Video poker games owe their outstanding reputation and popularity among gamblers to several great reasons:
- They have excellent return to player rates, which are often over 99%. This means that the house edge is a little bit under 1%.
- They are similar to slot machines, which means they are easy to play. You simply need to click the Deal button after investing your money on it and wait for your hand to appear on the screen.
- When you play slots, everything depends on luck, and you can’t predict the combination of symbols that will show up on your screen. However, your decisions play an important role in video poker, and you can get favorable results by making the right decisions.
You Have to Know the Game to Win
Draw poker games served as the basis for all video poker games. So if you know the basics of poker hand rankings, for example, and the game course, you are ready to play video poker online.
As far as the hand rankings are concerned, every player dreams about hitting the royal flush, which would bring them the highest cash prize. On the other hand, the lowest paying hand that will pay out 1:1 is a pair of Jacks or better in most video poker versions. However, in some games, you will have to obtain at least three of a kind to hope for a payout.
But let’s start from the beginning and offer some advice on how to apply the appropriate video poker strategy to enhance your chances of winning.
1. Choose the Machine That Pays out Generously
Gamblers rush to Video poker games when they enter a casino because the house edge is among the lowest imaginable. That’s why it is essential to pick the machine where the expected return to player is as close as possible to 100% as possible.
Also, before you place a bet on a video poker machine, check out the paytables. If the lowest paying hand is Jacks or better, the payout for a full house is 9x your original bet, and for the flush is 6x your wagered money, this is the “full pay” machine that you are looking for.
However, this doesn’t mean that by choosing a 9/6 video poker game your job is done here. Quite the contrary, you still need to use the appropriate video poker strategy to ensure yourself the most favorable return to player.
2.The Most Common Jacks or Better Strategy
Since Jacks or Better is the most common online version of video poker, there are numerous video poker strategies for Jacks or Better that should help you get the maximum out of your hand.
Here is the most commonly used chart containing the list of best possible hands to keep in the game of Jacks or Better. But before a detailed explanation, let me remind you that you can even replace all the cards you are holding if you want to.
This list starts with the most promising card combinations — the Royal Flush, Four of a Kind, and a Straight Flush. But don’t get your hopes up too soon. There are over 2.5 million different card combinations you can expect in the classic one-deck draw poker game, while there are only 4 possible combinations to make a Royal Flush with. In other words, it would be a miracle to hit one of these three most valuable hands right away. The rest of the possible hand combinations are the same as in any other poker game. However, the lowest possible winning hand one could get in most video poker variants is Jacks or better (instead of a high card, like in regular poker games).
However, if you are unfortunate enough not to get any of these combinations, get rid of all the cards you’re holding and ask for fresh ones from the deck.
3. When You Play a Video Poker Game, Play Big
There is another characteristic that online slots and video poker games share. You should always consider putting in a maximum bet, provided you can afford it. The reason for that is simple — if you play a regular game and luck strikes you so you get a Royal Flush, the payout will be 250 times your bet. Not too bad, right?
But if you hit it while betting max, you can get up to 4000 times your original amount. That is out of this world.
4. Quantity Leads to Quality
We’ve presented to you a list of the most wanted combinations to have in your hand. However, most of the time, you will end up with a high pair or two pairs. Don’t worry — even though these hands pay out 1:1 and won’t get you profit, they are valuable. When you have a series of these low-paying hands, use these winnings to prolong your gameplay. The more time you spend at a video poker game, the higher the chances to hit some of the most valuable poker hands.
5. Stay Within Your Budget
This is a general tip that every gambler should follow even before they start playing casino games for money. It is not demanding to play video poker online — you only need to choose the value and the number of coins you want to invest in the game and to start it. Here is where you have to be careful and always have your gambling budget in mind.
If you want to bet max, make sure that your bankroll will survive that kind of a loose play. The same goes for playing double bonus poker. This version offers you a seductive opportunity to double your winnings. However, you are often required to bet max to be able to play this bonus round. So if you are not ready to risk all, it’s better to stay away from it.
Winning big at a video poker game gives you an ultimate rush, but if you force gameplay you can’t afford, you will probably stay bitterly disappointed and penniless in the end.
6. Take Your Time to Study
Although Video poker resembles the online slot games because they work on the same principle and they both use the random number generator, there is a huge difference between them.
While the outcome in slots and your winnings depend on pure luck, in video poker, the outcome partially depends on the decisions you make during the game.
That’s why it would be wise to learn something more about various combinations of cards that can show up on the screen in a video poker game. So take your time and devise an optimal strategy that will turn those combinations into paying hands.
Conclusion
That would be all for now when useful video poker strategies are in question. Every video poker player knows that once you start playing this game, you need some luck. However, this list of strategic tips should also help you win big and go home with loads of cash. So use some of these tips to win big at video poker as soon as you can.