If you have a high pair (J, Q, K, A), hold the pair and draw 3 new cards.
- If you have 3 to a royal flush, hold the 3 cards and draw 2 new cards.
- If you have a low pair (2 through 10), hold and draw three new cards.
- If you have 2 suited high cards, hold and draw 3 new cards.
- If you have 3 to a straight flush, hold and draw 2 new cards.
- If you have 3 unsuited high cards, hold the lowest 2 and draw 3 new cards.
- If you have 2 unsuited high cards, hold and draw three new cards.
- If you have 2 suited royal cards: 10 & J, 10 & Q, 10 & K, hold and draw 3 new cards.
- If you have 1 high card and nothing else, hold the high card and draw 4 new cards.
- If you have nothing- no pair, high cards or higher starting hand listed, draw 5 new cards.
If you want to get a feel for the game, try the free play version at videopoker.com. They have all 16 versions available.
Conclusion
The random aspect of the pay outs in Random Rewards Poker video poker add some excitement not found in other games. The amounts of the bonus do not appear until you hit the bet or deal button to start the hand.
Bonuses are earned on upper mid-level hand ranks. This provides a better opportunity to win more than if it was just added to the top ranking as found in a lot of games.
With expected returns as high as 98.37%, it’s not the best value out there, but it’s not the worst by far. Working on your strategy, practicing on free play games and setting a budget can help minimize any losses and improve your chances of winning.
Finally, Random Rewards Poker video poker is not widely available online and may not be widely available in brick and mortar casinos. You can always check with the casino you want to play at whether the game is available.
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