VIDEO POKER RULES & STRATEGIES

Video Poker is an exciting blend of traditional Poker and slot machines. Simplicity and great payout potential (relatively high payoff ratio of some 98%-99%) draw people to Video Poker games. In all video poker games the player aims to get the best hand(s) possible. The payoffs are marked right on the face of each Video Poker machine. On any given machine you can typically choose coins in the range from $0.25 up to $10. And the bets are 1x - 5x (or maximum bet) whichever game you're playing. So if you're playing a $1 game, you can bet up to $5 per hand.

The latest brand of video poker games are the Multi-Hand Video Poker Games, where you can play up to 100 hands at a time. The player starts with a base hand of five cards, and each additional hand played draws from a different set of cards with the base hand removed. Playing the multi-hand video poker versions is a great way to see your stats and learn the game.

There are several video poker versions that differ in payouts for different card combinations (hands). Some of the games pay well for most of the hands, others offer increased payoff for top (Royal Flush/Straight Flush) or specific combinations (with Deuces/Jokers). Please check out complete Rules and Optimal Strategies for the following popular versions of video poker:

Jacks Or Better - the lowest hand is a Pair of Jacks
Tens Or Better - the lowest hand is a Pair of 10's
Deuces Wild - Deuces may substitute for other cards
Jokers Wild - Jokers may substitute for other cards
All American - 9/6 machine, similar to Jacks Or Better.

Payout Schedules

In a grouping of video poker machines, known as banks or carousels, all of which may look exactly the same, but offer different payoff. Most often in such a bank of regular non-progressive, non-bonus video poker machines, only a few may be the All American 9/6 (9 coins for a Full House, and 6 coins for a Flush), while the rest are 8/5, 7/5, or even worse, 6/5.

A player on the 9/6 machine will be winning more for the same hands than the players on other video poker games (8/5, 7/5, etc.). A 9/6 video poker will generally hit the royal flush each 40,000 hands played, while the 8/5 each 45,000 hands played (50,000 and 70,000 hands for 7/5 and 6/5 games, respectively), on average.

When it comes to VIDEO poker you should always be sure to check the paytable of the game before you start playing. Even in the same online casino, the payout structure of a game can vary widely, and if you're not careful, you might find yourself totally miscalculating your strategy. Remember the paytable of the video poker game you played last could be totally different from the game that you're playing now, so it pays to pay attention to the paytables and use the best strategy for that kind of game (see basic strategies for popular video poker versions by following the links above).