Casinos often offer slot machines, which are simple and entertaining. But experienced gamblers know that there are other games that offer almost the same simplicity and entertainment while providing much better payouts at the same time. The games in question are video poker variations, which combine the best aspects of slots and traditional poker games.
Video poker is a simplified version of table poker. It doesn’t require reading the expressions on your opponents’ faces, and if you don’t know the rules, it’s harder to play well. But if you become familiar with the game and learn how to evaluate the odds, you can beat the house.
Video poker machines can be found in most brick-and-mortar casinos around the world. However, they are just as common in online casinos, where you can play for fun and even better, real money. The game is great for novice players who want a simplified version of poker without the risk of losing large amounts of money.
Basic Rules
Video poker is a casino game that offers players the chance to improve their chances of winning, but only if they have a good understanding of how it works. Knowing the basic rules is essential, but in this game it’s possible to win money if you rely only on luck. But for a long-term success, players should make themselves familiar with all the ins and outs of video poker.
This is an automated, RNG-based game based on 5-card draw poker, considered to be one of the simplest versions of table poker. In its most basic form, video poker is played with a standard deck of 52 cards and follows the rules of traditional draw poker. The RNG, or Random Number Generator, is a complex piece of software which guarantees random results for every round or draw in video poker games. These numbers are generated by algorithms that run millions of times per second as soon as you bet real money on it. So if you want to win big money playing video poker games, you have to learn how to play them quickly!
In order to start a game, you must place a bet and click on the Deal/Draw button. The computer will draw 5 cards and then you have a choice of holding them or discarding them. After clicking Deal/Draw once more, you will receive new cards that replace those previously discarded. This process goes on until the computer determines whether a winning combination has been made and if so, it rewards you with a payout corresponding to how strong your hand is.
When you play a video poker game, you must follow some basic rules. The strength of winning hands is clearly displayed in the pay table or schedule, which shows all winning card combinations ranked beside their corresponding payouts. The hand ranking follows standard poker hand rankings. It does not matter if the cards in a winning hand appear in any particular order on the screen; all that matters is whether a winning hand exists there at all.
The highest-paying hand in video poker is called a Royal Flush and it’s made up of an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten of the same suit. It pays out 250 times your bet. The second-best hand is a Straight Flush: 5 consecutive cards of the same suit will do it. It pays out 50 times your bet and is followed by Four of a Kind: four cards with the same value (two Fives and two Tens are two examples here). Full House pays 9 times your bet; three-of-a-kind (e.g., 3 Kings or 3 Sevens) plus a pair (e.g., 2 Fives or 2 Tens) makes this one possible hand.
The next-highest possible hand in video poker is called Flush. This means five cards of the same suit, such as a Two, an Eight, a Five, a Queen and a Ten of hearts. A payout for this hand is usually six times your bet. Next in order are three-of-a-kind hands such as 3 Jacks or better (or better) and 2 pair hands such as 2 Nines and 2 Queens. If you get them you win twice your bet; if not you lose only half that amount. Finally there are pairs of Jacks or better called all-pairs. With these, your winnings will be evened out between half and twice what you put into the machine.”
Jacks or Better was the first version of video poker to appear in the 1980s, but it was soon modified to create a variety of games with slightly different hand rankings and payouts. Today there are over 100 variations of video poker available, each with its own specific pay table. The introduction of Wild Cards created popular games such as Deuces Wild and Joker’s Wild, where a single Joker acts as a wild card.
Deciding Where to Play Real Money Video Poker
There are hundreds of video poker variants offered by online casinos. Most casino game developers create their own versions and as a result, players today have a choice of great games. Before you pick a casino and a particular game, there are several things you should consider carefully. First, find an online casino that is safe, reliable, and fair–which can mean different things for different people! There are many ways to find a good casino; the most important factors are fast withdrawal times and customer support that responds quickly when you need help.
There are a number of factors that you should consider before choosing where to play video poker for real money. One factor is the visual appeal and design of the casino site, but payouts and bonuses are also important.
Payout
Players who are trying video poker for the first time should play only games with the highest payouts. These games can be found in the pay tables of any game with a high payout percentage.
Bonus
One of the important aspects of online casinos that players should keep in mind is the bonuses offered by most providers. These bonuses help new players get started by boosting their play budget, and they can often be used to play a wider range of games than they might have otherwise.
One way to tell if a video poker game is good or not is by looking at the pay tables. If they are 9 or 6 times the size of your bet, then this is most likely a full-pay game. However, there are more exceptions to this rule than you can imagine–check out the return percentages whenever possible!
Many casinos post the expected return or Return to Player (RTP) percentages of the games they offer. Video poker is one of the most popular games in casinos, and its average return is 97% to around 100%, with some games offering even higher paybacks. This means that if you bet $100 on a game with RTP of 98%, you may expect to receive $98 back in the form of winnings. However, this will not happen in a single round or even after 100 rounds. These percentages are used to express how many times the average player will win on average for a certain game after playing it an indefinite number of times. So, if you play a video poker game with a higher average return for longer periods of time, you could eventually become more successful than other players who play video poker less frequently.
To find the best casino for your gambling needs, look for a high-average payout rate. If the operator does not make these percentages public, you can play with free credits to find out which games are good and which ones aren’t. Some players believe that RNG is different during free play mode than when you play with real money. However, this is a misconception; both are random number generators and will always be random regardless of whether you’re playing real or demo money.
Some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses, which do not require you to make a deposit. In most cases, the bonus money needs to be wagered on slots–the most popular type of casino games.
However, you’ll want to know if there are any limitations on your bonus. For instance, some casinos may require you to wager at least $600 before you can withdraw anything from your account. For example, if you receive a 20-times wagering requirement bonus of $20, and it says that you need to wager at least $600 within 30 days of claiming the bonus (or more), then you must place bets worth at least $600 within 30 days of claiming the bonus in order to withdraw anything from your account.
Casinos often offer great bonuses to new players, but you should make sure that the site offers 100% of the bonus value with no wagering required. Video poker players should also check their games’ payout percentage in relation to their wagering requirements. A great alternative is to find a casino that offers a wager-free signup bonus for new players. It’s not easy finding one, however, as almost all casinos require some amount of money up front before playing with them.
Video Poker Strategy
Video poker offers players the opportunity to change the odds of the game. The strategy behind every decision you make while playing will be different depending on the specific version of video poker you choose, but there are several basic principles that are valid for any version of this popular casino game.
When playing video poker, you should always hold on to your automatic wins from the initial draw. While this may sound obvious, many novices would make the mistake of discarding a pair of Jacks or Better in hopes of getting a Royal Flush, which is much less likely than getting a pair of Jacks or Better.
When you have a winning hand, it is sometimes correct to discard one card for the chance of getting a Royal Flush. If you have a nine, jack, queen and king of spades, a high-ranking flush or straight is still possible with any other card(s). For example, if you are dealt an ace of spades and another high-ranking card (e.g., King); your chances for hitting a pair of Jacks or Better is also possible.
Sometimes you can break a winning hand by discarding one of the cards in the pair. This is an acceptable risk because the Jacks or Better hand pays evenly, and you will not win anything if you keep it–you will win your initial bet. Going for higher paying combinations is the right choice because your chances of winning are higher than if you keep your original hand.
When playing video poker, it’s important to understand the difference between open and closed straights. In an open straight, you have four cards to a straight where one card is missing. A closed straight is when you have three cards to a straight where all four cards are available for making a winning combination. For example: if your hand consists of a six and seven, then you can complete the straight by getting either a five or ten, which means there are twice as many available cards to complete the combination. So keep open straights low unless three of the cards are higher than their immediate neighbors
If you have a pair (for example, a Five and a Jack) and another face card that is not part of the pair (for example, a Queen), keep both cards. One common mistake many inexperienced players make is to discard their high-value cards when they have two low-value cards. Experts say that this reduces your chances of winning by 5%. Some experienced players argue that keeping low-value pairs is more likely to improve your chances of winning a game than discarding them immediately. This depends on whether you want to play optimally or if you’re less experienced and would prefer to play it safe by playing with simpler strategies. In most cases, keeping both cards is better than discarding one of them immediately.
Let’s look at some of the most basic strategy for video poker. In the full-pay Jacks or Better game, players should keep all four cards when dealt a Royal Flush, and they should hold their Four of a Kind while in Three of a Kind to keep matching cards and discard the other two that are not part of the combination. When players have Two Pair, they need to hold their four cards and discard one for a chance of getting a Full House.
When you have four cards to a Royal Flush, a Straight Flush or a Full House, keep all four cards and discard the fifth card. When you have three cards to one of these hands and then four more cards to form a Flush–keep the combination-forming cards, then discard all other cards except for suited combinations. For example, if you have three cards to a Ten and two higher cards of the same suit are left in your hand–keep those two pairs of high cards and discard all other 2nd pair high cards from the initial draw. Also keep any high card from the initial draw and discard all lower pairs when there is no chance of forming a winning combination with them.
History
The game of video poker was introduced to casino floors in the 1970’s and gained popularity in the following decade. However, it was actually founded by a mechanical engineer named Charles Fey back in 1898 when he invented a poker machine called “Card Bell,” which paid out 20 coins for a Royal Flush. A second spin gave players a better chance at hitting winning combinations.
In the early days of automated poker games, players were not required to include all 52 cards in their games. Instead, they would use a deck of cards with a total of 10 reels and 5 rows of 10 cards each. As a result, only 50 cards could be used in the game; however, players did not know this until they played the machines. Players who hit Royal Flushes won much less money than they would have if they had played against other players who included all 52 cards.
When the first video poker machine was introduced in 1970, it was created by an American company called Dale Electronics. In a few years, Si Redd acquired the rights to his invention and founded Sircoma (short for Si Redd’s Coin Machines), later known as International Game Technology or IGT. He introduced Draw Poker games into casinos across Las Vegas during 1979.
By modern standards these games were rather primitive. They were played on large consoles and resembled slot machines, with low house edge and manual calculation of odds. Modern video poker games have electronic calculators that adjust the house edge automatically according to fixed rules based on PAR sheets. These charts show the odds for each hand and the payoffs for each hand, as well as other information that can be used by experts in calculating expected return of a particular game.
Deuces Wild Video Poker Gameplay
An Overview of the Best Casinos to Play Real Money Video Poker
In this article, we have shown you some of the best online casinos where you can play video poker for real money. The casino brands offer popular variants of the game, so it’s easy to choose one based on your strategy.
FAQ
What Is a Full-Pay Video Poker Game?
How Are the Hands in Video Poker Dealt?
How Can I Play Video Poker for Real Money?
Doesn’t the House Have the Advantage in Video Poker?
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Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions.
Which video poker variation is best to play for real money, and can you find it at online casinos?
It’s a good idea to play whichever variation offers the best return. However, we can’t give you a simple answer because there are so many different video poker variations available online. If you master the correct strategy and find a full-pay version of Deuces Wild, you can expect an RTP of 100.76%. But such a version is pretty much impossible to find online as software providers tend to adjust their payouts in their favor. That’s why we suggest looking for Jacks or Better, which pays 9 to 1 for Full House and 6 to 1 for Flush; in that case, you will play with 99.54% provided you use the correct strategy. It may be possible to find variations of Double Double Bonus that offer higher RTPs but it’s best to check potential returns before choosing which one to play for real money.
Is it important to use optimal strategy every time I play a video poker game for real money?
Of course, you can play any video poker game the way you prefer. If you don’t feel like learning the correct strategy for each variation of the card game, it’s okay just to play each variation the way you find most suitable. On the other hand, we recommend that you use a suitable strategy on each video poker variant if you wish to gain an advantage over the house. While every casino game has an edge which is set by the casino itself, some variations of video poker allow players to make this edge negative or positive–meaning that they have an advantage over casinos when playing these games. This is achievable only if players use optimal strategy when they are playing video poker.”