Double Joker Poker game is a type of Video Poker game (VP) game that is played with a deck of 54 cards, instead of the regular 52 cards. The two extra cards are two Jokers, which act as wild cards (can stand for any card) and are added to the standard 52-card deck.
It is a popular variant of Joker Poker game and is mainly found on those IGT machines where players can shuffle through and pick from a large variety of video poker games as well as other video games. The main attraction of this game is the excitement found in drawing jokers-getting a joker means an opportunity to hit a big hand.
How is this Double Joker Poker different from regular VP or Joker Poker machines?
Instead of only one Joker, there are two Jokers in each deck of cards. Thus it allows us to have more opportunities to compile strong poker hands and the odds of making premium hands are increased, and this also enables us to have more combinations than are possible with a standard French deck. The paytables or returns for paying hands are different from regular poker or other forms of VP games. The ideal strategy to limit the overall house edge is also different.
How to play Double Joker Poker
In Double Joker Poker, the run of play is like any other kind of online video poker. Five cards are dealt, and you can click or tap on the ones you wish to hold and discard the rest of them for new cards. However, unlike other VP games, two Jokers are present.
Therefore it becomes easier to create big hands and get some specialty combinations such as Joker royal flush (royal flush including a wild card) and five of a kind (any four of a kind along with a wild card). As a result, the paytables and payout scale is not similar to that of other video poker styles that do not have wild cards.
The minimum bet is one coin, and the maximum is five coins. It is recommended that you always bet five coins per hand because the bonus payout applicable on natural royal flush (800 for 1) will create the least possible house edge. The paying combinations start with Two Pairs. The casino sets the minimum and maximum payouts.
The following is the pay chart or the standard rate table for Double Poker Joker:
| Card Combinations | 1 Coin | 2 Coins | 3 Coins | 4 Coins | 5 Coins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Royal Flush | 500 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 4,000 |
| Joker Royal Flush | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 500 |
| Five of a Kind | 50 | 100 | 150 | 500 | 750 |
| Straight Flush | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Four of a Kind | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 40 |
| Full House | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Straight | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Three of a Kind | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Two Pairs | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Theoretical Return and House Edge
House edge refers to the expected margin by which the casino holds the advantage, based on probability. The house edge for Double Joker Poker can vary by approximately two percent, which depends upon discrepancies in payouts with regard to certain hands.
Most of the web-based Double Joker Poker games follow the format of Microgaming. This theoretically produces a return of 98.1% for a house edge of 1.9%. From the player’s perspective, therefore, Double Joker Poker is one of the riskier types of online VP styles.
The house edge in Double Joker Poker is higher than in regular Joker Poker (Joker Poker is almost the same, but it has only one wild card). Here is a comparison between the maximum payouts for the Microgaming version of the different titles of the two styles:
| Hands | Joker Poker | Double Joker |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Royal Flush | 4,000 | 4,000 |
| Joker Royal Flush | 500 | 500 |
| Five of a Kind | 1,000 | 250 |
| Straight Flush | 250 | 125 |
| Four of a Kind | 85 | 40 |
| Full House | 35 | 25 |
| Flush | 25 | 20 |
| Straight | 15 | 15 |
| Three of a Kind | 10 | 10 |
| Two Pairs | 5 | 5 |
| Kings or Better | 5 | 0 |
Theoretical return
98.6%
98.1%
House edge
1.4%
1.9%
From the chart, you can see that payouts for Joker Poker are greater than Double Joker Poker for flush through to five of a kind because in Double Joker Poker these are easier to form with two wild cards and therefore return at quite shorter odds.
In Double Joker the lowest paying hand is Two Pair, while most online Joker Poker games give a 1-for-1 return on one pair of Aces or Kings.
Strategy for Double Joker Poker
The main strategy for Double Joker Poker is a little bit complex as compared to other VP styles. The strategy comprises three parts, as follows: no joker is drawn in your initial hand, one joker is drawn, two jokers are drawn. When you play video poker like this one on the web, you have one advantage, that is, you can keep strategy charts like these handy, which rank all the possible combinations in each case. All you have to do is find out which hands (or partial hands) you can make and hold the highest-ranked case.
No Jokers Drawn
| No Jokers Drawn Hand | Payout Ranking |
|---|---|
| Royal Flush, Straight Flush | 1 |
| Four Cards to a Royal Flush | 2 |
| Four of a Kind, Full House | 3 |
| Flush, Straight | 4 |
| Three of a Kind | 5 |
| Four Cards to a Straight Flush | 6 |
| Two Pair | 7 |
| Three Cards to a Royal Flush | 8 |
| Four Cards to a Flush | 9 |
| One Pair | 10 |
| Three Cards to Straight Flush, No Gap | 11 |
| Four Cards to Straight, No Gap | 12 |
| Three Cards to Straight Flush, Other | 13 |
| Suited TJ, TQ, JQ | 14 |
| Four Cards to Straight, Other | 15 |
| Suited KQ, KJ, KT | 16 |
| Two Cards to Straight Flush, No Gap | 17 |
| Suited AK, AQ, AJ, AT | 18 |
| 2 Cards to Straight Flush, 1 Gap | 19 |
| Redraw | 20 |
One Joker Drawn
| One Joker Drawn Hand | Payout Ranking |
|---|---|
| Joker Royal, 5 cards of a Kind, Straight Flush | 1 |
| Four of a Kind | 2 |
| Four Cards to Joker Royal | 3 |
| Full House | 4 |
| Four Cards to Straight Flush, No Gap | 5 |
| Flush | 6 |
| Four Cards to Straight Flush, 1 Gap | 7 |
| Straight | 8 |
| Three of a Kind | 9 |
| Four Cards to Straight Flush, 2 Gaps | 10 |
| Three Cards to Royal Flush | 11 |
| Three Cards to Straight Flush, No Gaps/th> | 12 |
| Four Cards to Straight, No Gaps | 13 |
| Three Cards to Straight Flush, 1 Gap/th> | 14 |
| Four Cards to Flush | 15 |
| Three Cards to Straight Flush, Other | 16 |
| T (keeping Joker)/th> | 17 |
| Four Cards to Straight, Other | 18 |
| J, 6, 7, 8 (keeping Joker) | 19 |
| 5, 9 (keeping Joker) | 20 |
| Redraw | 21 |
Two Jokers Drawn
| Two Jokers Drawn Hand | Payout Ranking |
|---|---|
| Joker Royal, 5 cards of a Kind, Straight Flush | 1 |
| Four Cards to Joker Royal (JT, JQ, QT) | 2 |
| Four of a Kind | 3 |
| Four Cards to Joker Royal, Other | 4 |
| Four Cards to Straight Flush | 5 |
| Three Cards to Joker Royal | 6 |
| Flush | 7 |
| 6, 7, 8 (keeping Joker) | 8 |
| 5, 9 (keeping Joker) | 9 |
| Redraw | 10 |
Note that acccording to counterintuitive strategy, there is an increased chance of straight with 5-T for both one and two joker draws.
Double Joker Poker Payouts and Pay Table
The payouts for Double Joker Poker are different from other Joker Poker styles. The usual case is that maximum payout is 4000 credits, in the case of a natural five-card royal flush. In Double Joker Poker, the paytable is interestingly available in four of a kind tiers. The biggest win for this is four aces, paying 800 credits on a 5 credit as the maximum bet. Although it is very difficult to achieve four aces, it becomes comparatively easier with the presence of two Jokers in the deck.
Below the wins like Royal Flush and Four Aces, Four of a kind of any type is paid out at 250 to 400 credits. Also, note that payout amounts for straight flushes and four of a kind of fives through kings are the same.
In Double Poker Joker, it is more important which type of hand you make rather than just simply making a hand.
Microgaming, Grand Virtual, Odds On, and Rival comply with the standard paytable with a low house edge while B3W and Gale Wind offer more payout.
| Hand | Standard Payout | B3W Payout | Gale Win Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 800 | 900 | 800 |
| Royal Flush with Joker | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Five Cards of a Kind | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Straight Flush | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| Four Cards of a Kind | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| Full House | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Flush | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Straight | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Three Cards of a Kind | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Two Pairs | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nothing | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| RTP | 98.10% | 98.32% | 98.40% |
Double Joker Poker Betting Limits
You will generally find Double Joker Poker games in the high limit slot sections of casinos.
Casinos like intricate video poker games so that they can tempt poker players by offering certain unusual twists with apparently big payoffs on some hands which seem to happen often (for example, four of a kind). However, in reality, casinos either offer lower odds or offer odds, which are worse and more difficult to play.
So, before you begin to play a video poker game of any kind such as Double Joker Poker, make sure that you know about the rules, limits. Paytables and the correct strategy to play with. Double Joker Poker is a pretty fun game, and you can surely try it out if you haven’t already, now that you’re aware of all the rules and strategies.