Video Poker is what you get if you cross Stud Poker with a slot machine and throw in a few wild cards. It’s fast, almost like playing Stud, and you’ve got a huge range of options. You can choose Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, All American, Joker Poker or a number of other variations. Each game has its own personality and rewards a particular kind of play. Also, the machines let you play anything from 1 through 5 coins, with the payoffs improving at the high end of the scale. So if you know your Poker hands and take the time to learn your game, Video Poker can be fast, fun, and rewarding. Old Poker salts should keep in mind that each game has its own strategy. All American, for example, pays better than the others on straights and flushes, so that will effect your approach to card selection. When I first started playing Video Poker, I thought it would be a lonely hearts version of the real thing. Not so. The games do indeed have their own individual winning strategies, and taking the time to learn your game means better payoffs. Objective As with all forms of Poker. the player aims to get the best hand possible. The payoffs are marked right on the face of the Video Poker machine so it’s a fast lesson in what the hand ranks are. All Video Poker variations rank hands the same, though a given variation may add an extra rank or two. Betting As you would expect from a slots version of Poker, betting is pretty straightforward in Video Poker. On any given machine you can typically choose $0.25, $0.50, $1, or $5 games. And the bets are 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x (Max Bet) whichever game you’re playing. So if you’re playing a $1 game, you can place bets of $1, $2, $3, $4, or $5. Payoff The first thing to note is that the game face shows you the payoff for each betting level. Invariably playing Max Bet pays off better, overall, than any of the lower multiples. Smart players pick the betting level they are comfortable with and choose their game accordingly. In other words, if you’re comfortable with a $5 bet, then pick a $1 machine and play at Max Bet for $5. If $25 bets are more your speed, pick a $5 game because Max Bet (5x) puts you at the $25 level. In either case, you’re getting the best payoff odds you can for that game. This is similar to Slots strategy. Also of key importance is the fact that the payoff ratios vary from game to game. Where Jacks or Better may pay 25:1 for Four Of A Kind, All American typically pays 30:1 and Joker Poker only pays 20:1. These ratios do not necessarily reflect the true odds, so again, knowing your game helps you play smarter. |
The odds The odds on a given hand vary from game to game, of course, but generally speaking the house edge on Video Poker games is pretty small, even 0% in some cases. Where the Video Poker games get an edge is with players who do not follow an optimum strategy. In other words, winging any given game based on a loose understanding of Poker is going to lose you money.Each Video Poker variation has its own quirks when it comes to the odds and optimum player strategy. In the next section we’ll give you a rough guide to the most popular games, but detailed strategy guides would take pages. If you’re serious about Video Poker, try some of the material in our reference section. Smart players can do pretty well at Video Poker. Jacks or better Jacks Or Better strategy can get a little complicated. For a full analysis check our references below, or follow this rough strategy guide: Keep any hand that already pays. Possible exceptions, by potential value, are:
If you’ve got nothing worth money, here’s a general strategy, in order of preference:
Tens or better Same strategy as Jacks Or Better where 10 is now a high card. Deuces wild General strategy includes, best options first:
Jokers wild Remember that only K and A are high cards: this is a Kings or Better game. General strategy:
All American Straights and Flushes pay well here so it tips the usual strategy in their favour:
Video Poker Articles Unlike most other casino games, video poker is a game where your decisions can genuinely affect the outcome of the game. Good video poker strategy can improve your expectations from the game and it's even possible for a smart player to achieve a positive overall expectation from a game. The ... Read More Back in 1970's it was inventor Si Redd's vision to combine the lucrative and addictive nature of video games together with a slot machine to create what we know today as video poker . Also known as draw poker, the game allows players to play a more personalized version of ... Read More The key to winning consistently in an online casino is playing the games and playing the strategies that give you the best chance to win. Unfortunately, it's not easy finding out which one can pay off more consistently than the others. One of those games is Deuces Wild. This wild ... Read More So you want to play video poker. First, you're going to need to know what makes a hand. Sure, the video poker machines have paying hands on the display, but it's almost always the names of the hands. You're expected to know what constitutes the hand itself. What follows is ... Read More It is possible to make money playing Video Poker. The key to winning is knowing what machines to play and what strategy to use. I'm not talking about finding "hot" machines. Video Poker comes in various flavors and payout amounts. If you are just beginning, your best bet will be ... Read More |
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