Best Online Video Poker Sites and Casinos

Finding a casino site that offers video poker is easy, but finding a quality online casino that offers video poker is a little more challenging. We've compiled this list of the best video poker sites to help you spend more time playing and less time searching.

Video Poker Sites Explained

Security and reputation are the two factors we consider first when deciding which video poker sites to recommend as "the best." Security and reputation take the top priority because these two factors determine how safe your money is online. When you play at a casino website, you cannot easily verify how safe your money is. By looking at the security measures and the past reputation of each video poker site, you can get a good idea of how they will treat your money.

Beyond the basics of security and reputation, the best video poker sites on this page offer options. Video poker players are a diverse lot and as such, their tastes can vary by quite a wide margin. Some video poker players like single hand and others like machines that let them play 52 or 100 hands at a time.

The top video poker casinos have a variety of video poker machines. The majority of video poker players like to play single-hand video poker, but there are still plenty of multi-hand video poker fans out there. For that reason, we try to stick with video poker websites that offer both types of video poker. That way, players of all types can find their preferred video poker variants.

We also like to include online video poker casinos that offer different rule sets. For example, casinos that offer Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and other types of video poker get priority over sites that do not offer those different variations. Even if you are only familiar with one type of video poker, the extra options offered by the best sites give you room to switch it up if you would like to try something new at a later point.

Online Video Poker

Video poker on the internet is a bit different than most other online casino games. What you get online really isn't much different than what you get in a live casino. The payout rates are similar, the games are completely electronic and you play what is basically a solo game.

Good video poker gambling sites offer everything a live casino offers without providing any of the same annoyances. When playing online, you don't have to carry change, use tickets or collect your winnings at the cashier's cage. Everything is handled automatically and right in front of you with no hassles.

Even better than that is the fact that you don't have to wait in line when playing video poker online. No matter how popular a machine may be, it's always open to you when you access the casino. Online video poker machines never become occupied and online casinos never close.

Sub-Par Graphics

Unfortunately, online video poker generally shares one major flaw with live video poker: extremely mediocre graphics. Despite the fact that almost every other game at these casinos looks amazing, the video poker machines still look like they were made in the 1980s. This is an annoying trait at first, but we've found that it's pretty easy to get used to the graphics after a little time at the machine.

This is true no matter where you play so we left graphics out of the equation unless they were especially horrid. The graphics at these casinos are a little better than what you'll find in a live casino but they still aren't exactly works of art. Fortunately, the rules, payouts and animations are all up to par with what you would expect at any land-based casino.

Other than that, we couldn't find any major complaints with the selection of video poker machines at these online casinos. They all move extremely quickly and offer very generous payout rates. With the right strategy, video poker can be one of the few games in which the player can come out ahead on a regular basis.

Video Poker Rules and Strategy

If you play with a solid video poker strategy, you can greatly reduce the house advantage of video poker. A good online video poker player can easily achieve a 98% or higher payout rate. If you have a decent rewards program or some sort of pending bonus, you can get payout rates that approach 100%.

We haven't found a way to gain an advantage over video poker casinos, but we have found that out of all the online casino games on the internet, video poker is one of the easiest on the wallet. Unless you have a long stretch of bad luck, the odds of walking away with just a small loss are pretty decent.

The rules of video poker are pretty simple for new players. Most video poker games have a similar set of basic rules. You will find variations in wild cards, payout rates and other minor rules, but the basic idea is the same at most video poker games. Once you learn how to play one type of video poker, you'll be able to play most other machines at any video poker website.

Notice About Deposit Bonuses and Video Poker

Every online casino has some sort of first time deposit bonus for new players but very few of these casinos allow players to clear the bonus using video poker. Before you play at any online casino site, make sure you check the bonus terms and conditions.

Even the best video poker casinos rarely give out bonuses that can be used in conjunction with video poker. The reason for this is simple: video poker has a very low house advantage. If you were able to get a bonus and clear it by playing video poker, you would essentially be getting free money. Casinos enjoy your business and all, but they aren't too fond of just giving out money.

In past years, a good number of video poker websites gave out deposit bonuses that could be cleared while playing video poker. Skilled video poker players eventually figured out how easy it was to make money with these bonuses, so online casinos changed the rules over time. You might find an online video poker bonus every once in a while, but you shouldn't hold your breath waiting for one.