 Video Poker is a draw poker in slot machine
form. Players Hold or Discard from five cards showing
and get a second deal, or stand with a pat hand. It has become
the most popular game of chance among casino players in the
U.S. Eighty percent of respondents to a recent survey in Las
Vegas said they played videopoker.
There are important differences between Video Poker
and Table Poker worth noting as follows:
- In Video Poker the House is represented by a machine not
a dealer and the video machine does not attempt
to beat you.
- You don·t have to figure out what the other player's hand
could be like when playing against other players.
- You cannot bluff.
- You do not run the risk of being beaten by another player.
If you have a strong hand, you win. In Table Poker, you
could have a strong hand like three of a kind and lose to
another player who has a better hand.
- A good decision in Videopoker may be a bad one for Table
Poker. What is advantageous to hold in Video Poker may prove
disadvantageous in Table Poker and vice versa.
Since its introduction in the early 1980's, Video Poker has
grown into one of the casino's most popular games. Unlike
regular Poker, which is played against other players at a
poker table, Videopoker is played individually on a machine
that uses video technology to create a Poker hand.
Based on the classic Five Card Stud, Videopoker challenges
players to build the best possible five-card hand. The player
is dealt five cards and has the option of discarding any or
all of the cards. New cards are dealt to replace the discards.
Payoffs are based on a scale, paying players for hands as
low as a pair of tens or Jacks all the way up to a Royal Flush.
Like slot machines, Videopoker machines are available in many
denominations, with 25c and $1 machines being the most popular.
Many casinos also offer progressive payoffs or bonuses for
Royal Flushes or other special hands. Video Poker provides
variety too, with versions ranging from 'Jacks or Better'
to 'Deuces Wild' and 'Jokers Wild'.
The ranking of hands starting from the highest are as follows:
- Five of a Kind
- Royal Flush
- Straight Flush
- Four of a Kind
- Full House
- Flush
- Straight
- Three of a Kind
- Two Pair
- A Pair
Five of a Kind is only possible when using a Joker or Wild
Cards and is the highest possible hand.
Kinds of video poker
Newer video poker machines may employ variants of the basic five-card draw. Typical variations include Deuces Wild, where a two serves as a wild card and a jackpot is paid for four deuces or a natural royal; pay schedule modification, where four aces with a five or smaller kicker pays an enhanced amount (these games usually have some adjective in the title such as "bonus", "double", or "triple"); and multi-play poker, where the player starts with a base hand of five cards, and each additional played hand draws from a different set of cards with the base hand removed. (Multi-play games are offered in "Triple Play", "Five Play", "Ten Play", "Fifty Play" and even "One Hundred Play" versions.)
In the non-wild games (games which do not have a wild card) a player who plays five or six hundred hands per hour, on average, may receive the rare four-of-a-kind approximately once per hour, while a player may play for many days or weeks before receiving an extremely rare royal flush.
Full pay games
Full pay video poker machines are games which offer the typical maximum payback percentage for that game type. Payback percentage expresses the long-term expected value of the player's wager as a percentage. A payback percentage of 99%, for instance, indicates that for each $100 wagered, in the long run, the player would expect to lose $1. Payback percentages on full-pay games are often close to or even in excess of 100%, assuming error-free perfect play.
Full-pay Jacks or Better, for example, offers a payback percentage of approximately 99.5% when played with perfect strategy. It must be remembered that winning the jackpot (royal flush) is also part of the "long run" in every variant. One should not play a "full pay" video poker game expecting not to lose, because even over many thousands of hands played, it will take a royal flush to get back "even".
Casinos often place full pay machines alongside other machines with pay schedules that offer less attractive payback percentages, leaving it up to the player to identify which video poker machines offer full pay schedules.
Most full pay machines are configured with a pay schedule that is only full pay when the maximum number of credits is bet. (See the pay schedule tables later in this article for details.)
Jacks or Better
"Jacks or Better" is the most common variation of video poker available. Payoffs begin at a pair of jacks or better. Full pay Jacks or Better is also known as 9/6 Jacks or Better; the 9 refers to the payoff for a full house and the 6 refers to the payoff for a flush. Full pay Jacks or Better has a theoretical return of 99.54% when played with perfect strategy.
| Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
500 |
750 |
1000 |
4000* |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Four of a kind |
25 |
50 |
75 |
100 |
125 |
| Full House |
9 |
18 |
27 |
36 |
45 |
| Flush |
6 |
12 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
| Straight |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Theoretical Return |
98.05% |
98.05% |
98.05% |
98.05% |
99.54%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits. The payoff schedule for most video poker machines has a gap like this, such that players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a smaller theoretical return.
Tens or Better
"Tens or Better" is a variation of 6/5 Jacks or Better. The minimum paying hand is a pair of tens, rather than a pair of Jacks. Strategy is similar between the two games, in spite of the very different full house and flush payouts.
Deuces Wild
"Deuces Wild" is a variation of video poker in which all twos are wild. (Wild cards substitute for any other card in the deck in order to make a better poker hand. In Deuces Wild, the payout for a four of a kind makes up approximately 1/3 of the payback percentage of the game, and a four of a kind occurs on average approximately every fifteen hands. Deuces Wild can be found with pay schedules that offer a theoretical return as high as 100.762%, when played with perfect strategy. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:
| Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Natural Royal Flush |
300 |
600 |
900 |
1200 |
4000* |
| Four Deuces |
200 |
400 |
600 |
800 |
1000 |
| Wild Royal Flush |
25 |
50 |
75 |
100 |
125 |
| Five of a Kind |
15 |
30 |
45 |
60 |
75 |
| Straight Flush |
9 |
18 |
27 |
36 |
45 |
| Four of a Kind |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
| Full House |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Flush |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
| Straight |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
| Three of a Kind |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Theoretical Return |
99.679% |
99.679% |
99.679% |
99.679% |
100.762%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Natural Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits. The payoff schedule for most video poker machines has a gap like this, such that players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a negative theoretical return.
Double Bonus
"Double Bonus" video poker is a variation of Jacks or Better with a bonus payout for four aces. This variation offers up to a theoretical return of 100.1725%, when played with perfect strategy. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:
| Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
500 |
750 |
1000 |
4000* |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Four Aces |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 |
80 |
160 |
240 |
320 |
400 |
| Four 5-K |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Full House |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
| Flush |
7 |
14 |
21 |
28 |
35 |
| Straight |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Theoretical Return |
99.1079% |
99.1079% |
99.1079% |
99.1079% |
100.1725%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits. Players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a negative theoretical return.
Double Double Bonus
"Double Double Bonus" video poker is a variation of Jacks or Better which offers bonus payoffs for different four of a kinds, as seen in the payout table below. Full pay Double Double Bonus can be found with pay schedules that offer up to a theoretical return of 100.067%, when played with perfect strategy. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:
| Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
500 |
750 |
1000 |
4000* |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Four Aces w/2, 3, or 4 |
400 |
800 |
1200 |
1600 |
2000 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 w/A-4 |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four Aces |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 |
80 |
160 |
240 |
320 |
400 |
| Four 5-K |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Full House |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
| Flush |
6 |
12 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
| Straight |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Theoretical Return |
98.9154% |
98.9154% |
98.9154% |
98.9154% |
100.067%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits. Players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a negative theoretical return.
Note: Las Vegas regulations require that the
outcome of any hand in Video Poker not be affected by
the number of coins played. If you get a good hand with one
coin bet, you would have been dealt the same hand with two
or more coins.
House advantage 3% average
Where to play Video Poker:
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