11/25/03 11:32 PM EST

Strategy for Video Poker

Peter Sampson, Sports911.com

Which machines are best and offer the optimal return?  These are important questions to ask when studying the strategy for video poker both online and at the land based casino.

Land based casinos often feature machines with odds listed at 99.5 percent or better.  While many players express a degree of skepticism towards online video poker websites, platforms such as those created by Real Time Gaming and Microgaming have been tested by leading internet casino experts, among them the owner of WizardofOdds.com.

Video poker has a jackpot possibility of at least 800:1 but with a house cut similar to that of table games.  Many of these machines do favor the player over the house.

Here are the two basic rules that incorporate a strategy for video poker.  First, stay away from machines with low payout odds.  Only play at those with the best odds and preferably the ones nearby high traffic areas (as the casino operators want people passing by to see happy winning gamblers).  Of course this does not apply to the Internet casino.  For online video poker, stick with the tried and true software platforms as rated by WizardofOdds.com and also be sure to try out some of the games featured at high ranked sports book casinos such as those listed on this website (i.e. MVP Poker).

The second rule of video poker is to always play five coins as this enables the royal flush jackpot.  Granted the average for hitting this jackpot is somewhere around 35,000 hands but the payout is close to 3 percent of your total return as opposed to straight flushes, which pay somewhere around a quarter of this amount. 

When reviewing a strategy for online poker, one must know whether the machines pay fairly.  Again, we ask that you online video poker addicts refer to WizardofOdds.com.  For the land-based connoisseur, might we suggest subscribing to casino magazines such as CTN Magazine, Chance and Card Player (CTN Magazine is free and found in many of the major land based casino poker rooms and sports books).  Keep in mind that even the laws of Vegas do not require video poker machines to deal fairly (a little known fact).  There are machines that apparently cheat, even in Vegas.  In this sense, some of the online video poker platforms might be more fair.   

There are rumors that some video poker machine manufacturers have fixed a different "draw" card under each card in the hand and you as the player will get that card that appears underneath upon discarding it, rather than that which appears at the top of this deck. 

Now let's look at some basic strategies for video poker:

The Jokers Wild Strategy:

*Straight flushes are of utmost importance.  They pay the same but are attained more readily because of the joker.  A three card straight flush is better than a losing pair and you will want to break up a flush or three of a kind when four cards to the straight flush are present. 

*Straights are less important because they only pay 15.

*When you only have a joker and no other cards of importance, be sure to save the joker alone.

*Two card royals you only hold on to if you have nothing else.

Deuces Wild Strategy:

Online poker strategy that incorporates Deuces Wild should follow the below rules:

*Break up a pat flush and pat straight and hold the deuces when dealing with a pair of deuces.

*When dealt a trio of deuces, you most certainly should draw two trying for the four deuce mini-jackpot. 

*With four of a kind, you need to act skillfully.  You will need to draw a pair rather than drawing one card to a flush. 

*Always draw to an inside straight and do not discard everything, with the only exception being a three card straight flush, which should be saved instead of a four card inside straight.

*Two card royal flushes are generally worthless with the possible exception of a QT, QJ or JT.  The QT and QJ are inferior to an inside straight however. 

Generally, when playing video poker you should expect to win close to $6 an hour.  So by following a set video poker strategy, specifically finding a high payout machine and playing five coins, you should obtain at the very least minimum wage.  Doing this several hours a week, you can expect to hit big at some point and never have to work again (a real job that is).  If you can afford to live on minimum wage with a bonus thrown in here and there, good luck.  We recommend you stick to video poker for recreation only though.

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