Every game in a casino has some house edge associated with it. House edge is what tells you how much money an average player will typically lose if he played over a long time. Of course there are short term runs, but in the long run most casino games will end up with the players money.
However Video Poker is one of the best games in the house to play in terms of house edge. Many video poker games pay over 100% depending on the game your playing. So naturally choosing which video poker variation to play is one of the most important decisions to be made. One of the best things a player can do is review the paytable for a particular game and make sure it matches up to the best odds. For example you might sit down at a video poker game and notice it only pays 15 credits for a straight compared to a game 3 seats down that pays 20 credits for a straight. So don't be the jerk that plays at the dummy odds seat, when you can get better payouts a few seats down or a game variation over if your playing online.
Very Important - One of the most important things to remember while playing video poker is to alwasy play maxium credits. It's simple math, the more credits you play the better odds you get on your bets, so always play the max which would be 5 credits on a typical vp machine.
Various versions of video poker have different house edge percentages and by following a good video poker strategy, you can minimize your losses. The strategy is basically centered on the first 5 cards that you are dealt. You need to know which cards to keep and which cards to discard to get the best possible results.
Important terms
You will find that there are various types of strategies available on the internet that will tell you how to maximize your winnings when playing online video poker for real money. However, to fully understand these strategies you should first be aware about a few terms.
- High card: This term is used for ace, king, jack, and queen. In most of the video poker games, you get a payout only when you have a pair of Jacks or better. So, it means that only if your hand has the above mentioned four cards can you make a pair that wins you some money.
- Outside straight: When you have a hand that can be turned into a straight on either end, then it is called an outside straight. So, if you have 6, 7, 8, and 9 then you can convert it into a straight by either getting a 5 or a 10.
- Inside straight: A hand where a straight can be made but a card is missing from between the sequence is called an inside straight. So a hand of 4, 5, 7, and 8 is an inside straight. Hands such as an ace, 2, 3, 4 or jacks, queen, king, ace are called inside straights as they can be made into a straight only through a single card.
Video Poker Strategy: Basic
The basic strategy is pretty simple to learn and gives you a return of about 99.5%. If the opening hand dealt to you has a royal flush, four of a kind, straight flush, full house, two pair or three of a kind then you should always hold this hand. With three of a kind, you can remove the remaining cards so that you have the option for making a full house or four of a kind. With a two pair you discard the fifth card so that you have the option of having a full house.
The above mentioned hands have very good payouts, which is why breaking them does not make sense. If you have a straight or a flush, then you should break it only if you have the four cards for a royal flush and are looking for the fifth. This allows you to still have a shot at the flush with any club card, or other high pairs and also provides you an opportunity for a royal flush. If you have an inside straight then never draw for the straight. Also, always keep a pair that pays instead of a single high card.
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