Category: Gambling and Casinos

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?

Las Vegas casinos are full of “crazy” video poker players. These players love the game-and why wouldn’t they-but somewhere along the way they came up with some thought on how to win that’s just plain false.

Today, we’ll look at a few myths and see if there’s any truth to them. If you’re a sociologist in the making, spending hours in a Vegas casino might turn out to be an interesting study.

Myth: If I slam the buttons hard, the machine will respond.

Yes, you’ll see this often-sometimes from frustrated players. It’s just a machine and it has no sensors built in that tell it how hard something was pressed. The button was either pressed or it wasn’t-that’s it.

You might even see people who will only slam a button when they’re about to receive cards. Others slam them when holding a card. Either way, it makes no difference. Of course, if you beat up the machine too much, security might come over to talk to you.

Myth: Cold Currency Works

I don’t know where this started, but for decades many video poker players have put quarters, nickels and whatever in the freezer prior to coming to the casino-or they feel the change before accepting it from the change person.

The myth says that cold currency somehow tricks the machine into paying out. What?

This doesn’t even make sense. The machine simply counts your currency and gives you the appropriate credits. It doesn’t measure the temperature of your change. You could put hot or cold coins in the machine and your result will be the same.

Myth: Don’t play credits or currency

This myth goes hand in hand with the previous one. There’s a group of video poker players that believes you should only play credits-another group says only currency.

The thought is that the machine plays differently based on whether you’re using credits or currency. As a player, you’re always using credits. Even if you put money in, it’s transferred to credits.

The machine doesn’t care what you do and the casino has no preference. It’s all money to them. Machines aren’t set up to give “preference” to certain types of players.

In future articles, we’ll tackle more Video Poker myths. Some of these myths are fun, but others can be detrimental to your bankroll. As a Video Poker player, you’re first goal should be to have fun.

Educating yourself about how Video Poker machines work is a great first-step. Most, and I mean most, Video Poker players haven’t a clue about the how the game works internally. They simply get all of these myths in their head and assume them to be accurate.

Once you get these out of the way, you can have a blast playing Video Poker and you can attack the game and seize your winnings.

With the increase in the popularity of poker over the last few years, more and more players are turning to video poker machines to satisfy their poker playing sweet tooth. Players have found that not only is video poker relatively easy to learn to play, but it is also a great way to hone real life poker skills. As a result, the video poker machine has been placed in an ever increasing number of establishments.

One of the most appealing aspects of the video poker machine is that the odds of winning are some of the best you’ll find in a game of chance. Video poker comes in just below Craps and Blackjack in the odds-of-winning department. Along with good odds, the video poker machine gives players the chance to take their time in making decisions, which allows the player to develop a strategy on the fly.

At a glance, the video poker machine could be mistaken for a slot machine, for they tend to have the same basic shape. Slot machines are a game based solely on chance, while with a video poker machine player skill comes into the mix. Although the slot machine and the poker machine both use the element of random display of images, the poker machine allows the player to keep and throw away chosen cards.

One of the first things a player should do is to look at the payout schedule of each machine considered for play. Look to see which machine pays out the best for each combination of winning hands. Just because the machines are located in the same area doesn’t mean they all payout the same.

In order to play video poker, the player must know how to play the regular game of Five Card Draw Poker. If you already know how to play Five Card Draw Poker at the poker table, then you will be quite at home on the video poker machine.

Video poker machines accept varying amounts of coins, with the general range being between one to five coins. The machine pays out on a winning hand based on the amount of coins used. More coins equal a higher payout on a win. Therefore, it pays to always use the maximum coin allowed on your chosen machine.

After coins are inserted into the machine, and the player hits the ‘deal’ button, cards are dealt out in a random fashion, just as if the player were in a real poker game. The player is dealt out five cards on the screen. The player then uses either a ‘hold’ button to choose the cards to keep, or uses a ‘discard’ button to throw away unwanted cards.

Most video poker machines make use of the ‘hold’ button, but always be sure which button your current machine uses. It only takes a second to glance at the controls, and it might save you from losing your first hand due to a mistake.

Once the choice has been made of which cards to keep, the player then hits the ‘deal’ button again. The player is then dealt out a number of cards equal to those that were discarded. If the player winds up holding a winning hand, then the video poker machine pays out relative to the payout schedule.

The two main types of machines in casinos are slot machines and video poker machines. Slot machines tend to be more mundane. It’s simply a matter of dumping coins into the machine and hitting a button to see if you got lucky. Video Poker, on the other hand, rewards players that can think. There’s actually strategy involved in video poker. The game doesn’t have a steep learning curve. In fact, the basics can be learned in minutes.

If you have never played video poker before, let me give you one good piece of advice. Don’t play unless you can afford to play the maximum credits. That’s where the real money is made. I wish someone had told me that when I started out. I walked up to a quarter video poker machine, put in one quarter, and hit a royal flush. I got paid $62.50 for the quarter. However, had I played the maximum credits, just $1 more, I would have received $1,000. I lost $937.50, because I didn’t play $1 more. That’s a huge chunk of change to lose.

Playing video poker is pretty simple. First, you load credits into the machine-remember to always play the max. You are dealt a hand of five cards. All machines tell you what combinations you need to get a payout. After looking over your initial hand, you decide what cards, if any, to keep. When you hit deal again, new cards are given to you and your hand is now complete. Should your final combination warrant a payout, it will be paid now. While it’s rare to get a royal flush dealt to you on the first five cards, make sure you have all five cards held before hitting the deal button if this happens.

Video poker never gets boring. There are so many types of video poker games out there now. They all offer different payouts and many offers different ways to play the game entirely. For instance, there are different styles like traditional, Joker’s Wild, and Deuce’s Wild. There are also different payout methods like Bonus, Double Bonus, Triple Bonus, More for Four and so on. Before playing any machine look to see what the required paying combinations are and what they pay.

The best machine to play, from a consistency standpoint, is a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine. The 9/6 refers to the payout on a flush and full house. Not all Jacks and Better machines pay the same amount. Make sure yours is a 9/6 machine before playing. These machines give you the best bang for your buck. The 9/6 machine is known as a “full-pay” machine. It’s named this because players are getting the best possible payout for their money. It’s no secret that a skilled video poker player can almost eliminate the house advantage by playing a 9/6 machine and using the proper strategy.