How to Play Video Poker Online – Rules and Video Poker Casino Sites

If you are getting a little bored of slots and want to play something that needs a little more brain power, video poker is the game for you. The house edge with this game is the lowest available often running below 1% and if played with some simple strategy can actually be in the players favour on some games. There are a ton of video poker casinos that have 100’s of different versions. The basic game however is the same. Based on the traditional 5-card draw poker and played for the most part with a standard 52 card deck (unless it’s a joker wild game which will have added jokers). You make your bet and press deal. You get 5 cards dealt and you hold and re-draw cards depending on what you have. Any cards redrawn are dealt and the resulting hand is paid out according to the pay table for that game. The major difference between video poker and table poker is you only play the machine like a slots game. There are no other players so there is no bluffing and you don’t have to beat anyone else.

Video Poker Online – Useful Information, Tips & How to Play

The video poker casinos offer will be a variation of a theme. All will offer a version of Jacks or Better regarded as the first version of Video Poker it is still very popular with online casinos like Drake Online Casino, Paradise 8, and Supernova Casino Online and punters alike. The payout table starts at a pair of Jacks or better, as the minimum hand required to win. Usually paid as a returned money bet. The table then pays upwards in the usual poker fashion. Two pair, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush and a royal flush. The payout odds climb with the hands and this is how you can work out which is the best game available. A game of Jacks or better will have two numbers in the title 9-6 or 8-5 and 7-5 and many more combinations as well. These numbers refer to the payout for the full house and flush respectively. Obviously the higher the numbers the lower the house edge. 9-6 Jacks or Better gives the best chance for the punter, don’t be fooled by the payout for the royal flush this can be used to entice players in. Often a huge payout is offered for the top hand but a lot lower for the more common hands. The odds of hitting a royal flush are so great that the casinos can afford to use this to mask the fact that the rest of the payouts are loaded heavily in their favour.

How To Play Video Poker Successfully

• There are many variations to video poker and they will all have a twist that will change the strategy slightly but this is a simple guide to Jacks or Better. First pick the 9-6 version with the best payouts. To use the following guide you look up your initial hand on the list and play the highest hand up the list. A Jack or higher is referred to as ‘high card’. A ‘gut shot’ straight draw is where a card is missing from the middle e.g. 4678. An ‘open ended’ straight draw is where a card either end will complete the straight e.g. 6789.
• If you are dealt a royal flush, straight flush or four of a kind keep the hand don’t redraw any.
• Four cards to a royal flush redraw the fifth card.
• If you have a full house, straight or a flush keep it, if you have three of a kind redraw the other two cards.
• Four to a straight flush redraw the fifth card.
• Two pair redraw the fifth card.
• High pair redraw the other three cards.
• Three to a royal flush redraw the other two cards.
• Four to a flush redraw the fifth card.
• Low pair redraw the other the three cards.
• Four to an opened straight redraw the fifth card.
• Two suited high cards redraw the other three cards.
• Three to a straight flush redraw the other two cards.
• Two unsuited high cards redraw the other three cards.
• A suited King/10, Queen/10, or Jack/10 redraw the other three cards.
• One high card redraw the other 4 cards.
• None of the above redraw all five cards.

A quick example is if you are dealt the 4 J 5 and K of clubs and the 4 of diamonds, the correct strategy would be to keep the four to the flush and redraw the 4 of diamonds. The low pair is way down on the list compared to the flush draw.

Video Poker Online Casino Offerings Are Growing

If you learn the basic strategy of Jacks or Better you will be set up to play just about any of the choices around. A little study of the pay tables and you will be able to adjust your play accordingly. But it has to be said that a 9-6 Jacks or Better has the best chance for winning on a percentage basis. However there are lots of variations across the online gambling sites like casino Exclusive, Free Spin, and Wild Casino to keep you interested, and most of them still give a better payout percentage than the majority of slots. Some of the more popular games are Ace’s and Eights where 4 aces or 8’s pay higher than a straight flush, aces and faces being very similar with higher payouts for those 4 of a kind hands. Deuces Wild and Jokers Wild brings a new dimension as you have payouts for 5 of a kind and natural and wild, flushes or straights. Double Bonus is gaining popularity amongst those who like a bigger gamble, the variance is at about twice that of Jacks or Better. The higher hands pay double, which mixes up the strategy no end. There are many more to choose from and once you understand the strategies can be very rewarding. There are many free play sites to practice on and gain experience, before hitting the real money machines.