Since its arrival in the 1970s and its widespread popularity by the 1990s, video poker has gained a reputation as a fast-paced game and appealing to many casino players because it is automated and offers better odds than traditional slot machines. Since then, punters have come up with strategies that are strictly based on the pay table and variation of each variant of video poker.
Some people think that video poker is a game of chance, but it’s not. You can learn how to play without any knowledge and still get some wins–just like with slots. However, if you play with a strategy, you can reduce your losses and increase your chances of winning. This is why many players prefer video poker over slots: They want to have more control over their games and outcomes.
Video poker is a game of chance that incorporates the best features of gambling and gives players the opportunity to win or lose money depending on their luck. The basic strategy for this type of game is based on the probability of randomly removing cards from a deck, after which you must decide whether or not to hold or replace them. Different variations on this same game require different strategies, but they all derive from Jacks or Better, which uses a standard 52-card deck and two betting intervals. There is also an additional card called the Joker in some games; it acts as a wild card and can replace any other card from the deck. In other versions there are multiple hands that must be played simultaneously; in this case, your strategy changes even more frequently because each hand has its own set of probabilities.
Gambling can never guarantee winning. Practicing a good strategy, however, reduces risk of losing. In some versions of the game, this means returns over 100%.
The Pros and Cons of Using Strategy When Playing Video Poker
Video poker is a favorite casino game for players who enjoy interacting with other players or who want a lower-stakes game compared to blackjack. It also allows players to make decisions throughout the course of each hand, which adds excitement to the experience. Video poker is considered an overall superior game over slots, however; in slots you simply wait for symbols to appear on the reels and hope that they match your bets.
But using a strategy can also be beneficial. As we mentioned, the right strategy reduces the risk of losing and increases your chances of winning. The percentage of money that you win back is expressed as an expected return, known as Return to Player (RTP). And it is higher in video poker than in slots–in fact, most online video poker games have an RTP between 97% and 99.5% on average. Of course, a particular game may not pay back exactly $98 if you place bets worth $100 on it with an RTP of 98%. But it’s certainly better than one with an average return of only 96%.
Video poker is a popular gambling method that’s played at a variety of online casinos. The payback percentages posted by these sites are important, but to achieve these returns, players need to follow an optimal strategy for each game. Making minor mistakes in your play will result in 0.5%-2% deviations from the posted percentages; these deviations may not seem like much, but they can lead to larger losses over time. Following a good strategy without mistakes means that you’ll always have a chance of winning money more consistently than if you don’t follow any strategy at all. For instance, in Jacks or Better, getting any particular suit is 4 times as likely as getting any particular card (card suits are ranked as follows: Ace-Deuce High-9-10-Jack-Queen-King).
Calculating the probabilities and odds of getting a certain hand, along with the payouts, allows you to find out how much money you win or lose on a given hand. But not everyone realizes this. For example, in most variations of video poker, you have an average of 10 to 15 cards left before you get another draw. But in some games there are only 5 cards left before you get another draw, which can make for some exciting games as well! If a player is lucky enough to hit five Royal Flushes in one hour of playing, it won’t be long before everyone knows about it.
The best thing about using a strategy is that in some video poker games, you can actually gain an edge over the casino. For example, you can get an edge of 0.76% in full-pay Deuces Wild. However, if you make mistakes during your play, you will lose more than you win over time. You need a strategy to beat these games.
Hands Payouts
Whether you’re playing slots or video poker, the payouts are similar. Slots use random symbols, but hands in video poker have determined odds–this means you can calculate how strong a hand is simply by looking at its rank. In most cases, winning combinations are ranked just like in regular poker but there are some exceptions where lower ranking hands pay more than higher ones.
The pay table of a video poker game indicates the amount of money that players can expect to win for each hand. The size of their bet determines how many coins will be wagered and how much money they can win for a Full House or Royal Flush, but players also have an opportunity to increase their chances of winning by playing more hands per round.
One interesting feature shared by most video poker variations is the payout for Royal Flush, the highest-paying hand. The Royal Flush is a straight flush–a five consecutive cards of the same suit. For a 5-coin bet, this hand pays 800 times your bet; for example, if you bet $1 on a machine with a $0.25 minimum coin size, you would win $8.00 if you get 5 of a Kind (all five cards are the same suit). This is why most players always bet 5 coins when playing video poker.
The second strongest hand in most video poker pay tables is the Straight Flush, a combination of five consecutive cards of the same suit. This hand pays 50 times the size of the bet. Next up is Four of a Kind, which pays 25 to 1 in full-pay games. Next in line are Full House–Three of a Kind and a Pair; this hand pays 9 to 1 in full-pay games. There are variations where Full House and Flush pay less: 8 to 1 and 5 to 1 respectively. Players should look for games with these combinations so they can get the best payouts possible.
Straight-5 is the best hand in Video Poker. It pays 4 to 1, or $8 for every $2 bet. Three of a Kind pays 3 times that, $24 for a $2 bet. Two Pair pays 2 to 1 and Jacks or Better pays off even money. In some variations, Jacks or Better pays off less than even money when it comes up without an Ace at all.
Each video poker variation has slightly different payouts, but their effect on the expected return of the game is nearly identical. For example, a 9/6 Jacks or Better game would have a 99.54% return if played with a perfect strategy. And usually, any change in the pay table would require a modification in the strategy – you will need to play your hands differently in the full-pay Deuces Wild and in the “Not-So-Ugly” variation of the game.
Strategy Explanation
Follow these four rules when playing video poker: never break up a winning combination, keep all winning hands at all times, and discard the two cards that do not form a winning combination when you hold three of a kind.
If you have a Jacks or Better hand and a high card, you should discard the high card. This is one of the most common mistakes novices make when playing video poker, so let’s take a look at why this is a bad idea.
Jacks or Better Strategy
The following chart describes the optimal strategy for a standard Jacks or Better game. The first column lists the cards in the dealt hand and the second explains what actions should be taken. Exceptions to each situation are listed in the third column. Once you understand and learn these basic principles, you can move on to more complex games with different rules and payouts.
Deuces Wild Strategy
Deuces Wild is a popular video poker variation that offers players the opportunity to win more money when playing a game of video poker. There are three newly added hands in Deuces Wild, which pay out 20-1 or 25-1: Four Deuces with a 200:1 payout; a Royal Flush with Deuces; and Five of a Kind, which pays out 15-1 or 12-1. The payouts for all other hands are lower than in Jacks or Better, but the Full House pays out evenly regardless of whether it is played on the lowest pay table or highest pay table. Understanding this difference in strategy can make you a better video poker player.
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What is the difference between Jacks or Better and optimal strategy in the game?
When you want to achieve the highest possible RTP and you are expecting fruitful results most of the time, it is usually best to use the optimal Jacks or Better strategy. However, players may use a simple strategy for this video poker game. If you have come across a 9/6 Jacks or Better and you use an optimal strategy, your expected return will be 99.54%. While this difference seems small, it is recommended to always maximize your potential return by using an optimal strategy.
Can I use the same strategy on different variations of video poker?
When playing different video poker variations, it’s important to use strategies that are appropriate for each type of game. For example, when playing Jacks or Better, drawing to an inside straight when you hold a king high hand is considered a wrong move according to the optimal strategy for this game. However, drawing to an inside straight is considered an optimal move when playing Deuces Wild. That is why it is important to use the correct strategy for each type of video poker and also make sure that you use the right strategic play on a full-pay version or at least a variant that offers a payout close enough to the full-pay version