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Video poker is the super-speedy version of draw poker that’s been available in casinos – and in particular Las Vegas casinos – since the mid-to-late 1970s. The aim of the game is to achieve the best poker hand you can from the five original cards you are dealt, and then the cards you draw to make up your final hand. You are then usually presented with the chance to gamble your winnings in a ‘double or nothing’ fashion.
Playing video poker is incredibly simple as long as you know your winning poker hands. The majority of online video poker games simply echo real-world video poker cabinets, most of which have not moved on in terms of sophistication since the 1990s. Click ‘deal’ to receive your poker hand, then click on any of the cards you want to keep. Click ‘draw’ to discard your cards and receive replacements to create your final hand. With most forms of video poker, as long as you land at least a pair of jacks, you’re a winner!
William ‘Si’ Redd is considered the father of video poker, although he did not come up with the concept. By the mid 1970s computer technology was rapidly evolving and the idea of using computers for gaming purposes was interesting lots of companies. Si was working for Bally in the late 1970s and pitched an idea to his bosses – an electronic version of draw poker. Unfortunately those bosses said they weren’t interested, and instead they allowed Si to take the patent for video poker – a decision Bally very probably regret to this very day.
Si eventually received funding from the Fortune Coin Company to form his own company – Sircoma (which stood for SI Redd’s COin MAchines), and he unleashed his ‘Draw Poker’ video poker machine to real world casinos. Take up was initially slow, but accelerated when Si come up with a new machine that permitted a pair of jacks to be the lowest winning hand, as opposed to two pairs as previously.
‘Jacks or Better’ proved to be a real winner and Si was soon reaping the rewards for his faith in video poker. He renamed Sircoma as International Game Technology, a company that remains a key player in casino markets – both online and in the real world. Si left IGT in the early 1990s, and sadly passed away in 2003 at the age of 91.
A video poker variant where four aces, eights and sevens all receive bonus payouts
A variant where four aces or four identical face cards receive a bonus payout
A variant which has better payouts for straight flushes than ‘Jacks or Better’
A game in which all deuces (twos) are wild, creating extra bonus payouts
A variant where some hands receive extra bonus payouts
Any form of video poker where deuces (twos) are wild
A version of video poker where bonuses are paid for various four-of-a-kinds
A video poker variant with bonus payouts for four-of-a-kind hands that have an ace or face card kicker
The ‘original’ video poker game – a hand must contain at the least a pair of jacks to be a winning hand
A game in which a joker (which acts as a wildcard) is added to the deck
A version where the payouts are greater than ‘Jacks or Better’, but the minimum winning hand is a pair of kings
A variant in which the payouts are less beneficial than ‘Jacks or Better’, but the minimum winning hand is a pair of tens
The ranking of the hands in video poker is identical to the ranking in all non-lowball forms of poker. If you need a refresher on the hand rankings, then please click here.
Video poker is the game in casinos – both online and real world – that has the smallest house edge. Most forms of video poker have a house edge of less than one percent if the game is played with perfect strategy. Unfortunately, perfect strategy in video poker is not easy to master, and it’s certainly not easy to memorise.
Once you’ve at least managed to get your head around how to best play video poker, you really do have the chance of winning a bit of cash on the machines, but don’t forget to walk away if you encounter a losing streak. Gambling is both thrilling and entertaining, but it can also be addictive. Play responsibly and you’ll undoubtedly find video poker a great deal of fun!
2 ways Royal is a video poker variation from Playtech. It’s a version of ‘Jacks or Better’ with an added winning hand – a ‘Lo Royal Flush’ which is a two, three, four, five and six of the same suit. This new winning hand ups the payout percentage of this game to a very generous 99.8 percent – with proper play of course.
Without further ado, let’s introduce you to the pay table in full:
| Jacks or Better | 1x |
| Two Pairs | 2x |
| Three of a Kind | 3x |
| Straight | 4x |
| Flush | 5x |
| Full House | 6x |
| Four of a Kind | 40x |
| Straight Flush | 50x |
| Lo Royal Flush | 250x/800x* |
| Hi Royal Flush | 250x/800x* |
*the 800x payout is only available if you play with five coins
If you haven’t guessed, a ‘Hi Royal Flush’ is simply a normal poker royal flush.
Playing this game will be second nature to you if you’ve played video poker before. Use the arrow keys in the bottom left hand corner of the screen to select your coin size, then press the ‘bet one’ button repeatedly to bet as many coins as you want, or the ‘bet max’ button to go straight to ‘bet five’ – remember, in order to maximise your payout percentage you should always play with five coins.
When you’re ready to get going, hit the ‘deal’ button. You will be dealt your initial poker hand of five cards. You can select between none and all of them to keep for the draw, which you do by clicking on them. When you’re happy to draw, hit the ‘deal’ button again. You’ll then receive your final hand, and any wins are announced.
You can gamble any win, or half your win amount. If you choose to gamble, you will be shown a face up card alongside four face down cards. You mission (should you choose to accept it) is to select one of the face up cards. If it is of higher value than the face up card, then your winnings are doubled. If it is not, then you lose your prize. You can gamble up to a casino-specified limit. Note that there is no guarantee that at least one of the face down cards will beat the face up one.
The first question that needs to be asked here is ‘why aces and eights’ ? Surely aces and kings would be more logical, or even aces and deuces?
For the answer we have to go back to 1876 BVP (before video poker) to Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon in Deadwood, Dakota. James ‘Wild Bill’ Hickok was enjoying a diet lemonade and a game of draw poker when his afternoon was spoilt by the bullet he received in the back of his head. The bullet was fired by Jack McCall who’d just lost most of his cash to Wild Bill the previous day playing poker. Wild Bill had the last laugh though, albeit from beyond the grave – Jack McCall was hung for the murder.
According to legend, the hand Wild Bill held when he was given the ultimate headache cure was a pair of black eights, a pair of black aces, and an unknown kicker. Hence ‘Aces and Eights’. Wild Bill’s final hand become known as the ‘Dead Man’s Hand’.
The payouts for this game are as follows:
| Jacks or Better | x1 |
| Two Pair | x2 |
| Three of a Kind | x3 |
| Straight | x4 |
| Flush | x5 |
| Full House | x7 |
| ‘Other’ Four of a Kind | x25 |
| Four Sevens | x50 |
| Four Aces or Eights | x80 |
| Straight Flush | x50 |
| Royal Flush | x250/x4,000* |
*The x800 value is only available if you bet at the highest level.
Playing this game is extremely easy. Just select your bet size from 0.05 to 5.00, and the number of coins you want to play with from one to five. To minimise the house edge it’s best to play with five. Hit the ‘deal’ button to receive your cards, and then click on them individually to hold them. Click ‘draw’ to receive your final hand.
You can gamble any wins. You have to beat the dealer’s card, and you can select from four cards in order to do so. If you are successful, you can gamble your winnings again, or collect.
Playtech have been making great casino games for almost two decades now, and they’ve never come up short in their video poker offerings. Some companies go for the authentic, early 1980s approach, while others use modern computer techniques to make what is essentially a repetitive game more fun to play. Playtech’s policy is to stake out the middle ground.
Deuces Wild is one of the most popular forms of video poker, and most casino software companies have made a version of it. This plays out like a normal video poker game aside from the fact that all deuces (twos) are wild and can be used to represent any card. The sacrifice for this privilege is that the minimum value hand in the game that secures a win is a set or three-of-a-kind.
The pay table in this game is as follows:
| Three of a Kind | x1 |
| Straight | x2 |
| Flush | x3 |
| Full House | x4 |
| Four of a Kind | x4 |
| Straight Flush | x9 |
| Five of a Kind | x15 |
| Wild Royal Flush | x25 |
| Four deuces | x200 |
| Natural Royal Flush | x250/x800* |
*The x800 value is only available if you bet at the highest level.
You can choose your coin size from 0.05 to 5.00, and your bet level from one to five. The higher your stake, the more you win if luck is on your side.
Click ‘deal’ once you have selected your bet. The cards will appear. Any cards that form a winning hand and any deuces will be held, but you can unhold them if you want. Hold other cards by clicking on them, then hit ‘deal’ again to receive your final hand.
If you do win, then you can collect or gamble. If you choose to gamble you are shown one face up card and four face down cards. You must pick one of the face down cards – if its value is greater than the face up card, then you double your winnings. You can keep guessing until you reach 2,000, or you lose.
With correct play, the house edge in this game is 1.09%
Video poker players tend to get a little excited when they hear that ‘Double Bonus’ poker is available. That’s because this video poker variant is a rarity – there is no house edge! In fact, the edge – tiny though it is at 0.17% – is in favour of the player.
How can a video poker machine hope to make money if there is no house edge? The answer is simple – to obtain that beneficial house edge you have to play with perfect strategy, and playing with perfect strategy at video poker is not easy.
Before you get excited about Microgaming’s Double Bonus video poker, we have to inform you that the pay table in this game has been doctored so that the edge is swung right back in favour of the casino. Usually a full house in this version of video poker pays 10x, but in Microgaming’s game it is reduced to 9x. Even this tiny change is enough to remove the player’s advantage. The house edge in this game is 0.84 percent.
The full pay table is as follows:
| Jacks or Better | x1 |
| Two Pairs | x1 |
| Three of a Kind | x3 |
| Straight | x5 |
| Flush | x7 |
| Full House | x9 |
| Four of a Kind (5s to Ks) | x50 |
| Four of a Kind (2s, 3s, 4s) | x80 |
| Four of a Kind (As) | x160 |
| Straight Flush | x50 |
| Natural Royal Flush | x250/x800 |
*The x800 value is only available if you bet at the highest level.
This is also one of Microgaming’s more basic games. It’s looks as if a developer worked at it for – say – the whole of one lunch break. The annoying habit of Microgaming’s basic video poker games in holding ‘valuable’ cards is also present. Oh how we wish we could switch it off.
Double Double Jackpot Poker is a video poker game from Realtime Gaming’s substantial range of video poker games. The ‘double double’ bonus comes from the fact that a number of bonus payments are available for a range of hands that are not normally rewarded separately by a video poker game
These hands are:
Confusingly, the pay table separates ‘4 Aces’ from ‘4 Aces w/KQJ’, even though both of these hands pay exactly the same.
The full pay table is as follows:
| Jacks or Better | 1x |
| Two pairs | 1x |
| Three of a Kind | 3x |
| Straight | 5x |
| Flush | 6x |
| Full House | 9x |
| Four Deuces to Tens | 50x |
| Four Kings, Queens or Jacks | 80x |
| Four Kings, Queens or Jacks with an AKQJ kicker | 150x |
| Four Aces | 150x |
| Four Aces with an KQJ kicker | 150x |
| Straight Flush | 50x |
| Royal Flush | 250x/800x |
*The 800x option is only available if you bet with five coins
This game has four modes – single hand, three hands, ten hands and fifty two hands. In all but single hand mode all extra hands are played once you’ve selected which cards you wish to keep. You can select the number of hands you wish to play from the ‘options’ menu at the top of the screen. Here you can also select your coin size from 0.05 to 5.00.
You start each hand by selecting how many coins you wish to bet with. To minimise the house edge, it’s always best to bet with five coins. Click ‘deal’ to receive your cards. You can choose as many cards as you want to discard, from zero to all five. Hit the ‘draw’ button when you’ve made your choices. You will then receive your new cards and your final hand. All payouts are made automatically.
You can gamble any win. You will be shown one face up card, which is the dealer’s card, and four face down cards, which are your cards. You have to select a card to beat the dealer. Note that sometimes if the dealer recieves a high card none of the cards you select will be capable of beating the dealer.
Casinos do not offer progressive jackpots with video poker games very often. That’s because such games do not offer decent returns to the casino – with correct play it’s very easy to lose very little. The casino relies upon players making dumb decisions when it’s time to draw.
Video poker games that do offer a progressive jackpot tend to ‘fudge’ their payout table. They do this so by offering the jackpot they’re not actually risking too much. Playtech’s ‘Mega Jacks’ video poker game does not do this though. The pay table has the standard amounts you’d expect to be paid when playing ‘Jacks or Better’ video poker.
Here is the pay table in full:
| Jacks or Better | 1x |
| Two Pairs | 2x |
| Three of a Kind | 3x |
| Straight | 4x |
| Flush | 6x |
| Full House | 9x |
| Four of a Kind | 25x |
| Straight Flush | 50x |
| Royal Flush | 250x/JACKPOT* |
*The jackpot in this game is only available if you gamble with five coins
You cannot change your coin size in this game – it is set at $0.25 – but you can choose the number of coins you wish to gamble with each hand, from one to five. It’s important to note that to win the progressive jackpot you need to gamble with five coins.
The current state of the progressive jackpot is shown in a scrolling display across the top of the screen.
You use the buttons to set your bet, then click ‘deal’. Click ‘hold’ under each card or the card itself to hold, then click ‘draw’ to receive your final hand.
You can gamble all wins aside from the progressive jackpot. You will be shown one card face up, and one card face down. You must select one of the face down cards. If it beats the face up card, your winnings are doubled. If not, you lose.
Pyramid Bonus Deluxe video poker from Betsoft is a version of video poker that allows you to play three hands at once – one normal five card hand, and two three card hands.
You play all hands using the same cards. Your main poker hand is just the five cards you are drawn. The first three cards make up your first ‘hand of three’, and your last three cards make up your second ‘hand of three’.
To start the game you select your coin size from 0.02 to 1.00, and the number of coins you wish to gamble with from one to five. You do not have to play with either of the three-card hands – you can choose to play neither, the first three cards or both. If you do choose to play them, you will use the same number of coins as your main bet. In order to minimise the house edge, you should play with five coins.
There are three pay tables, as follows:
Main, five-card hand:
| Jacks or Better | 1x |
| Two Pair | 1x |
| Three of a Kind | 3x |
| Straight | 4x |
| Flush | 6x |
| Full House | 9x |
| Straight Flush | 50x |
| Four of a Kind | 80x |
| Natural Royal Flush | 250x/800x* |
*the 800x multiplier is only available when gambling with five coins
First three-card hand:
| Jacks or Better | 1x |
| Flush | 2x |
| Straight | 3x |
| Three of a Kind | 5x |
| Straight Flush | 15x |
| Wild Royal Flush | 100x |
Second three-card hand:
| Jacks or Better | 1x |
| Flush | 1x |
| Straight | 5x |
| Three of a Kind | 10x |
| Straight Flush | 20x |
| Wild Royal Flush | 50x |
The term ‘Wild Royal Flush’ used in this game is a little confusing, as there are no wild cards. A more appropriate term would be ‘mini royal’, which is a suited queen, king and ace.
The game is extremely easy to operate, and all is familiar if you’ve played video poker before.
You can gamble all wins, but this is in the form of a ‘beat the dealer’ game. The dealer has one card, and you have four. When the dealer shows his card, you have to pick one of your face down cards in the hope of beating him. Sometimes if the dealer has a high card, you’ll find that none of your cards will beat him. Annoyingly, the ‘gamble’ feature pops up every time you secure a win, and you have to click ‘cancel’ to make it go away again.
