Gold Mine Bonus Poker

Hi all!

My apologies for double-posting! I posted this question a month ago in the Q&A section without much response and was hoping that it might see more traffic right here.

Does anybody have information on the average value of the golden nuggets that you may select during the bonus round (after drawing a full house during regular play) of Gold Mine Bonus Poker.

Thanks in advance for any information!
camapl

You can bet your left testicle that either: a)the average value of a nugget is less than the value of a full house in the equivalent "regular" game, or b) the paytable is worse than the "regular" game, and the average value of the nugget isn't enough to make up for the resultant shortfall.

In general, just about any video poker game that offers some kind of extra "bonus" will have a slightly (or, dramatically) worse payback than the "vanilla" version. This is in keeping with the time-honored casino policy of the more the player can win, the higher the house percentage will be.

I do realize that variations like Quick Quads, Super Times Pay, Multistrike, and so forth offer bonus enhancements that often slightly INCREASE the payback over the base game, but a) this is only with optimal play, often counterintuitive and b) most casinos that offer such games take no chances, and program them with wretched paytables.

Thank you, mkl, for your input! And until recently, I had the same notion, especially with respect to the old GameMaker machines, which mix a slew of games with relatively low returns with one that has the highest return in many of my local casinos - full pay Pick 'Em. Granted, Let It Ride VP and Full House Frenzy have returns that resemble those of video keno; however, Triple Trouble 8/5 and Four Play 80/80/8/6 are not too bad when played in conjunction with a coupon, bonus, or progressive, like those common to some of the casinos here in Carson City.

As for Gold Mine Bonus, the base return (for the 1-coin column in the table below) is a whopping 88.6% - obviously a paytable to avoid! When we play the 5-coin column (also below) and we draw to (or hold) a full house, we play a bonus round in which we choose three of five golden nuggets and collect the revealed value of each. In my observations (during four bonus rounds), the lowest total was 85, and the highest was 125. Furthermore, I never collected less than 25 from any single nugget, and I never collected 25 twice in the same bonus round. Clearly, four observations are not nearly enough to base any solid theories, but there is nothing wrong with a little conjecture... The average of my observations was in the neighborhood of 90 to 100. I highly doubt that the long term average will be higher than 100, as that results in a return of nearly 100.1%. The return for an average full house valued at 90 is 97.8% - a much more likely figure.

Call me an optimist, but I am hoping the average bonus value is considerably closer to 100!

Hand 1-Coin 5-Coin
RF 800 4000
SF 50 250
4K A 80 400
4K 2-4 40 200
4K 5-K 25 125
FH 10 ***
FL 5 25
ST 4 20
3K 3 15
2P 1 5
1P J-A 1 5

Thanks and all the best!
camapl

"I'd rather be lucky than good!"

Here is a repost of the paytables - I hope they are easier to read this way! ~camapl

1-Coin
RF 800
SF 50
4A 80
24 40
5K 25
FH 10
FL 5
ST 4
3K 3
2P 1
1P 1

5-Coin
RF 4000
SF 250
4A 400
24 200
5K 125
FH ***
FL 25
ST 20
3K 15
2P 5
1P 5

Gold Mine Bonus Poker was my favorite game to play before the state forced my favorite indian casino to switch to class II gaming and dump all their "good" machines...

I have sometimes had nuggets worth 50, and most of the time they were around 100 to 200 credits for me. But I am not sure what the top end is any more. Seems like I have seen some hit far above the 100 to 200 range, just not for me lol :P

If I miss any games, this is one of them for sure.

Does anyone know if they still have this in Carson City?
I would imagine it's either at the Nugget or Cactus Jacks...