Video poker is one of the popular casino games which is based on 5-card draw poker. The video poker slots were introduced in the early 1970s. It has similarities to slot machines— both are simple to use and don’t have to interact with a dealer or with other players. The card combinations are controlled by a random number generator. However, it requires skills, while slot machines don’t. The player will be given out five cards from a 52-card deck, or 53 cards, which is randomly shuffled. The player can affect the outcome because he has decisions to make.
If you want to learn the rules and be good at playing the game, you should try the free video poker. And if you feel confident with basics and you’re ready to risk real money, you may want to begin playing real money video poker. Remember, if you want to win real money, you can’t play free video poker.
Here is a list of some video poker games.
1. Jacks or Better
It is also called “draw poker”, and the most common variation of video poker. The player won’t win unless their final five-card hand has at least a pair of jacks or better. The different versions of this variation vary from each other in that they have different payouts for flushes and full houses.
2. Deuces Wild
In this variation, all ‘2’s are wild. It has over 100% of payback percentage return when it is played with perfect strategy; however, these games are challenging to spot.
3. Double Bonus Poker
This is a version of Jacks or Better, but it has a bonus payout for four aces. It has a payback return percentage of 10.2%. This is the full-pay 10/7 form of the game.
4. Double Double Bonus Poker
This version of Jacks or Better offers a bonus payout for each four of a kind. The payout offered by this version is over 100%.
5. Tens or Better
This is a version of 6/5 Jacks or Better with a minimum payout is a pair of tens instead of a pair of Jacks. The two games have similar strategies even though they have different full house and flush payouts.
Others are Ace Invaders, Aces & Faces,Anything’s Wild, BlackJack Bonus, Chase the Royal, Deal Draw, Double Down Stud, Double Pay, Double Pay Spin, Double Super Times Pay, Five Aces, Joker Poker, Powerhouse Poker, Super Double Bonus, Super Triple Play and a lot more.
You can spot a lot of variations you can play. If you know how to play the standard variations, you can find out any from the list. You can also see some uncommon variations you can play at online casinos and some of these variants have only small differences from the standard ones.
How to play?
If you’re new to this game and want to play, this handy play guide is for you.
First, insert money or an accredited bar-coded paper ticket into the machine. Then, place a wager and press the “deal” button. You will be given five cards, and you have a chance to throw away one or more cards for new ones from the same deck. After the draw, if someone matches one of the winning combinations, the machine pays, and it is posted in the paytable. However, in the table version, the player can throw away all five original cards as they wish.
Pay tables distribute the payouts for hands and depending on how uncommon they are, the form, and the operator’s decision. A standard paytable begins with a minimum hand of a pair of jacks which pays equal money. All the other hand combinations in the video poker such as two pairs, three of a kind, straight, flush, full house, four of a kind, straight flush, and royal flush, are similar to table poker.
What Are The Best Video Poker Game?
I made a list of the video poker games, which is the best poker game you should play.
1. Jacks or Better
This is 1st in the list to be considered as the best video poker game you should play. It has the best odds and also, it is the foundation of knowledge of all other video poker games.
It’s strategy is more or less straightforward. It’s based on 5-card draw poker. You’re given five cards; you can choose which ones you’ll keep and discard, and then you’ll be paid off depending on the ranking of your final poker hand result. And you’ll be able to find a strategy for this game on the internet, and it is not that difficult to learn. You may find easy strategy charts which you can remember easily in a few minutes. And if you already know how to play this, it will be easy for you to play other video poker games.
It is also easy to find better pay tables in variation. Casinos and designers usually adjust the payoffs on 2-hands for this variation which are the full house and the flush. However, you’re looking at a game with a 99.5% payback odds when they pay off at 9 and 6.
2. Deuces Wild
The 2nd best video poker game is the Deuces Wild. It is almost precisely similar to 1st one; however, the one big difference is all the ‘2’s in the deck act as wildcards in Deuces Wild. Which means, the ‘2’s can fill in for any card you have to fill your hand. Because there are 4 ‘2’s in the deck, the value of your average final hand is vital.
Casinos offer different pay tables for Deuces Wild. In this variation, 3 of a kind is the lowest paying-hand. A royal flush is still the highest-paying hand; however, it distinguishes natural royal flush and wild royal flush.
The other difference between 2 games is the structure of pay tables. You don’t have just two hands with different payoffs to maintain in Deuces Wild. The casino and designers change up various payoffs on various hands that makes it a little challenging to select a paytable.
3. Bonus Poker
The 3rd one is Bonus Poker. It is regarded as different from Jacks or Better; however, the difference in terms of gameplay is minimal. Bonus Poker has no wild card. Its lowest paying hand is still a pair of jacks or better and pays off 800 to 1 for a royal flush.
Actually, the difference between Jacks or Better and Bonus Poker is the payoffs for the 4 of a kind. You may get a much better payoff than you’d think in Jacks or Better depending on the cards making up the 4 of a kind.
What Are The Odds of Video Poker?
A lot of players who are new and never tried playing video poker might think that the game is a money-eating machine because it is similar to a slot machine that couldn’t be far from the truth. Several video poker variations give long-term payouts that can be more than 100% which is not common in other casino games.
Players have to be familiar with the game and its rules to be able to understand the chances of winning at video poker. They should play it with a proper strategy to have a better chance of winning. Its payout odds may be different based on the game; however, a Jacks or Better game can give 99.54% return on the player’s money if it is played with a perfect strategy. If you don’t have an excellent strategy and you make some mistakes, the average return will only decline to 99.52%.
