One of the most popular casino
games, video poker is also one of the easiest to learn to play. And
considering that whether you play video poker at the online casinos
or the land based gambling halls, it's always controlled by the
computer (hence the name video poker), one really doesn't
even have to know how to play the game at all. Just put in the
money, push the button and the machine will do all the work for you.
Of course, what fun would this be?!?
Learning the basics of video
poker will certainly improve your experience with this great casino
game. And it's not all that hard, really. We assume that you already
have a basic understanding of how the cards work, i.e. Ace being the
highest and Deuces being the lowest, diamonds, spades, etc. So here
is how video poker works:
When you first begin playing
video poker you will be dealt five random cards out of a single
virtual deck. This is call the first draw. During the first deal you
will have the option to select any number of cards to "hold" - from
no cards at all to all five cards. You will learn a bit later why
would you chose to hold all five cards. Once you have hekd your
chosen card, you get the "second draw", i.e. the cards you did not
hold will be substituted with random cards. The goal of holding
cards during the first deal is to achieve a match comparable to the
payouts table in the second draw, which will be show on the video
poker machine (whether online or offline casino). Here is an example
of a video poker machine. Note the five cards dealt and the payout
table displayed above them:
You can make the following matches:
Jacks or Better - a pair of
Jacks or higher cards, i.e. Queens, Kings and Aces. This is
truly specific to the video poker machine, as some will offer a
payout on tens, while others would do so only on pair of Kings
or Aces. The payout is often 1:1, i.e. you get your bet back.
Two Pairs - any two pairs.
3 of a kind - pretty
self-explanatory, you will get this payout if you get any three
cards with the same face value, for example three Kings.
Straight - any five cards of
consecutive value. For example - 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. The suit of
the cards makes no difference, i.e. you can match spades with
harts etc.
Flush - any five cards of the
same suit, but which are not of consecutive value. Example -
Ace, Eight, Three, King and Deuce, but all clubs.
Full House - the full house
consist of a pair and three of a kind. This is a full house -
Ace, Ace, King, King, Ace
4 of a kind - four cards of
equal face value.
Straight Flush - Just like the
flush, but the cards must be of consecutive value, except when
the highest card is an Ace. If that's the case, that would be:
Royal Flush
As one can see, it's pretty simple to
play video poker. Draw once, hold card which you believe would be
best suited to make one of the payout matches and draw again to
substitute and see if you are a winner. To make it more interesting,
most online casinos have many variations of video poker, but they
all follow the principles outline above. Some USA online casinos
even offer multi-hand video poker games in excess of over 100 hands
per deal.
Do you want to practice playing video
poker? Below we have a free video poker game which you can also play
for real money at that online casino. It's great to hone your skills
before you decide to play video poker with real money: