Progressive Video Poker Games

Jacks or Better is the most popular style of video poker available, but some people avoid it because it’s not exciting enough for them. An easy way to make any game more exciting is to add a progressive jackpot, and that’s exactly what both Microgaming and Playtech have done to a couple of great progressive video poker games. While there are other progressive games out there, the principles that you can learn from Microgaming’s SupaJax and Playtech’s Mega Jacks games apply to all forms of progressive video poker.

Microgaming’s SupaJax Game

SupaJax uses a 53-card deck that includes a special SupaJax card. When you get this card as your kicker with four of a kind in jacks, then you are awarded the big progressive jackpot. The bigger the jackpot gets, the more valuable it is for you to play, though that’s the case with all types of progressive video poker. Strategy in this game is pretty easy to learn, but you have to make adjustments when jacks come into play because of the big progressive jackpot.

Playtech’s Mega Jacks Game

The Mega Jacks game is essentially Jacks or Better video poker with a progressive for hitting a royal flush. You have to play with five coins in this game to activate the jackpot, though the rest of the paytable is standard for 9/6 Jacks or Better. With five coins, a typical royal flush would pay out 4,000x in Jacks or Better. For this game to be better than regular Jacks or Better, it makes sense that you would want the jackpot to be worth more than 4,000 coins. If the jackpot gets large enough, then you will actually have an advantage on the game, and that’s why Mega Jacks is one of the most popular video poker games on the Internet.

General Principles

Each progressive video poker game will be based on a paytable from a non-progressive game. For example, because both SupaJax and Mega Jacks are based on Jacks or Better, you would want to become proficient at Jacks or Better before attempting to play either of these progressive games. With that having been said, there are other progressive games out there based on other types of video poker as well.

The key elements of strategy that you’ll want to focus on in progressive video poker games are how you should adjust your play based on the hand needed to make the jackpot and whether you should play the game in the first place. You should play when the jackpot is high and choose something else when the jackpot is low. This is the way to maximize your chances of winning since it maximizes your overall payout rate in the games you’re playing.

There exists a breakeven point for all progressive jackpot games where if the jackpot is over a certain value, you’ll be making money on average from playing the game. For SupaJax, that point is in the 54,000x range, and the jackpot rarely gets that high. However, for Mega Jacks, it’s about $1,230, and that’s much more likely to happen.