The Best Video Poker Strategies

The Nuts and Bolts of Video Poker Strategy

In this section of Poker Advisor we'll run down the failsafe strategies that make playing video poker a breeze. Below you'll find action tables that tell you what action to take for cards in Jacks or Better as well as Joker Poker. By following the actions detailed in each table you'll be able to make the best choices possible for each game, maximizing your chances of winning. It's important to remember however that although these tables are highly useful they are not guarantees that you will win each hand, what they will do is give you the maximum chances of winning each hand. With a bit of luck and common sense added with these proven strategies you might just go home at the end of the day with a ton of winnings.

There are, unfortunately, a lot of video poker myths surrounding strategies. And it's important to be able to distinguish the real strategies from the false ones. A good guide to follow is whether or not the strategy implies that it can guarantees you winnings, if it does then chances are its a myth and it's not worth your time trying.

In order to correctly employ video poker strategies it's not enough to simply follow the actions laid out in the action table. If you are playing Jacks or Better, for instance, it's important to make sure that you are using the right set of actions for the right game. Using the wrong set of actions can result in a catastrophic loss of your money. Also, as the poker strategy you are using takes into account the game odds, the biggest factor that will affect how well the strategy works is the games payout tables. A good thing to do might be to try out a number of different machines or brands of the game to find out which machine's payout structure the strategy yields the biggest winnings. And as always, with any casino game proper money management is essential. Even when using a proven strategy like the ones we give you here, you still can't bet any more money than you have to bet with. You still have to watch your money and budget how much you are willing to spend in a given playing session. If you do all these things you're sure to succeed at Video poker.

The Three Best Strategies to Know

These action strategy tables should be easy to read. On the right, under the "HAND" column, are the list of different poker hands you may get when playing video poker. In the middle, under the "DISCARD" column you can see how many cards you should keep or discard. On the column on the far left, under the word "KEEP" you can see the number of cards that you should keep, in order to maximize your chances of getting the desired hand. If you notice anything about these tables it's that they re not, in fact, complete. But that shouldn't matter, they still give you enough information to significantly increase your chances of winning, particularly if you are a new video poker player.

Table 1: JACKS OR BETTER 9/6 STRATEGY

If you follow these actions precisely you should see a marked increase in the number of times you win over the times you lose in any given video poker session. Unless you want to memorize them, which would take a while, the best thing to do might be to either write these charts down or print them. This way you can simply take the charts with you when you go into a casino or sit down at your computer to start playing video poker. As far as casino games go, video poker can be a highly rewarding and fun game to play, and hopefully with he help of these strategies it will be even more so for you.

TABLE 2 : DOUBLE BONUS POKER (JACKS OR BETTER) STRATEGY

TABLE 3: JOKER POKER STRATEGY