This article first appeared in the Nov/Dec 2011 issue of World Gaming magazine.
The innovative team at Shuffle Master is turning poker on its head with a table game new to the Asian casino scene, Progressive Texas Hold’em Bonus. This electronic progressive jackpot version of texas hold’em is easy to learn, easy to play and can result in some very big wins.
Traditional poker pits players against each other, not against the house or the casino. Table games like caribbean stud poker and fortune three-card poker use poker hand rankings, but still don’t play like traditional poker. Until now, a player-versus-casino table game with the look and feel of real poker has not been an option available to gamers.
Texas Hold’em Bonus hit the Las Vegas gaming scene around 2005 and it wasn’t too long before a progressive jackpot version of the game emerged. When Shuffle Master acquired the company which developed Texas Hold’em Bonus, they proceeded to create their own unique version of the progressive jackpot game. The progressive jackpot feature of this game has similarities to that of another progressive table game, caribbean stud. This is the secret ingredient that will see the game rise to prominence in Asia. This game will appeal to traditional poker players more than caribbean stud, because the game play is more similar to texas hold’em poker.
Progressive Texas Hold’em Bonus has been dealt at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore since its opening day on 14 February 2010, and has now found a home at Singapore’s other integrated resort Marina Bay Sands (since March) and also at Resorts World Manila (since June). This innovative product will be hitting the casinos of Macau in the very near future, and when it does we will let you know which casinos you’ll find it in.
The opportunity to win a huge cash windfall from a very small investment has drawn worldwide attention to this type of table game. In Progressive Texas Hold’em Bonus, the progressive jackpot continues to grow until one lucky player finds the miracle royal flush in their first five cards and wins what could be a life-changing amount of money. The jackpot makes it into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in Singapore, and into the millions of pesos in the Philippines. There are also smaller payouts from the progressive jackpot for smaller hands.
| Progressive jackpot pay table | |
|---|---|
| Hand |
Payout
|
| Royal flush in first 5 cards | 100% of jackpot |
| Royal flush in first 6 cards | 25% of jackpot |
| Royal flush in first 7 cards | 5% of jackpot |
| 5 community cards royal flush* | 3,000 for 1 |
| Straight flush* | 250 for 1 |
| Four of a kind* | 100 for 1 |
| Full house* | 10 for 1 |
*payouts vary slightly from country to country.
How to play Progressive Texas Hold’em Bonus
The player must make an ante bet and at this stage can also choose to bet on the bonus wager and/or the progressive jackpot wager. You will find that nearly all players take these opportunities. The progressive jackpot wager is the best way to turn a little into a lot.
Progressive Texas Hold’em Bonus layout showing the two dealer’s hole cards, the three "flop" community cards, and the final two "turn" and "river" community cards
All players receive two cards dealt face down (their “hole cards”). At this stage they can choose to fold their hand and lose their ante, or place a bet of double the ante. If they choose to continue with their hand the dealer will display three community cards face up on the table (called “the flop”), just like they do in traditional texas hold’em.
Players can now either check or place another bet of the same amount as the original ante. For those of you not familiar with the poker phrase “check”, it means that you can remain in the hand without making a bet.
Then a fourth community card (called “the turn”) is dealt face up and players again have the option to check or bet the same amount as their original ante. After this, the fifth and final community card (called “the river”) is dealt face up and no further bets are taken. In traditional texas hold’em there is a betting round at this stage, but not in Progressive Texas Hold’em Bonus.
If the player’s hand is bigger than the dealer’s, the player is paid out at even money on his bets placed immediately before the flop, turn and/or river. If the player’s hand is a straight or better he will also get paid even money on his ante. Both the ante and any bets placed before the flop, turn and/or river bets are lost if the player’s hand is beaten by the dealer.
The bonus wager
The bonus wager wins if the player’s two hole cards are a pair, AK, AQ or AJ. Players do not need to win their hand to be paid out on this bonus wager. The winning payouts are as follows:
| Hand | Payout |
|---|---|
| AA | 30 to 1 |
| KK, QQ, JJ | 10 to 1 |
| TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22 | 3 to 1 |
| AK (suited) | 25 to 1 |
| AQ, AJ (suited) | 20 to 1 |
| AK (unsuited) | 15 to 1 |
| AQ, AJ (unsuited) | 5 to 1 |
Progressive payouts
The progressive payout is paid when a player makes one of the hands shown in the progressive jackpot pay table. As the progressive pool is constantly growing you never know just how much you are going to get paid for the larger payouts, because they are a percentage of the pool rather than a payout at fixed odds. Imagine the excitement you will feel when you are waiting for the dealer to turn over that last card for the royal flush, giving you a massive dividend.
WGM will give you some tips on how to best play this game in a future issue. We will let you know which Macau casinos are going to employ the new progressive jackpot technology and enable players to go for the big dollars.
