Posts Tagged ‘Video Poker’

Video Poker

Monday, December 21st, 2009

There are many out there among you, myself included, that at times simply want to sit down at the computer and play a thoughtless game that has a little kick to it to make my day a little more exciting. These are great days for simple slot machines. If you really want to get fancy you can go from a three reel machine into the five reel machines, or more, and maybe make things a little more exciting.

But for many there is only one answer to a slot machine fix and that is Video Poker. Now you may be wondering what Video Poker has to do with slot machines, but the truth is that the two are very similar. They both have the same type of gaming interface and both are fairly easy to play. But the Video Poker aficionado can certainly tell you that the two are very far from the same.

Video Poker is for the Poker enthusiast that doesn’t really want to get involved in a full blown Poker game but also wants elements of the excitement that goes along with a great Poker game. Let me clarify. In a full on Poker game, be it at a live dealer online casino where there is a real person there dealing the cards, along with real players, or at a computer generated online Poker game there is the expectation that you will have to interact with someone at some point of the game. Most of the time that is a good thing, unless you are just anti-social (which isn’t bad either).

Video Poker takes away all of these elements, yet provides the player with the exact same game. In fact, in many ways it is much better than a traditional Poker game because it can be played much faster. There is absolutely no wait time while the new hand is dealt. A player has to really be on their toes if they are trying to play quickly because it can be overwhelming if someone isn’t paying attention.

For example, the online Poker world is one of convenience in and of itself. You never have to wait in line to play, or wait for a dealer to sit down to begin playing. Or even worse, wait for some inexperienced player to figure out what they are doing. Even in a live dealer online casino a player is at the whim of the online dealer and all of the real players that join. Video Poker is at the whim of the player playing the game anytime, anywhere, and any place.

There are those that will always love their slot machines, but if the urge strikes Video Poker, even just a little, is a great distraction-and you might never go back.

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Video Poker Basics And The 10 Best Video Poker Games.

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

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That beautiful Royal Flush!
Straight Flush
Four of a Kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Three of a kind
Two pair
One pair of jacks or better

Let’s begin your basic Video Poker Education.

The two techniques that are mandatory to becoming an educated and prepared video poker player are:

1) how to read a pay schedule with additional education to know the difference between short/partial pay and full-pay versions, plus

2) strategies for all the VP types/games.

Pay Schedules:

In a grouping of video poker machines, known as banks or carousels, all of which may look exactly the same, casinos will often ‘mix-in’ several VP machines with inferior pay programs (short/partial pay). Often, in a bank of regular non-progressive, non-bonus VP machines, only 1 or 2 may be the Jacks or better 9/6 (nine coins for a full house, and 6 coins for a flush), while the rest are 8/5, 7/5, or even worse, 6/5.

This means that one player, on the 9/6 machine, will be winning more for the same hands than the other players.

If you bet 5 coins, all winning hands are paid out multiplied by a factor of five, except for the royal flush. This is a bonus amount designed as an incentive to play five coins. All those players who play less than maximum coins are setting up the best payoffs for those who do.

Below is the average overall payback percentage for ten of the best VP versions.

These percentages are maintained with maximum coins per hand, ‘full-pay’ schedule play and perfect strategy.

1) 10/4 Loose Deuces–4 Deuces pays 2500=100.97%
2) 9/5 Deuces Wild=100.76%
3) 7/5 Jokers Wild–5 of a kind pays 1000, Quad pays 100=100.64%.
4) 9/6 Double Double Jackpot Poker–2 pair pays 1=100.35%
5) 10/7 Double Bonus–2 pair pays 1=100.17%
6) Pick ‘Em Poker–pair of 9’s+ min. payout=99.95%
7) 11/7 Triple Bonus Poker–Kings+ min.payout=99.94%
8) 9/6 Jacks+–2 pair pays 2= 99.54%
9) 8/5 Bonus Jacks+–2 pair pays 2, Four Aces pays 400=99.17%
10) 9/6 Double Double Bonus–4 Aces with 2, 3 or 4 pays 2000=98.98%

The first two numbers reflect the payouts for a full house and flush as per one coin payout.
Therefore, a 10/7 Bonus VP version #5, would pay 10 coins for a full house and 7 coins for a flush for a one coin bet.

The exception being for Deuces Wild versions–#1 and #2, which reflect the payouts for a straight flush and 4 of a kind as per one coin payout. The minimum payout for Deuces games is 3-of-a-kind.

#4 ‘Jackpot’ version is also known as Aces and Faces where the higher payouts are reserved for Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks. In addition, because Bonus VP versions offer higher payouts for four aces and four 2’s, 3’s and 4’s, the pair and two pair payouts are often the same–1 coin. VP versions that pay 2 for 2 pair are #8 and #9 Jacks+ and Bonus Jacks+ in the guide above.

It bears repeating that these percentages are maintained with maximum coins, full-pay schedules and perfect strategy in play. The actual payout of any video poker machine is determined not only by its schedule but also by how you select discards. Since playing errors can reduce the payout, just sitting down in front of a full pay machine won’t help you unless you learn the correct strategies.

Until we meet again to continue your VP education, may all your VP choices turn out to be ‘royalty’.

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Video Poker: Is It Worth It?

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Video Poker seems to be one of those games that people are a little dubious about until they give it a whirl, and the concept of it being worth it, of being able to gain an advantage is the biggest cause of this dubiousness.

I was recently assured of a way of gaining the advantage in a progressive jackpot video poker game: Of course strategies vary from game to game, particularly between wild and no-wild games. However, on a machine that pays out 8-1 on a full house and 5-1 on a flush, there is, or so I’m assured, a means of gaining the advantage.

First, locate a progressive jackpot machine whose jackpot is greater that the maximum bet x 1750; the reason that this is important is because it is only once the jackpot gets this high that the game is even with the house, therefore if the game isn’t even there is no way of gaining an advantage. Now, in theory, or at least this is what I’ve been told; with each 350 x max bet addition to the jackpot, the players advantage increases by 1%. Therefore if you come across a progressive jackpot with a jackpot 2100 x the maximum bet, you have a 1% advantage; if you find one with a jackpot 2,450 x the maximum bet you have a 2% advantage.

Unfortunately, getting to this stage of play requires a lot of time and a lot of money; more of both than most people have. Therefore short of building up the advantage as suggested above, it might be best to simply be familiar with the frequency of video poker hands, and from that determine the likelihood of gaining an advantage. The following statistics were given to me a by a guy in the industry, who claims they are the average frequency of video poker hands:

A royal flush, which is of course what we all want appears once ever 32, 680 hands; a straight flush every 10, 163 hands; four of a kind every 425 hands; a full house every 87 hands; a flush every 90 hands; a straight every 89 hands; three of a kind every 14 hands; two pair every 8 hands; and a pair every 5 hands. Now, in terms of timing, based on these statistics the average video poker machine will therefore produce a royal flush ever 60 hours of constant rapid play; a straight will appear every 6 hours or so, as will a flush; whilst a 4 of a kind will pop up on a more or less hourly basis.

Therefore the majority of the time the video poker player is playing at a disadvantage, however this will be somewhat compensated for by the more regular smaller hands. Is it possible to manipulate the outcomes, to create an advantage? In all honesty probably not, but isn’t it fun trying?

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Sunday, June 7th, 2009

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One of my favorite variations of traditional video poker is deuces wild. In this great alteration of the original, the deuces are like “jokers” and can become any card you want. Speaking of jokers, Jokers Wild is another version of video poker. It’s my second favorite. The payouts are pretty much the same, but there are some differences.

Since there are four deuces in the deck, the minimum payout is on three of a kind hands. Jacks or better don’t apply here. The strategy for playing deuces wild are different than traditional video poker as you can see. One major difference is that there are two royal flushes. The first one is the traditional one and it pays the best. The second one uses one or more deuces to complete it and that pays not too much. Why? Well, since there are four deuces, getting a royal flush with one of them is a snap. You’ll get 100 or more easy before getting a “real” royal flush.

The payback on deuces wild machines tend to be very good. 98%+ with optimal play is a reality. As always, check the payback percent of any deuces wild machine before playing. The payback percent varies from machine to machine even in the same casino. It’s not uncommon for a 100% payback machine to be positioned right next to a 94% payback machine. And it varies in the online casino world as well.

Deuces wild machines function the same way as all video poker machines. You can play one or more coins per hand. And as always, you want to max out your coins. If you don’t, you’ll lose a fortune when you hit the big hand. Once the cards are dealt, hold what you want by hitting the hold button and then hit the deal button for your new cards. After this, the hand is complete and you’re paid if warranted. Pretty simple stuff and you already know this if you’ve played any video poker before.

Deuces wild, just like any “wild” video poker game, has more payout points than traditional video poker. The three extra payout points are: royal flush with a deuce, five of a kind, and four deuces. Payout on the five of a kind is usually about 75 coins for a 5-coin bet. It varies, so check your machine.

The four deuces is the big hand, just under a real royal flush. The payout varies by machine, but you’re usually looking at 200 coins per coin bet on this hand, which is just under the 250 coins paid for a real royal. Some machines offer progressive payouts too. I’ve even seen machines paying 500 coins per coin bet too.

In the end, I recommend trying out all types of video poker to find your love. Deuces wild is a great place to start.

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