Aces And Faces
Most video poker games are just variations of Jacks or Better or Deuces Wild, and Aces & Faces video poker is no different—it’s based largely on Jacks or Better. What distinguishes Aces and Faces from other video poker games are the bonus payouts on the 4 of a kind hands. These bonus payouts apply to any 4 of a kind made up of aces or of face cards (the jack, queen, or king).
The original Aces and Faces video poker game, this variant contains a single line of five cards. The aim of the game is simple: use your first set of cards to make a ranked hand on your second deal. To fulfill this mission you can choose to hold or swap any number of the cards on display. Aces and Faces is a version of Jacks or Better video poker. In this game, you will win on your bet if you receive a pair of jacks or higher. The only difference between these two games is a slight variation in the payout chart. The game Aces and Faces has a bonus win if you receive Four Aces.
On this page we’ve explained the basics of how to play this video poker game. We’ve also provided some information on the payouts this game returns, along with the average payback percentages you can expect. In order to help you get the best possible return, we’ve got some advice on the optimal strategies too.
How to Play Aces and Faces Video Poker
You play Aces & Faces the same way you play Jacks or Better or any other video poker game. You first insert your money, and the machine displays the available credits. You then decide how much you want to bet per hand (1 to 5 credits). Then you press the “deal” button.
The game deals you a 5 card hand from a virtual 52 card deck with no jokers. You can then decide which cards to keep and which ones to throw away. You can keep (or discard) any number of cards from 1 to 5.
After you’ve discarded the cards you don’t want, you get replacement cards. You then are awarded a payout based on the strength of the poker hand you’re left with. There are no wild cards in this game.
One strategic insight we can offer you up front is this—always play for 5 coins per hand. The payout for the best possible hand in the game (the royal flush) is 500 to 1 if you play for less than 5 coins, but it’s 800 to 1 if you place the max bet. That hand only comes up rarely, but it makes up a big part of your payback percentage.
Aces & Faces Pay Tables
Like all other video poker games, different versions of Aces & Faces are available with different pay tables. Some hands have a consistent payout from game to game, while others vary. Being able to recognize the best possible pay table will help you achieve the best payback percentage possible.
The 8/5 refers to the payouts for the full house and the flush. As with Jacks or Better, when the video poker manufacturers want to adjust the payback percentage for this game, those are the 2 hands where they change the payouts.
Here are the paybacks you can look for based on the various hand rankings:
- Royal Flush
- This is the best possible hand in most video poker variations, and Aces & Faces is no exception. The hand pays out at 500 to 1 if you bet less than the max coin, but it has an 800 to 1 payout if you’re playing for 5 coins per hand. As we mentioned earlier, you should ALWAYS bet max coin.
- Straight Flush
- This hand pays 50 to 1.
- 4 of a Kind (Aces)
- Here’s the best of the hands with the bonus payouts. Four aces pays off at 80 to 1.
- 4 of a Kind (Face Cards)
- This is the 2nd kind of bonus payout hand. If you get a 4 of a kind consisting of any of the face cards, the jack, queen, or king, the payoff is 40 to 1.
- 4 of a Kind
- Any other 4 of a kind, deuces through 10s, pays off at 25 to 1.
- Full House
- This is one of the 2 hands that determines which pay table you’re playing. On the best possible version of this game, it pays off at 8 to 1. On lower payback versions of the game, you might see 7 to 1 or 6 to 1 payouts on a full house.
- Flush
- This is the other hand in the 8/5 descriptor. It pays off at 5 to 1 most of the time, although there is a version of the game, 7/6, in which it pays off at 6 to 1. It’s important to realize that even though a flush is more common than a full house, the 6 to 1 payout isn’t good enough to make the 7/6 version of the game superior to the 8/5 version. (There’s also a 7/5 version.)
- Straight
- Pays off at 4 to 1.
- 3 of a Kind
- Pays off at 3 to 1. You should notice that you don’t get a bonus payout for face cards or aces with a 3 of a kind. You only get the bonus payout if you hit the 4 of a kind.
- 2 Pairs
- Pays off at 2 to 1.
- A Pair of Jacks or Better
- Pays off at even money.
Here’s what a full pay table for the 8/5 Aces & Faces video poker game looks like:
The 2 lines to look at when deciding which game to play are the lines for the full house and the flush. 8/5 is the full pay version of the game. Anything less than that is a lower paying version of the game. In either case, the payout for Aces & Faces video poker is almost always way better than the payouts on any of the slot machine games in the casino.
The payback percentage is based on which version of the game you’re playing. You should keep in mind that this figure is a theoretical payback percentage based on the assumption that you’re making the correct decision (mathematically) on every hand that you play.
Based on the various pay tables you’ll see, here are the theoretical payback percentages:
- 8/5 Aces & Faces – 99.26%
- 7/6 Aces & Faces – 99.2%
- 7/5 Aces & Faces – 98.1%
- 6/5 Aces & Faces – 97%
Notice that the worst potential pay table still has a payback percentage of 97%. That makes it one of the best games in the casino, even though you should try to find a better pay table if you possibly can.
If you want to figure out the house edge for the game, that’s easily done, too. Simply subtract the payback percentage from 100%.
In the full pay version of the game (8/5), the house edge is less than 1%. It’s only 0.74%, making it comparable or even superior to many versions of blackjack.
A video poker cheat sheet or strategy chart consists of just a list of potential hands in order of their desirability. To use the Aces & Faces strategy chart below, just start at the top. When you get to a hand that matches yours, stop, and keep the cards indicated, discarding the rest.
The strategy for Aces & Faces is pretty simple compared to some other more complicated games. It has much in common with the correct strategy for Jacks or Better.
- Royal Flush
- 4 of a Kind
- Straight Flush
- 4 card draw to a Royal Flush
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- 3 of a Kind
- 4 card draw to a Straight Flush
- 2 Pairs
- A pair of Jacks or Better
- 3 card draw to a Royal Flush
- 4 card draw to a Flush
- Unsuited 10JQK.
- Any low pair.
- 4 cards to a Straight draw.
- 3 cards to a Straight Flush.
- AKQJ unsuited
- 2 card draw to a Royal Flush
- 3 cards to a Straight draw
- KQJ, QJ, KQ, or KJ (unsuited)
- 3 cards to a Straight Flush
- JT or QT suited
- Unsuited hi cards
- 1 high card.
- Discard everything
You’ll notice that you’ll almost always hold onto a winning hand. One of the only exceptions are when you have 4 cards to a Royal Flush. You’ll always go for the Royal Flush in that situation.
The other exception is 4 cards to a Straight Flush. You’ll keep that hand rather than going for any hand less than 3 of a Kind.
If you’ve mastered the strategy for Jacks or Better, Aces & Faces should be a breeze to play.
Also, even if you’re not interested in mastering the strategy above, you’re still playing one of the best games in the casino. You’re not giving up more than probably 2% by just using good card sense. That makes this game much better odds for the player than almost any slot machine on the floor.
Playtech casinos offer 2 different versions of Aces & Faces that you can play for online for free or real money. The single hand version is the standard full pay version of the game, but the 25 hand version has a sub-optimal pay table.
Unless you’re playing for free, we recommend that you stick with the single hand version of Aces & Faces when playing online at a Playtech casino.
Aces And Faces Game Board
Summary
Aces & Faces video poker is a fun and easy variation of Jacks or Better video poker. The payback percentage on the full pay (8/5) version is excellent, and the correct strategy for playing is easy to learn, too. Aces & Faces is a big improvement, odds-wise, over almost any slot machine on the casino floor.
Contents
Aces And Faces
An Insight in Aces and Faces Casino Online
First off, you have to place your bet at the start of the game. You will have to make use of available coin denominations to make either a low or high bet. Next, you will have to choose between the Bet One and Net Max option before selecting the ‘Deal’ button.
When you select ‘deal’, you will be given five play cards. The ball is in your court to choose which card to hold onto and which one to reject. For each card you reject, you will be given a brand new one.
In order to win, the cartes you hold will have to appear in the most appropriate combination. When this happens, you will enter the gamble round where you have the opportunity to gamble your winnings.
How to Participate in a Winning Game When You Play Aces and Faces Online?
You are presented with a stack of 52 playing cards without the Wilds. Your job is to come up with a winning hand. In order to trigger a payout, you would have to come up with a combination of a pair of Face cards (the King, Queen or Jack) in addition to the Aces.
As you play, you may enter the gamble round. In this round, you are given the opportunity to up your winnings by gambling your current hand. In this round, you have three choices:
- Double your winnings with the ‘double’ option.
- Double half your winnings with the ‘double half’ option.
- Forget about gambling your winnings by choosing the ‘collect’ option.
If you find yourself in the gamble round, you will be presented with 5 new cartes. One of the cartes remains open while the rest are closed.
The onus is on you to choose from one of the four cards a card that you think will have a higher value compared to the open card. You will remain in this round until you land on the wrong card.
The reality is that you have to make a decision as to which card to hold and which one to let go of. In order to reap big when you play Aces and Faces for bitcoin, you would have to place bigger bets.
Faces And Aces Las Vegas
As a tip though, you might want to mix your bets, so you get to go home with decent wins in addition to being able to stay in the game for longer.
Aces And Faces Slot
Aces and Faces Playtech may be a simple enough video slot, but the challenges of getting the right combinations will keep you on your toes!
This game comes with 52 playing cards minus the Wilds. The goal is to get the right winning combination from the cartes at hand.