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Video Poker is one of
the most popular casino games for one solid
reason: the game is beatable. This isn't
really true for any other game in the
casino, regardless of the strategy you
employ. Video Poker has a
million varieties though, and finding the
right combination of game type, payout
percentage, and proper strategy can be a
challenge. Since its introduction in the
early 1980's, Video Poker
has grown into one of the casino's most
popular games. Unlike regular Poker, which
is played against other players at a poker
table, Video Poker is
played individually on a machine that uses
video technology to create a Poker hand.
Based on classic Five Card Stud, Video
Poker challenges players to build
the best possible five-card poker hand. The
player is dealt five cards and has the
option of discarding any or all of them. New
cards are dealt to replace the discards.
Payoffs are based on a scale, paying players
for hands as low as a pair of tens or Jacks
all the way up to a Royal Flush. Like slot
machines, Video Poker
machines are available in many
denominations, with 25 cent and $1 machines
being the most popular. Many casinos also
offer progressive payoffs or bonuses for
Royal Flushes or other special hands. Video
Poker provides variety too, with
versions ranging from Jacks Or Better to
Deuces Wild and Jokers Wild.
There are three things you need to
do in order to strip away the mystery of an
online Video Poker machine to understand its
value. These should be included in your
Video Poker strategy:
- You must be able to read the pay
tables and know which ones have the
highest payback
- You must know the best Video Poker
strategy for the machines you choose to
play
- You must know the expected volatility
of a particular machine - or what effect
it will have on your bankroll
The payouts for every machine are attached
to the machine. The maximum number of coins
is also shown (normally five coins) It is a
good idea to always play the maximum number
of coins in order to be eligible for the
bonus payout for a royal flush. Also make
sure the machine has accepted all of your
coins before playing in the event that you
do get a big win you want to be absolutely
sure the five coins were played.
Based purely on the mechanics, playing
online Video Poker is
simplicity itself. However, playing it well
entails a bit more effort and that's where
your strategy comes into play. Online Video
Poker is one game where the house
advantage is definitely affected by how much
knowledge the player has. The two main
skills involved (proper machine selection
and knowing the proper strategy for the Video
Poker machine you're playing) get
complicated because online Video Poker comes
in a never-ending variety of games. Each
game requires a strategy suited just for it
to truly be effective.
How do you navigate this sea of machines?
First, lets look at them in the broadest
terms: there are non-wild card games such as
Jacks or Better and Double Bonus. Then there
are wild card games such as Deuces Wild or
Joker Wild. Within these two general types,
there are many varieties. Payout schedule
return rates may vary from below 90% to
above 100% (see table below). When a payout
schedule can return over %100, the game is
beatable, meaning if you play it perfectly
you will walk away a winner in the long run.
Every other game in the casino is stacked
against you in the long run, even if you
play with the best possible strategy.
The best place to begin honing your Video
Poker strategy is with the machine
that started the whole phenomenon: the Jacks
or Better game. The Jacks or Better pays off
for a pair of jacks or higher, which is
particularly good for beginners because of
its easily understandable goal. Better yet,
the best version of Jacks or Better has a
99.5% payback percentage when played with
expert strategy. This means it has only a
0.5% house advantage. In other words, in the
long run, you expect to lose only 50 cents
of every $100 you play. This is one of the
best bets in the casino. Consider Jacks or
Better as the Hershey bar of the Video
Poker candy store: classic,
reliable, straightforward, and simply
satisfying. You may want to move to more new
and exotic variations, but Jacks or Better
must always be the most accessible and
understandable part of your strategy.
While there are many factors to consider in
developing your online strategy, they are
far too numerous to detail here. We will
leave you though with an important factor,
and possibly the most important thing to
look at when developing your strategy - the
pay table. The pay table strips away the
game's mystery; it's basically a window into
knowing whether the game is worth your
money. An example of a pay table can be seen
below, and unlike slot machines, the pay
table isn't just there for us to "oohhh
and aaah" over all the pretty payoffs -
it can reveal how much a game pays back if
played perfectly.
| Hand |
Frequency |
% Probability |
Payout |
Return |
| Royal Flush |
1 in 40,390.55
|
0.002%
|
800*
|
1.98% |
| Straight Flush |
1 in 9,148.37
|
0.011%
|
50
|
0.55% |
| Four of a kind |
1 in 423.27
|
0.236%
|
25
|
5.91% |
| Full house |
1 in 86.86
|
1.151%
|
9
|
10.36% |
| Flush |
1 in 90.79
|
1.101% |
6
|
6.61% |
| Straight |
1 in 89.05
|
1.123% |
4
|
4.49% |
| Three of a kind |
1 in 13.43 |
7.445% |
3
|
22.33% |
| Two pair |
1 in 7.74 |
12.928% |
2 |
25.86% |
| Jacks or better |
1 in 4.66 |
21.459% |
1 |
21.46% |
| Nothing |
1 in 1.83 |
54.543% |
0 |
0.00% |
| Video
Poker Machines Terms/Dictionary |
| Action |
Opportunity
to act. If a player appears not to
realize that it is turn, the dealer
will say "Your action,
sir". |
| Ante |
A small portion
of a bet contributed by each player
to seed the pot at the beginning of
a poker hand. |
| Burn |
A term used to
describe the process of discarding
the top card from the deck, face
down. This is done between each
betting round before putting out the
next community card(s). It is
security against any player
recognizing or glimpsing the next
card to be used on the board. |
| Complete hand |
A hand that is
defined by all five cards - a
straight, flush, full house, four of
a kind or a straight flush. |
| House |
The
establishment running the game. |
| Inside Straight |
A hand that has
four of the cards required for a
straight but needs one in the middle
to complete it. |
| Kicker |
An unpaired card
used to determine the better of two
near-equivalent hands. |
| Muck |
The pile of
folded and burned cards in front of
the dealer. |
| Open Ended Straight |
Four consecutive
cards requiring one at either end to
make a straight |
| Pocket |
Your unique
cards that only you can see. |
| protect |
To keep your
hand or place a chip on your cards.
This prevents them from being fouled
by a discarded hand, or accidentally
being mucked by the dealer. |
| Quads |
Four of a kind. |
| Rank |
The numerical
value of a card (as opposed to its
suit). |
| Tell |
A clue or hint
that a player unknowingly gives
about the strength of his/her hand,
his next action. Etc. |
| Toke |
A small amount
of money given to the dealer by the
winner of the pot. Quite often,
tokes represent the majority of a
dealer's income. |
| Trips |
Three of a kind. |
| Variance |
A measure of the
up and down swings your bankroll
goes through. The higher your
variance, the wider swings you'll
see in your bankroll. |
Do you want to read more about
Keno:
• Introduction
• History
• Rules
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