Description
Video Poker is what
you get if you cross Stud Poker with a slot machine
and throw in a few wild cards. It's
fast, almost like playing Stud, and you've got a huge
range of options. You can choose Jacks or Better, Deuces
Wild, All American, Joker Poker or a number of other
variations. Each game has its own personality and rewards
a particular kind of play.
Also, the machines
let you play anything from 1 through 5 coins, with
the payoffs improving at the high end of
the scale. So if you know your Poker hands and take the
time to learn your game, Video Poker can be fast, fun,
and rewarding.
Old Poker salts should
keep in mind that each game has its own strategy. All
American, for example, pays better
than the others on straights and flushes, so that will
effect your approach to card selection. When I first
started playing Video Poker, I thought it would be a
lonely hearts version of the real thing. Not so. The
games do indeed have their own individual winning strategies,
and taking the time to learn your game means better payoffs.
Objective
As with all forms of Poker. the player aims to get the
best hand possible. The payoffs are marked right on
the face of the Video Poker machine so it's a fast
lesson in what the hand ranks are. All Video Poker
variations rank hands the same, though a given variation
may add an extra rank or two.
Betting
As you would expect from a slots version of Poker, betting
is pretty straightforward in Video Poker. On any given
machine you can typically choose $0.25, $0.50, $1,
or $5 games. And the bets are 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, or 5x
(Max Bet) whichever game you're playing. So if you're
playing a $1 game, you can place bets of $1, $2, $3,
$4, or $5.
Payoff
The first thing to note is that the game face shows you
the payoff for each betting level. Invariably playing
Max Bet pays off better, overall, than any of the lower
multiples. Smart players pick the betting level they
are comfortable with and choose their game accordingly.
In other words, if you're comfortable with a $5 bet,
then pick a $1 machine and play at Max Bet for $5. If
$25 bets are more your speed, pick a $5 game because
Max Bet (5x) puts you at the $25 level. In either case,
you're getting the best payoff odds you can for that
game. This is similar to Slots strategy.
Also of key importance is the fact that the payoff ratios
vary from game to game. Where Jacks or Better may pay
25:1 for Four Of A Kind, All American typically pays
30:1 and Joker Poker only pays 20:1. These ratios do
not necessarily reflect the true odds, so again, knowing
your game helps you play smarter.
