Video Poker

There are 2,598,960 poker hands that can be produced with a standard 52-card deck. Most video poker games make use of the combinations of hands that can be made from a standard deck.

Video Poker Game Rules

The Object of the Game
Video poker plays out like draw poker whereas the betting and payout systems are not unlike slot machine games. This is to say that the rules and process of the game are closer to those of draw poker, except that you do not compete against other poker players.

The object of video poker is to beat only the dealer—which would be the video poker machine, as the case may be. You do so by making the best possible poker hand from the five cards you are dealt. If the dealer's hand is higher, he wins the game. Wins and losses are determined by the outcome of your final hand, each type of hand equivalent to a fixed number of points pre-defined in the game.

How much you win is based on a pay table that is typically posted on the front of the video poker machine. Suffice it to say that the better your poker hand, the higher the amount the video poker machine will pay you back

Video Poker Strategy

Video poker combines skill and luck to offer a casino game that is both calculated and spontaneous. Part-table-game and part-machine-game, video poker is really a game of positive expectations. And you have a say on how well you can make a winning. Based on your poker hand, you can determine the return of a game simply by reading the pay table. From its first variaton, Jacks or Better, video poker has become so big that there are over 100 variations of the game today.

Video Poker Gambling Tips

Bet maximum coins. Generally stated, the payout table in a video poker game depends upon the number of coins bet on a turn. Betting maximum coins entitles you to the proportionally higher bonus payout on a Royal Flush.

Play the highest jackpot. Not all video poker games are flat top, straight, or basic, which means those that offer fixed payouts. There are video poker machines that offer a progressive jackpot, which means a jackpot that increases with each game play adding more money into the machine. All other things being equal, choose to play the machine with the highest jackpot. But note as well that the high jackpot for a Royal Flush is often compensated by a negative deviation from the 9/6 payout table in most video poker games.

Consider the house edge versus a Royal Flush. Games of 9/6 Jacks or Better generally offer a house advantage of 0.5%. But beware: when not counting the Royal Flush, the house edge increases. Your odds of hitting a Royal Flush is about 1 in every 40.000 hands. Your chances of hitting a Royal Flush without drawing is about 1 in every 649,740 hands. As the average video poker player will never play so many hands, you should take into account the higher house edge when determining the payouts of video poker games.

Check the average return per game variation. Games of 9/6 Jacks or Better generally produce an average return of 99.5%. Other variations offer an even higher average return but at the expense of a higher variance. For example, the average return for games of Deuces Wild is above 100% but the variance is higher. The average return for games of Joker's Wild is even higher than Deuces Wild but the variance increases accordingly. A higher variance means that you have to start with a higher bankroll if you plan to go for the regal hand that is the Royal Flush.

Discard with the highest expectations of winning. Because you are allowed to discard in video poker, there is a good opportunity to discard strategically. Discarding to the highest . Optimal video poker strategy will change depending on the rules of the video poker game you are playing. Optimal video poker strategy may also change along with different pay tables. Often, you must play maximum credits in order to take advantage of the highest expectation.