Video Poker is essentially draw
poker but in a slot machine format. After placing
a bet players choose to either Hold or Discard
from the five cards dealt and get a second deal,
or to stand with the dealt hand. It has very quickly
become the most popular game of chance amongst
casino players in the US. In a recent survey in
Las Vegas eighty percent of people questioned
said that they regularly played video poker.
There are however some important
differences between Video Poker and traditional
Table Poker which are worth noting:
1. It's not possible to bluff
2. There is no need to try and figure out what
the hands of the other player's are.
3. In Video Poker the House/Casino is in the
shape of a machine rather than a dealer and their
is no attempt by the machine to directly beat
you.
4. A good decision
in Video Poker may very easily be a bad one for
Table Poker., so strategies should be kept separate
between the two.
5. You don't have the
risk of another player beating another player with
an even better hand. If your hand is strong enough
then you win automatically, it's just a question
of how much.
Since the introduction of Video Poker in the beginning
of the 1980's, it has grown into one of the casino's
most popular games. Unlike Table Poker, which is
a game played against other players at a poker table,
Video Poker is played on your own directly against
a machine which uses video technology only to create
a Poker hand for you and not against you.
Video Poker is based around classic
Five Card Stud, it challenges the player to create
the the best possible five-card hand in 2 draws,
with new cards being dealt for any discarded ones.
Payoffs differ depending on the hand
which the player builds but the payoff starts from
as low as a pair of Jacks all the way to a Royal
Flush. In the same way as slot machines, Video Poker
machines come in a range of denominations, with
the 25c and $1 machines being by far the most popular.
A lot of casinos also offer progressive payoffs
or other bonuses for Royal Flushes and other special
hands. Video Poker also comes in differing models
including 'Jacks or Better','All American', 'Deuces
Wild' and 'Jokers Wild'.
The rank of the various hands from
highest to lowest with common payouts are as follows:
1 . Royal Flush, 250 to 1
2 . Straight Flush, 50 to 1
3 . Four of a Kind, 20 to 1
4 . Full House, 9to 1
5 . Flush, 6to 1
6 . Straight, 4to 1
7 . Three of a Kind, 3 to 1
8 . Two Pair, 2to 1
9 . Jacks or better(A Pair), 1 to 1
Five of a Kind is the highest possible
hand but only when using a Joker or Wild Cards.
Note: Las Vegas regulations
have a stipulation that the outcome of any hand
of Video Poker must not be affected by the actual
number of coins played. Therefore if you get a good
hand with a one coin bet, you would have been dealt
exactly the same hand even if you were playing with
a two or more coins bet.
House advantage 3% average
