Video Poker Strategies


Video poker is a great alternative to slot machines due to its lowered house edge against slot machines at casinos. Essentially, it is one of many casino games that are displayed on a computerised console that entails a fixed-odds five-card poker round game. Firstly, it is important to ascertain two popular and commonly used terms when it comes to betting of any kind namely, return to player (RTP) and house edge. Here, casino patrons need to take note of the likelihood that the casino machines will take their money in comparison to the expected rewards for them for the day. For example, a casino terminal has a RTP of 96.5%, this indicates that the poker player at the casino should likely receive MYR 96.5 on every hundred ringgit spent on the machines for the day.

Return-to-Player indicates the percentage of the money that is fed into a slot machine that will be paid out to players. The best casino machines commonly offer the highest figures of RTPs, namely among the 98% to 99% range. This does not equate to receiving 98 cents back every time you feed the machine a ringgit because RTP is calculated on the lifetime of the machine itself.

It is easier though to locate slot machines that offer drastically lower rates of RTPs, within the 70-90% range. In addition to that, some slot terminals have a tendency to be more volatile than others leading to them paying out more often but sadly, at lower rates. This makes the player feel luckier but, in reality, they are not earning more per day spent at the casino. If a player feels the need to do research on slots before heading into a game, it should be fairly easy to obtain from their local casino the list of RTPs each machine offers. Alternatively, there are plenty of sites on the internet that provide general RTPs from each specific brand and game and the volatility of the various games available.

As for house edge, it is well-known that the more time you spend playing at a casino or at a horse racing venue, the more money you will lose. In formula terms, the increase in time spent playing equals to increased chances of losing. The House Edge is a term used to illustrate the mathematical advantage that the gambling venue or sports betting range has over a player over time.

It is relatively simple to play video poker starting with the player deciding how much they want to bet on. As with most gambling and casino games, the bigger the wager, the better the rewards therefore, players should pay close attention to the paytable of their respective casino and gambling venue. After selecting the number of coins to wager on, the player will hit the deal button to receive a display of their initial five cards. Next, the poker player can decide and indicate with cards to hold on to. The next step includes clicking draw to get fresh cards for those that they did not hold on to and now they are looking at their final poker hand. The terminal or machine will then highlight the optimum available hand to play with the available cards. The player is then paid as per the paytable and the game restarts.

It is important for any players who wish to win consistently at video poker to choose their video poker games wisely. Not only does the paytables differ from casino to casino, there are various types of video poker games available such as Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Double Bonus Poker. It would be wise for casino patrons to search for poker games with High Packback Percentages to maximise their expected returns.

Playing around with probability is also crucial to not losing extra money per video poker round. A great example is if among a player's 5 cards, they have 4 cards to a royal flush (the biggest payout available on the paytable) and there’s only one card left in the deck. This indicates a 1 in 47 chance of being dealt that card. (5 of the cards are already accounted for.) That amounts to approximately 2% which says that the chances of getting that card are about 2% but, in this scenario, it's worth breaking the pair for the chance at a huge win. But if you have a pair and only three cards to a royal flush, the chances of getting both the cards you need are very low, less than 1%. So, in that situation, it's better to keep the pair. In the instance that the player finds themselves with a pair and only three cards to a royal flush, the chances of getting both the cards needed are very slim, less than 1%. So, in that situation, it's better to keep the pair.

Other than that, it would be common for a video poker player to always place max bet because as the paytable illustrates, the higher your wager, the better the end reward or prize. The paytable is displayed in a way to encourage casino goers to place max bets each time and increase the house edge against the player. Instead, the player would be better off getting familiar with the house edge of each type of poker game and playing with their strengths. Despite that, a majority of video poker games have a much smaller house strategy than average slot machines which are at over 10%.

Another strategy to excel in poker is by memorising the deck of 52 cards. By having a clear mental picture of the entire deck of cards and deducing from the cards that are currently in play, an adept poker player could very well estimate identity of the cards that are still left to be chosen from the pile as well as the possibility of the identity of the cards being held in their opponent’s hands. This strategy is known as counting cards or gaining an edge by recalling which cards have been played in the game.

An alternative strategy to this would be keeping a mental track of the probability of ratio of low value cards to high value cards. This simple trick is usually carried out when one is playing the game of poker. Essentially, cards ranging from two to six are valued at one while 7 up until 9 are given a value of zero. Lastly, ten and above will be given a negative one value. As long as the player keeps a mental score during the game along with noting how many card decks are in use, they can easily determine the outcome of the next hand.

All great veteran casino patrons are always mentioning that their greatest tip at consistent winnings is walking away. Maturing and knowing when to walk away from the gamble is a skillset that many have not mastered. Considering the odds, deciding that more time spent gambling will bring about more money lost than won and noticing it as a sign to walk away takes great discipline. As with all game hacks, tips and tricks, the contents of this article should not be used or taken into account as financial advice. If any of these tips are illegal in your country or local region, one should refrain from acting on them. This article does not in any way condone the act of cheating and would strongly advise against it. Gambling or wagering of any kind should be carried out with caution and players are highly encouraged to gamble within their means to avoid any detriment to their financial health. Besides that, in most countries, the legal gambling age is 21 with this varying with regards to local or regional rules and regulations.

Link:
https://www.gamblingsites.com/blog/how-win-at-video-poker/
https://www.gamblingsites.com/blog/how-to-get-rich-gambling-39417/
https://www.casino.org/video-poker/how-to-play/

Keywords: video poker, poker, poker tips, paytable, paytables
Sub Keywords: gambling, winning poker, poker hacks