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Basic Poker Rules - Video Poker Tips
Video poker machines are some of the smallest house-edge casino games available. That makes them extremely popular among small stakes gamblers, and even high stakes sharps. Whenever you walk into a casino to play some VP, you should always seek out the machine with the smallest house edge displayed on it. Remember, video poker has little to do with actual Texas Hold'em, so if you’re good poker player, that means little once you settle down in front of the screen. Playing video poker in an online casino is pretty much the same as playing the real thing. Both real and virtual Video Poker machines work via electronic random number generators, so there is no difference between the two. Make sure you know the exact house edge you’ll be facing at the online Video Poker machine before you begin playing.
Sometimes it might seem like the RNG plays like a human opponent: it tries to spite the player to send him on a tilt. Many Video Poker players would swear that getting the card they needed in one hand as the first card of the following one, cannot possibly be pure coincidence, but if the casino you’re playing in is a fair and honest one, the fact is it cannot be anything else.
Don’t waste any time and energy trying to look for ‘dark forces’ operating in the background. The casino makes its money in a way that is advertised all over. It is simply not in the casino’s long-term interest to rig the video poker machine you play on.
While the regular payout of a Video Poker machine is somewhere in the 9.5% range, there are a number of things you can do to deny that 0.5% edge completely or even to turn it around.
You can theoretically achieve 100.7% on a full-pay Deuces Wild machine.
In order to make that happen, you need to excel at two things. First of all, you need to be capable of singling out the best paying Video Poker machine in the casino. If the casino has a slot club, you should definitely be a member, regardless of the rakeback percentage it offers in comp points.
The other skill you need to brush up on is basic strategy. Yes, that’s right, even if you can’t bluff the machine, there is an element of strategy involved in Video Poker. After all, you’re dealt five cards to begin with, out of which you have to discard as many as you want, in order to try to improve your hand for the showdown, through swapping the discarded ones with new cards. Some people decide on a strategic approach and stick to it. Others are more flexible, molding their decisions according to the situation. Some people will not hesitate to break up a pair in order to chase after a straight or a royal. If you get 10s, 10c, Js, Qs, Ks, some will always drop one of the 10s in order to go after a royal. If there’s a serious progressive jackpot involved, it is indeed the right decision to make. Bankroll management, and various other circumstances may prompt other players to drop the other three cards in order to try for trips though.
Bankroll management is an important aspect of video poker strategy too. Your bankroll needs to be big enough to handle the variance that will inevitably hit you. If you get into a game on a small bankroll, you won’t give yourself the chance to beat the variance. Make sure you fully understand the pay-table, and that you set the correct bet-size.
Every video poker game (there are several variants) has an optimal strategy that works best for it. Mind you that the optimal strategy changes with the pay-table, the rules of the game, and a few other factors involved (like the presence or the lack of a progressive jackpot).
By taking advantage of optimal strategy, you’ll be able to turn the house edge around. No, the casinos will not counter that, because very few of the VP players that they get ever bother to study and learn optimal strategy. The good news is: some VP games can be beaten. The bad news is: it takes effort and a certain level of dedication on the part of the player.
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More Video Poker Games:
Caribbean Stud Poker ( Cryptologic )
Caribbean Stud Poker ( Playtech )
Aces And Faces Poker (Playtech)
