Video Poker Just Starting Out - What Should You Know?

Video Poker
Is this good solid information for the beginner Video Poker player?

Quick Tips

• If you're a first-time video poker player, practice on play money games first and then switch to real money.
• Take time to study your hands – there is no time limit in video poker.
• Seek for Jacks or Better machine which pays 9 coins for a full house and six coins for a flush.
• Always bet the maximum amount on a progressive video poker machine to get the full payout for valuable royal flushes.

Video poker is one of the most popular forms of gambling. The low house edge and possibility of huge jackpot wins make it an attractive choice in the Casino.

When you open a video poker game in an online casino you will see your available credits displayed in the virtual poker machine. You can choose to bet between one and five coins, and the denomination of each coin is displayed and can be adjusted to suit your desired level of play. It is always a good idea to play the full five coins in video poker as all machines offer an extra jackpot bonus for the highest hand (Royal Flush) when the maximum coins are played. So try and play video poker with the maximum number of coins to earn the most value, even if that means you have to reduce the denomination of the coins to a smaller level where you are comfortable.

The objective of video poker is to receive the highest ranked five card poker hand possible. Once you have placed your bet, click on the DEAL button and you will receive your first five cards. You have the option to HOLD any or all of your cards that you want to keep. You will then discard the cards that you do not want and they will be replaced with new cards to try and improve your video poker hand. Once you've selected which cards you want to hold, click on the DEAL/DRAW button in order to receive the new cards to replace the ones you do not want. When the new cards are dealt you will have your final poker hand, and if your hand qualifies then you will be paid out according to the payout table for that machine.

Video poker has some similarities to slot machines which make them very popular, however video poker does involve some decision making and some degree of skill which can give the player an advantage over the house compared to slot machines.

There are many variations of video poker (eg. Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Bonus Poker, All American, etc.) and the number is constantly increasing. Wild cards have been introduced, some games feature multiple decks, bonuses for certain four of a kinds are common, and payoff tables can vary from one machine to another.

Video poker is a great middle ground for poker players and slot machine players to have some fun with the opportunity for a big jackpot payout. Remember there are no "bad beats" in video poker!

Example payout table for jacks or better video poker:

• Royal Flush - 940:1
• Straight Flush - 50:1
• 4 of a Kind - 25:1
• Full House - 9:1
• Flush - 6:1
• Straight - 4:1
• 3 of a Kind - 3:1
• Two Pair - 2:1
• Pair of Jacks or Better - 1:1

Video Poker Strategy
When playing maximum coins, the optimal video poker strategy varies depending on the rules of the game and the pay table. Sometimes, optimal strategies can become very complex. The video poker strategy presented in this section is adjusted for one of the most popular video poker games – jacks or better. However, any change in game variation or pay table might also require a change in strategy for true optimum play.

Here is how the video poker strategy table works – match your hand to the highest in the list and follow the instructions on how many cards to hold and how many to discard.

Initial Hand Cards to Hold Cards to Discard
Royal Flush 5 0
4 Aces 4 1
4 Twos, Threes, or Fours 4 1
Straight Flush 5 0
4 Fives Through Kings 4 1
4 Card Royal Flush 4 1
3 Aces 3 2
Full House 5 0
Flush 5 0
3 Twos, Threes, or Fours 3 2
3 Fives Through Kings 3 2
Straight 5 0
4 Card Straight Flush 4 1
2 Pairs 4 1
2 Aces 2 3
3 Card Royal Flush 3 2
4 Card Flush 4 1
Pair of Jacks, Queens, or Kings 2 3
4 Card Straight 4 1
3 Card Straight Flush 3 2
Low Pair 2 3
2 Card Royal Flush 2 3
3 Card Flush 3 2
3 High Cards 3 2
3 Card Straight 3 2
2 High Cards 2 3
1 High Card 1 4

If none of the combinations listed in this table appear on your video poker screen, discard all five cards.

(source: PokerNews.com)

 

For me, the first thing that I look at whenever wanting to play Video Poker and what I recommend for all of my friends to look at are the pay schedules as especially in a brick and mortar casino as even within a bank of machines, they can have different payouts. 9/6 jacks or better and 10/7 double bonus are the first two that I look for.

For non-wildcard games, the key pays to look for are Full House (usually varies between 10x and 6x), Flush (usually varies between 8x and 5x), three of a kind (varies between 3x and 2x) and two pair (varies between 2x and 1x).

The odds on hitting one of these combinations is the same, regardless of the pay schedule, so in order to maximize my return, I want to pick machines that have the highest expected value (EV).

For example, a 9/6 jacks or better has an EV of 99.5%, where an 8/6 pay schedule drops the return to 98.3% and a 9/5 schedule drops it to 98.5%. If we play one that has only a 6/5 pay schedule, our return drops to 95.0%.

A 10/7 double bonus has an EV of 100.17%, which makes it a long-term winning machine with optimal play.

For deuces wild or deuces wild bonus, the key hands to look for are 5 of a kind (usually 16x to 10x and even higher with bonus), royal flush with wild (usually 25x to 20x), straight flush (usually 13x to 8x) and full house (usually 4x to 3x).

Hope this helps everyone as additional information to the original post.

 

First of all, the pay table is for full pay Jacks or Better with a 4700-coin royal. This game was available in several downtown Las Vegas casinos in the 1990's, but it's unlikely you'll find it anywhere today. But since it's the first strategy presented here, I'll analyze it anyway.

The Expected Return (ER or "Payback") with perfect play is 99.90%. The strategy chart given is weird; for example, it puts 3 Aces above a Full House, which is correct only for games such as Double Bonus Poker. I have entered this chart as it is into Optimum Video Poker and evaluated it. Assuming the chart is followed unerringly, the ER is only 93.91%. That's a loss of 6%. (Ouch!!)

You can find full pay JoB with the normal 4000-coin royal, which has a perfect play ER of 99.54%, but this strategy chart will yield only 93.54%, again a 6% loss.

By contrast, the strategy chart generated by Optimum Video Poker (with no penalty card considerations) will yield an ER of 99.53%, and the eleven simple Precision Play rules in my book will yield 99.52%. I'll be posting some of my simplified strategies in this forum later.

 

This thread started with the question, "Is this good solid information for the beginner Video Poker player?"...

All the points made were valid but left out a few things I would include in a list for new players.

1. Decide why you are playing. Set solid goals.

I am not a recreational player. I have never been a recreational player. I do not understand why people enjoy playing video poker or gambling in general. That having been said, gambling can either make you money or reduce recreational costs if you are wise. Before you play your first hand ask yourself if you are trying to make money? If you are, then you should only play machines where you have an advantage. If you are looking to get comps and reduce your recreational costs, then you have to figure out exactly how many hands you can play at a particular denomination on a machine where you do not have an edge for the cost of play to be less than the cost of paying for your recreation.

Example: I like to sing Karaoke with my girlfriend. When we go to bars I find the highest return machine and calculate how many hands I can play to get a 50% discount on drinks. In some bars we sing at, this is very few hands and they won't comp the drinks if you play that little, so I pay instead. If a casino is going to comp you $100 in food, a $150 room and a $200 show for $200 in theoretical loss then it's "a play". If you have to lose more than $550 in theoretical loss to get the $550 in comps then you should simply pay.

It's that simple. Of course the figuring out theoretical loss part isn't so simple, but it is possible and if you can't do the math then you should not be playing.

Dan will tell you I'm the supreme party pooper...But I stand by my advice...Gambling should never be "for fun"...It's either in your favour or it's not, and if it's not then you should not play.

 

I can understand where Frank is coming from. He has never been a casino gambler. Correct me if I'm wrong, Frank, but I think it was on his 21st birthday he joined a VP slot team with his mother, and he later became manager of that team, which was hard work. Also, he is super intelligent. All of that worked out good for me because it gave him the background to contribute several great ideas for the improvement of Optimum Video Poker, and I count him as a good friend.

The only point I would disagree on is his statement that gambling should never be for fun. I do enjoy playing video poker, and I have a modest expected gain, so that's a lot better than going to a lot of movies which can be quite expensive. Just look objectively at your whole list of activities, and adjust the time you spend on each of them according to their "fun" value to you and the expected cost.

 

Yes, that's correct. My first and all subsequent coins have been played as part of "my Job"... These days I do occasionally play a few hands at bars when I sing karaoke to get free drinks, but professional ethics requires me to do the math and make sure I'm getting at least 50% off or else I just pay... I cannot and do not enjoy playing. It bores me to death. I do not begrudge people that find it an acceptable pastime. It's at least as valid as singing karaoke...

 

It's easy to understand why playing video poker bores you. For several years, you were required to play, and to teach others to play, near perfect strategy with the sole purpose of making maximum profit, and you're too intelligent to do anything that's negative to your values. Personally, I would be bored to death if I had been in that situation. Everyone has to make decisions about what to do as a pastime, and most people make those decisions subjectively. You and I make most decisions objectively, but our backgrounds result in different likes and dislikes. The good thing is that people can be friends in spite of personal differences. A great many people enjoy gambling, and my goal is to try to make that pastime less costly or even profitable for them.

 

Indeed...