When playing online slots, your options for developing a strategy are limited to choosing how much to wager and, if offered, whether to purchase the extra feature. All you have to do is place your wager, hit play, and wish for luck. Additionally, the house always has an advantage while playing slots as opposed to video poker, for example, which may influence which casino game you choose to play.
If you decide to play poker, be aware that video poker differs from traditional poker played in online or brick-and-mortar casinos. The main distinction is that you play against a machine instead of other players, thus your only chances of winning are through instincts, game knowledge, and a little bit of luck.
That’s why it helps to have a strong video poker strategy. Building your game and choosing your cards and next movements are much simpler when you have a plan in place. However, whatever tactic do you choose and how do you put it into practice? on learn more, see our guide on video poker strategies.
What makes a video poker strategy useful?
Like other casino games, poker is undoubtedly a game of chance, but it’s also a game of skill and strategy that you can get good at with practice. One of the earliest games to be offered at online casinos was video poker, which gave players plenty of opportunity to create techniques or modify them for the online setting.
In video poker, having a plan is essential to increasing your chances of winning. A well-defined plan of action positions you for success in the event that the odds are in your favor. Naturally, in order to control your cards and know what to do, you must first understand all of the game’s laws and the strength of the cards you already own.
Whatever game version you choose and the cards you are dealt at the start of the game will determine which approach works best for you.
What Is the Most Effective Video Poker Strategy?
It’s not fair to treat video poker as a guessing game, so before you play, do as much research as you can. It’s not overly difficult, but learning all the combinations and what to do with the cards you receive takes some time and practice. What therefore is the ideal video poker strategy?
The iconic “it depends” is the response. It’s unlikely that there is a perfect video poker strategy that suits all game variations, but it does depend on your preferred playing style and the cards you were dealt in the first hand. First, let’s examine some fundamentals.
1. Understand the Video Poker Pay Tables.
When you select the video poker machine you want to play on, you may view the pay tables for that machine. Video poker paytables are comparable to those on slots, as you have already seen. They display the maximum amount that can be won for each successful hand in poker.
From the highest-value wins at the top of the pay tables, they drop to the lowest-paying hands. There are variations in the pay tables of video poker machines, therefore it’s important to choose the ones that give higher payouts over time. Whether you play with one or more coins will also affect the payoff; five coins each game provides the highest payouts.
2. Make Use of a Video Poker Strategy Chart
A strategy chart can help you understand your hand and determine which cards to change or keep. It’s a great tool for newcomers. Similar to the pay tables, the chart normally begins with the highest-paying hands first and proceeds to cover all other possible combinations and possibilities.
A video poker strategy chart will advise you on how many cards to replace in order to make a real effort to improve your hand as well as whether you have any space for improvement. The chart provides ideas for what hand they can improve to if you change your cards and get the proper ones in the next dealing. It also shows the starting hand names, so by the time you start playing, you should know them, or at least have a reminder next to you.
3. Study the rankings of poker hands.
It should go without saying that you should be aware of the value of a particular poker hand combination. A Royal Flush is the best possible poker hand, and it requires the following cards: an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Ten of the same suit. It is a really uncommon hand, to be honest, but it consistently outperforms all other hands.
A straight flush is another uncommon but extremely profitable hand. This is a hand in which you obtain five cards, of any kind, in the same suit and in consecutive order. It makes sense that a royal flush is so important because it is the only hand that can defeat a straight flush.
Since a Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, or Straight cannot get much better, they are also considered very valuable poker hands. A full house is when you have two additional cards and three cards of the same rank, such as two nines and three queens. If you have five cards in the same suit, you are flush; if you have five cards in any other suit, you are straight.
In addition to these powerful hands, there are additional hands that have a lot of potential to win, so learn about them so you can identify them and replace the appropriate cards when a video poker strategy chart instructs you to.
4. Understand RTP’s role.
First things first: what is meant by RTP? The percentage of money that players can anticipate receiving back from a casino game over an extended period of time is known as the theoretical return to player, or RTP. It’s the percentage that the game developers determine using the rules of the game and additional variables.
One way to think about the RTP is as a way to figure out the online casino’s profit margin, often known as the house edge. For example, the house edge in that game is 5% if the RTP is at 95%. Though theoretically, that’s what players could eventually receive, it doesn’t imply you will always receive the RTP value of the money you invested.
Again, theoretically speaking, video poker offers a greater RTP than most slots, particularly considering that playing it calls for some skill, strategy, and game knowledge. Make sure to verify the RTP listed on the pay tables when searching for a video poker machine. In particular, over time, the greater the RTP, the better. Reduced payouts on the pay tables also indicate a lesser game’s RTP, therefore you should definitely look for something better.
5. When to Break a Strong Pair
It can be difficult to decide whether to break a high pair, especially if you’re new to playing video poker. It goes without saying that any video poker strategy guide would advise you to keep a high pair if you have no other useful cards in your hand. However, what steps do you take when things get a little more complicated?
Assume you have a high pair with the possibility of forming a straight flush or possibly a royal flush with your other cards.
Even though there is a potential to win a Royal Flush, you shouldn’t break a high pair if your goal is to win as many hands as you can and you don’t necessarily want to risk those wins being the highest possible. You might think about taking that chance if your calculations indicate that, with your cards, you could win more money.
In most cases, you should hold onto a high pair, which is actually a medium-strong hand. Try to improve your hand by switching out the other three cards. We advise against breaking a high pair unless you have a lot of extra cards that could lead to a far bigger win.
For the Most Popular Variations, the Best Video Poker Strategy
Different video poker variations have different strategies, and you may determine the best approach for you depending on which variation you play. Although Jacks or Better is the most played variety, many also like Deuces Wild. Now let’s examine the possible strategies for each of the most widely played varieties of video poker:
Video Poker Strategy: Jacks or Better
The reason Jacks or Better is named such is because a pair of Jacks is the lowest paying hand. Similar to other video poker games, there are other better winning hands as well. However, if you wind up with a pair, you can only win if it’s a pair of Jacks or higher.
Thus, maintain the Jack or a higher value card and change the others if you receive no matching cards in the first hand. Do not hesitate to draw all five new cards if you receive no combination and no Jacks or higher.
When drawing cards that could make winning combinations, such as a full house, royal flush, straight flush, or any other powerful combination, hold those cards and swap out the ones you don’t need.
Deuces Wild
The 2s and deuces are wild cards in Deuces Wild, and they can be used for creating a winning hand in the same way as a wild symbol in a slot machine. Two more winning hands in this video poker variant are Five of a Kind and Wild Royal Flush.
The Deuces Wild strategy revolves around the idea that since deuces are wild cards, you should always keep them. The strategy will determine what to do with the remaining cards, but if you don’t have any deuces, you should hold the cards that have the ability to form a high-winning combination. If part of your plan is to maximize payouts, whatever of size, then hold onto even lower-paying combinations, including pairs.
Video Poker Strategy: Aces and Faces
The highest rewards in Aces and Faces video poker are associated with Aces and Face cards, Jacks, Queens, and Kings, as the name suggests. While a Royal Flush is undoubtedly the finest combination, a Four-of-a-Kind combination of Aces also has a good chance of paying up.
Keep any cards that make a combination near winning a Royal Flush, Straight Flush, or Four of a Kind of Aces or Face cards when it comes to playing Aces and Faces. Cards that have the potential to complete a Straight, Flush, Full House, or Three of a Kind should be kept aside from that.
If you don’t have anything else, think about holding a high pair of Jacks or better, or just one Jack or better card. They might not bring you big money, but they might still result in a win.
Video Poker Strategy : Tens or Better
The Tens or Better variation functions similarly to the Jacks or Better variation, with the exception that a pair of tens is the lowest winning hand. Payouts for straight flushes, full houses, straights, and flushes are also generally less than in other video poker variations.
Keep only 10s or higher cards and replace the others when you don’t have any winning combinations or cards that could lead to one. In this game, those cards are the most valuable. We won’t go over all of the possible winning combinations in Tens or Better from the opening hand because there are so many.
We recommend that you choose to play this variation of video poker either by taking more risks and aiming for bigger wins, or by playing for smaller wins and building your strategy around those results.
Some Things to Keep in Mind When Playing Video Poker
Now, what kind of guide would this be for video poker strategy if we didn’t provide some advice for you to remember when playing? Our suggestions on what to do when looking to play video poker are as follows:
- Make sure you know the hand rankings and the game’s regulations. Although it’s true that you can pick up the specifics as you play, it’s advisable to practice on demo games first to make sure you learn everything there is to know.
- Verify whether the casino is offering promotions or bonuses. The majority of casinos, if not all of them, provide new players with welcome bonuses, but they also run various promotions for their regulars. Examine the casino bonus offers and select your top picks.
- Find the most money-making pay tables on a machine. Before choosing a machine to play on, review the pay tables, particularly if you’re hoping for higher prizes.
- Make use of strategy charts for video poker.Use the strategy charts to guide your decisions with your cards until you are confident that you have developed a plan and understand what to do with each hand that is given to you.
- When you are making decisions, take your time.When choosing which cards to swap out, take your time. There is no pressure because there is no stopwatch timing you or the dealer, and other players are waiting for you to make a move.
- Handle your cash with caution. As with any other casino game, you should exercise caution when gambling and never spend more money than you can afford.
Here are a few fundamental pointers for your upcoming video poker session. Wishing you luck!