Video Poker Rules and Strategy
Video poker is played like five card poker except you play it against a machine instead of other humans. There's no bluffing or trying to outsmart your opponents in video poker. Instead, your goal is to get the best five card poker hand possible and get paid for it.
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It's a fun game and with the proper strategy, video poker is one of the few casino games where you may be able to get an edge over the house. There are many variations of video poker games with slight changes in the rules but they all follow this basic set of rules.
Video Poker Rules
At the beginning of each round you place a bet by inserting coins into the machine of your choice. The number of coins you play dictates your payouts for winning hands. It's more expensive to play with more coins but it also raises your payouts when you bet more coins.
After you place your bet, you are dealt five random cards by the machine. You may select as many of these as you wish to hold and then discard the rest. The machine will then replace the cards you discarded with new random cards.
If you end up with a strong five card poker hand after drawing your new cards, you'll be paid out according to the game's pay table. Different video poker games have different pay tables but they usually look something like this:
According to this pay table, the game only pays out for pairs of jacks or higher. So if you end up with a pair of tens or lower, you won't win anything. Keep that in mind when you're picking which cards to keep and which ones to discard.
Hand Descriptions
Video Poker Strategy
Perfect video poker strategy takes a while to learn but once you get the basics down, you'll become more and more efficient with it. The edge you gain over the house comes from the high royal flush payouts for the maximum bet.
If you look at the 5 coin payout for the royal flush, you'll see that it's not an incremental step up - it's a lot higher than just one step up. You'll get a royal flush about once every 40,000 hands. That huge payout is what gives you enough of an advantage to eke out a profit over the long run.
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The highest royal flush payout is the one that gives you an advantage in the game so always play the maximum number of coins in video poker. You won't get a royal flush very often but when you do, it's vital that you get the highest payout possible.
Before you even start worrying about all that, you can start by finding the best paying video poker machine. At whichever casino you visit, you should compare the payouts for various hands and find the machine that offers the highest payouts.
Once you find the right casino and are ready to start playing, make sure to stick with the proper video poker strategy. The further you stray from the proper strategy, the better the odds go in the casino's favor. It would be a good idea to play low limits or even for fun until you feel comfortable with the game and proper strategy.
Jacks or Better Discarding Strategy
The pay table listed higher on this page comes from a common "Jacks or Better" video poker machine. When you play Jacks or Better games, the following strategy will give you the best chance of winning:
- When you are dealt a paying hand right off the bat, do not discard any cards unless you have 4 cards toward making a royal flush.
- Always hold any 3 cards toward making a royal flush.
- Hold any low pair, even if they don't pay.
- These will help you make other hands.
- Hold any two cards 10 or higher.
- Always hold any 3 cards toward making a straight flush.
- Hold any single cards as long as it's a 10 or higher.
- Draw five new cards if you don't get any of the above.
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