How to play Video Poker online at casinos and win the game

Video poker is one of the most popular casino games after slot machines that punters love to play online. You will find that there are number of video poker games than any other format of gambling at almost all online casinos. One of the primary features that differentiate video poker games from the slot machines is their competence to reward the skill of players. This is in stark contrast to slot machines, where luck plays a dominant role. This also explains why the more experienced punters now usually prefer video poker games than ordinary ones.

Video Poker variations

There are many popular variations of Video Poker online, but in general, the game is pretty much the same. The player gets five cards from a virtual 52-cards (53, if you’re playing a game version with a joker) deck. Depending on the hand you got, you may discard some of your cards or even all of them. If you’re discarding, the substituting cards will be dealt from the same virtual deck, and after that, the winnings are counted and paid according to the final hand.

First you need to Choose a number of coins to bet (from 1 to 5, usually);
Press the “deal” button to get your five random cards;
Choose which cards to discard and which to keep. Press the “deal” button once again to get new cards in place of the ones you discarded;
When the cards are dealt, the game calculates your winnings and pays them, usually offering a gamble feature (use a 50% chance to double your winnings or void them).
Depending on the game version you choose, you can get a house edge of 0.5%, or even an advantage over the casino, if you play properly, which is a very rare. Even if the casino has a slight advantage, it can be diminished by some promotions, comp points, and bonuses. That’s why the casinos don’t let you complete the wagering requirements for their bonuses while playing Video Poker: it’s not very profitable for them on its own.

Video Poker Combinations

All Video Poker games use the standard Poker winning combinations, which you’ve surely heard about, but might not know exactly what they mean. Everybody knows that Royal Flush is good, right? One Pair is probably good too, but what’s the difference between them, and how much do they pay? Here are the answers to all your questions.

In the standard paytable of the most common Video Poker game: Jacks or Better, also known as Draw Poker. The payout begins with a pair of jacks and ends with the Royal Flush. The prizes aren’t the same for all Jacks or Better games, and depend on the game manufacturer or the chosen bet.

The list of combinations might slightly vary, depending on the rules of the game, and the number of cards in a deck. For example, Joker Poker allows getting Five of a Kind combination: four cards of the same rank and a joker.

Video Poker Variations, Strategies, and Cheat Sheets

There are two variations of Video Poker, which are most popular among players. They slightly vary in their rules and you have to use different strategies to play them. The Video Poker strategies are usually given in the form of lists, explaining whether you should discard or stand, while having different hand variations. The numbers on the right represent the estimated outcome from playing the given strategy over and over again, until it succeeds. These lists are sometimes called “cheat sheets,” and we suppose that some players actually think that you could cheat in Video Poker, which is literally impossible. If you want to know how to cheat at Video Poker, the answer is – you can’t do it. The only chance to get an unusual outcome from Video Poker, is to be extremely lucky, or to play on a dysfunctional machine.

In some variations of Video Poker, you can diminish a house edge to 0.5% or less, or even have an advantage over the casino, by employing proper strategies and using the complimentary bonuses given by the casino. The only thing you should remember is that even a proper strategy gives you only a statistical advantage over a large period and you can still lose in the short term.

Jacks or Better: Jacks or Better is the most popular Video Poker game of all times, and by using a proper strategy, you can play with 0.46% house edge. Sounds good, right? The game is called Jacks or Better because the lowest winning combination is a pair of Jacks.
Deuces Wild: In the Deuces Wild game, all deuces are wild, and can substitute any card to form any combination. This rule makes it a lot easier to get a winning hand, so the payouts are significantly decreased. There’s also one more combination added (Five of a Kind). In the case of Deuces Wild, you should remember Rule One: never discard a deuce.

There are a few more things we want to tell you about playing Video Poker that are not related to the given strategies. A bit of common sense will significantly increase your chances to hit a big win, or at least to have some decent fun. These Video Poker tips aren’t too complicated, but they surely will help your budget to last a bit longer, or even increase it over time.

Video Poker is a very exciting game, allowing you to avoid the fuss of casino game tables, but with decent RTP. It depends not only on randomness, but also on skill. So you can actually affect the results of each game, if you know how to play. This makes Video Poker way more interesting than pokiess, even the ones with the very complicated bonus games, free spins, and other stuff.

The chances of winning video poker

The chances of winning in the video poker game are considerably higher, given you have requisite skills and experience to play the game. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that video poker games happen to be the best games available in the casinos. There are solid arguments behind this claim, and the most important one is the low house edge (only 0.5%).

This makes the video poker games comparable to the craps and blackjack, although video poker games can provide you the advantage of playing the game at the pace you are comfortable with. Another significant advantage with the video poker games is that you can win by applying the skills – unlike slot machines where you just put in the money and hope that the luck will be there on your side.