How to Play Video Poker - Instant Lessons
Video Poker is traditional 5-card draw poker played against a machine. This is one of a few casino games that has an incredibly low house edge. With the right skill, strategy, and bankroll management techniques, your chances of winning are greatly improved in video poker games. These games are played on similar machines to slots, but players have a definite advantage by being able to choose which cards to hold and discard. Of course, it’s important to understand how to form winning hands.
Placing Video Poker Bets
With Video Poker games, you must first choose a game that you understand, read up on the rules, deposit, and make your selections. Whether you’re playing in demo mode or a real money mode, you follow the same process for placing bets. First things first: pick a game and make your bet selection. Video poker games allow you to deposit 1 coin, 2 coins, 3 coins, 4 coins, or 5 coins. You must choose your coin value by clicking the +/- buttons. The more coins you play, the bigger your payouts when you hit the high-ranking hands.
Video Poker Bets & Payoffs
Your bet options in video poker games such as Jacks or Better require you to choose either the minimum bet, the maximum bet, or anything in between. This game has a theoretical RTP of 98.25% when you’re playing with perfect strategy. Optimal game strategy states that you will receive the biggest payouts if you play 5 coins and land a Royal Flush. Games like Jacks or Better may include a Double Playoff Round which is not regarded as an optimal gaming strategy.
- You choose your coin value and the number of coins you’d like to bet (1 – 5).
- Click the Deal Button and the RNG will automatically deal 5 cards face up to you.
- Choose which cards to hold (0-5) and you will be dealt a second and final hand.
- If you win, you have the Double Playoff Round which allows you to double your winnings until you lose or collect and walk away.
Unlike Roulette and Blackjack, there are no individual bets for different options. You simply wager on the 5 cards that are dealt to you and play your hands accordingly.
Video Poker Payouts
In a game like Jacks or Better, your payouts are determined by the pay table. The lowest ranking hand that you can form to win is a pair of Jacks or Better. You will receive the biggest benefit when you wager 5 coins at the highest possible coin value. If you form a winning hand with just 1 coin, your winnings will be limited.
There is a significant difference between forming a Royal Flush with just 1 coin wagered, and 5 coins wagered. Much the same is true with all other winning hand combinations that are formed. These include: Jacks or Better, Two Pairs, Three of a Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, Four of a Kind, and a Straight Flush. Fortunately, you don’t need to worry about holding premium hand combinations since the video poker game automatically does this for you. This valuable assistance can help you focus on your discards and bet selections.
- A Royal Flush contains 5 cards of the same suit starting from 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace
- A Straight Flush contains 5 cards in consecutive order of the same suit
- Four of a Kind is simply four of the same cards from different suits
- Full House refers to a pair and a trip.
- A Flush this is 5 nonsequential cards of the same suit
- A Straight features 5 sequential cards of different suits
- Three of a Kind is otherwise known as a trip or triple
- Two Pair indicates that a player has two pairs of different cards and a fifth card
- Jacks or Better just as its namesake suggests – a pair of Jacks or Better!
With Jacks or Better, the return to player can get up to 98.25% with optimal gameplay. This indicates a house edge of around 1.75%. Deuces Wild has a theoretical RTP of 97.06% with optimal game strategy.
Practice Video Poker:
