Click for Intro to Video Poker
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We know Video Poker. For tips and strategies on this most entertaining and profitable casino game you've come to the right place. This is where we share our years of experience with you, in hopes that you too can learn video poker and become a full fledged video poker expert.
It may come as a surprise to a lot of people that video poker is actually one of the most profitable games in a casino. Unlike many other games in a casino, Video Poker is controlled by a very precise set of computerized card decks. As a result, the possibility of a problem with the machine or an unfair outcome is impossible. In contrast to live poker, video poker is very easy to play, making it a highly relaxing game that also gives you big payouts.
To take advantage of the great payout percentages and easy going gaming that video poker offers, it's important to try a variety of video poker games before settling on the machine you want to play all day. This is because some video poker variations might have bonuses and even higher payout percentages than others, so you should make sure you're at the most profitable machine available before you start playing seriously.
As mentioned above, Video poker is not a hard game to play. The fact is if you know how to play live poker you'll automatically know how to play video poker. There are however, some subtle differences and certain strategies that are slightly different from live poker. We'll talk about these in the Strategies Section. If you want to learn how to really perfect your video poker playing ability, you should definitely check out this section.
For those brand new to the game, video poker rules are very simple. Just as in live action poker, you want to try to make the best hands you possibly can. In most video poker games there is a certain value placed on each card combination. All you have to do is make up one of the standard poker hands and you win the value of the hand. The Rule Chat below has all the card combinations and their related value for video poker. If you don't already know it, be sure to study it, as the first thing any video poker player needs to know are the hand values, also known as the game's Pay Table.
When the game starts you will be dealt 5 cards. Based on those five cards you can choose how many cards you'd like to replace. Like real poker, this can be done for all five or none, depending what you think you have the best chances of getting. Not choosing to exchange is obviously a bold move in live poker, and it is in video poker as well. You'll only want to do this if you get a great hand right away.
After you choose your new cards (if any) the game will look at your cards and pay you the amount of money that your hand is worth. In many video poker games the range of value on the poker hands is huge. You could win anything from $5 to a jackpot of 100,000.
| Royal Flush | A, K, Q, J, and 10 all of the same suit. |
| Straight Flush | Five cards in sequence and all of the same suit (such as Q, J, 10, 9, 8 of clubs). |
| Four of a kind | Four cards of the same rank. |
| Full House | Three of a kind, plus a pair. |
| Flush | Five cards of the same suit. |
| Straight | Five cards in sequence. (Ace can be high or low) |
| Three of a kind | Three cards of the same rank. |
| Two pair | Two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank. |
| Jacks or Better | A pair of jacks, queens, kings or aces |
There are a number of different kinds of video poker, from Jacks or Better to Deuces Wild, to virtually any permutation of the game you can think of. Despite the great variety however, many of the video poker games you will encounter will offer straight poker as well, dealing simply 5 cards, with nothing wild. This might be the best game for beginners to start off with, as it's pretty much as simple as it gets.
Video poker interfaces are generally
the same no matter where you play them. Even online
poker games usually uses an interface taken from the design used by video
poker terminals at land based casinos. Typically you start off by adding credits
to the machine, and pressing the DEAL button. One your cards are dealt, you will
have the option to choose which cards you want to keep. This is usually done either
by clicking on the screen or pressing a series of buttons on the machine that
correspond to the cards in the hand. Pressing the CONTINUE button will automatically
exchange your old cards for new cards and take you right into the payout stage.
Video poker obviously comes from live poker. But it's actually been around a lot longer than you may think. Today we think of video poker as a flashy high-tech interactive game with great art and even animations. But before these elaborate video poker machines emerged, another form of video poker existed that used video screens as well, but instead of the colorful visual interface we know today, these machines consisted entirely of text, displayed on a black and white screen.
Although these early versions of video poker offered the same intimacy and relaxing game play as modern video poker, its popularity never reached a great height. It wasn't until the invention of faster computer processors and other electronic devices that video poker was able to utilize better graphics, and thus, it became more popular. The bottom line? We owe the success of video poker to the success of the video game industry. Without video games, it's likely that the technology never would have been created for better video graphics. Luckily when we play video poker today we can enjoy one of the most visually thrilling gaming treats both land based and online casinos have to offer.