Video Poker

Video poker looks like a slot machine, but it isn’t a slot machine. You can make choices about the hands you play, thus affecting their outcome. Control is good when you are wagering money to win more.

Regardless of the casino you choose to play online video poker at, the principles of the game mostly stay the same. Those principles are:

• Standard poker hands are used
• Five cards are dealt at the beginning of the game
• Hold and/or discard any cards in your hand, including all of them
• Replace the discarded cards with a single draw
• If you hand matches the qualifying poker hands displayed on the screen, you win the prize for that hand

All in all, video poker rules are simple. The strategy lies in your decision as to which cards to keep or not keep.

Read more about different poker variations

Read more about video poker below, or try your luck in real money games.

Play Video Poker for Real Money at These Casinos

Variations of Online Video Poker

There are three popular variations of online video poker. You can choose the variant that works best with your playing style. These variants are described below.

1. Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild is a popular type of video poker because all deuces are wild and any rank and suit can substitute them. This makes it easier to score a big hand. However, the payouts are significantly less than with other variations.

An example of the win on this is if you bet a 25-cent credit and end the hand with four of a kind. You’ll win $1.25. The payout is low, but it is a win. The highest hand is a royal flush with no wild cards.

2. Jacks or Better

Jacks or Better is the most popular form of video poker.

You don’t get paid if you don’t have a pair of jacks. A predetermined pay scale is used to specify what hands greater than a pair of jacks will pay. The idea behind this variation is to get paid as often as you can. You don’t have to take large risks. The highest hand is a royal flush.

3. Joker’s Wild

Joker’s Wild is not quite Deuces Wild and not quite Jacks or Better.

In this variation, you can use the joker, which is odd because most card games don’t include it. In this case, the joker can replace any suit or rank. You can get some very large bonuses playing Joker’s Wild when you bet the maximum bet. The highest hand is a royal flush with no joker.

Beating the Video Poker Random Number Generators

Online video poker is a game of chance, there is denying that.

It is good to keep in mind that random number generators are at work. Some people are very superstitious about them and don’t trust them, but they are aggressively regulated and closely monitored so that all games remain mathematically predictable and fair. There is no established strategy or pattern. Instead, they randomly cycle card combinations.

This means that you can toss any superstitions or ideas about “hot” and “cold” online poker games. Games are also never “due” to hit or held back by the casino to keep you from winning. All you have to do is get your head in the game and have fun.