Video Poker Basics

Rules

The basic rules of video poker are simple; players enter between 1 and 5 coins, and receive five cards dealt from a single 52 card deck. Players choose which of the 5 cards, if any, they wish to hold, and which they want to discard. The discards are then replaced with new cards from the deck. Players are then paid based on the value of their 5 card hand.

There are many variations of video poker. The house advantage (HA) on many games is less than 1%, not much difference from BJ. The version of choice in most cases is Jacks or Better (JoB) Video Poker. The HA of many JoB games is .46%.

Most players also find Video Poker a lot more fun than grinding through the wager requirement playing BJ. The opportunity to hit a royal flush and a big payday is always present.

As noted, there are numerous variations of the game and each one requires its own strategy. The most common versions besides Jacks or Better, are 10’s or Better (10oB), Aces and Faces (A&F), and Deuces Wild (DW). A successful player must know what the best pay tables and the optimal strategy are for each game, and implement optimal play in all situations. Click on each of these variations for their rules, optimal strategy and pay tables.

If you have never played VP before, or if you want to brush up a bit on your play, most casinos allow you to play their games in fun mode, before you start playing for actual money.

Read on about the importance of different pay tables in video poker.

Pay Tables

The pay table in VP tells the player what the payout will be for every possible hand. An example of a pay table for JoB VP is available below. The best VP games are those with pay tables that are considered “Full Pay”. Casinos can change the HA in VP games by changing the pay table. A full pay table pays out at the best available rate. However, many casinos offer pay tables that are inferior to full pay games. Some even change the payout to such a degree that the HA on some games is as high as 5%, similar to a slot machine. Players should learn to always check the pay table of every VP game, and ensure that the table is in fact full pay before playing.

One very important rule of thumb for all VP games is that players should always play the “Max Coins” option, which is 5 coins. Take a look at the above pay table for JoB. Notice the difference between the payout on a royal flush for 5 coins (max coins) as opposed to 4 coins. If the payout was proportionate to the number of coins played, as it is with all other payouts, then the return on royal flush would be only 1250 coins, instead of 4000. The difference accounts for a sort of jackpot for hitting a royal flush when playing max coins. While the odds of you hitting a royal flush are fairly slim in the short term, given enough hands, most players will eventually hit one. When you do, you definitely want to get the most for your money. Keep in mind that you can also change the size of the coins you are playing. Most casinos give you the option of playing $0.25, $0.50, $1.00, and $5.00 coins. Instead of playing a single $5 coin, you are better off playing 5 (max coins) $1.00 coins, thus giving yourself a shot at the royal flush jackpot.

Multi-handed Video Poker

Many casinos also give players the option of playing multi-handed video poker. Many casinos offer 4 handed and 10 handed VP, while some even offer 50 and 100 handed. The game begins the same as single handed, with 5 cards dealt to start. Whatever cards the player chooses to hold, will be the same cards they hold every one of their hands, whether it be 4, 10, 50 or 100 handed. From this point, each of your hands is played independently from one another, with the discards replaced by cards from a unique deck for each hand.

Most players start out playing about $2.50 - $5.00 total per deal. Meaning that if you are playing 4 handed JoB VP, obviously playing max coins (5), then you will want your coin size to be $0.25, for your total bet to be $5.00 {[($0.25 * 5coins) * (4 hands)] = $5.00}. At this coin size, a royal flush on any of your 4 hands will pay $1,000 (4000 * $0.25), and a dealt royal flush to all 4 hands, known as a pat royal, will pay $4,000.