Video poker is an easy game to play. it is not so easy to master. Unlike slots, craps, roulette and keno or other games that are pure chance, a basic understanding of video poker will give you the edge and will result in a long term advantage, meaning, dollars in the pocket of the smart video poker player.

Many professional gamblers now target video poker and the reason is simple. You can win. There is no secret or magic system just pure video poker mathematics. Just common sense and a little understanding of the game, you don't need to be a mathematician.

There are many variations of video poker around. You just cannot go to an unfamiliar game. There are over 20 varieties of video poker and expect to win big in a few hands if you are not familiar with the game. Video poker is not by any means a mindless game!

Online video poker can be far looser than Las Vegas video poker because of the less cost involved and some online casinos offer 100%+ video poker payouts!

Video Poker Basics

Video poker is a high payout game with many casinos offering 100% plus payouts. How can they do that? The reason is simple. Casinos rely on player error in video poker. Basically, you make mistakes and the casino wins. How do you avoid this?

The answer is in perfect video poker play. I remind you this is not a system, but grounded in mathematical common sense. For every video poker game type there is a particular way to play to your maximum advantage. There are over 20 popular video poker game types and this can be confusing to the beginner. All share the same principle of video poker. You bet, you are dealt your hand (usually 5 cards) and you decide to hold and discard certain cards.

What do I hold and what do I discard in video poker? Good question! It depends entirely on the game you are playing. let us start with the grand daddy of video poker, Jacks or Better (aka JoB) and the easiest to learn. With Jacks or Better (and any video poker game) the first thing is to look at the video poker paytables.

Video Poker Paytables Explained

Video poker paytables are the payout figures expressed on top of the video poker machine and are the much ignored key to getting the upper hand in video poker play. They display the return for hands won from a bet of 1 to 5 coins on an average machine. We always bet 5 coins (max bet) as that is the only way to achieve the maximum payout. A typical Jacks or Better Paytable looks like this:

Hand           Coins Bet>>	1	2	3	4	5
Royal Flush	250	500	750	1000	4000
Straight Flush	50	100	150	200	250
4 of a Kind	25	50	75	100	125
Full House	9	18	27	36	45
Flush	6	12	18	24	30
Straight	4	8	12	16	20
3 of a Kind	3	6	9	12	15
2 Pairs	2	4	6	8	10
Pair of Jacks or Better	1	2	3	4	5

The paytable is not just eye candy to show what could be won, it is in fact the key to determining how you would play any chosen game.
There are other Jacks or Better games offering different payouts and lower percentages than 9/6 (NINE coins for a FULL HOUSE and SIX coins for a FLUSH). We are looking at the 9/6 game as it is the most popular of the Jacks or Better and offers a return of 99.5%. There are 32 ways to hold any dealt hand and it is the probability of winning combinations that give us the return percentage for any given video poker game.

Full Pay Video poker

Full pay video poker is the best payout schedule offered for a particular video poker game. For example, 9/6 Jacks or Better as opposed to 8/6 Jacks or Better, and any game with a full pay schedule plus a progressive jackpot. A video poker machine where the Maximum Average Payback is near 100%. For example, a Full Pay Jacks or Better machine has a Maximum Average Payback of about 99.5%, and a Full Pay Deuces Wild machine has a maximum average payback of about 100.7%

Video Poker Game Types

There has been an explosion of video poker game variations. On this site we feature 20 plus video poker variations of the game. Basically there are Jacks or Better video poker, Bonus video poker games and the Wild Card video poker type games like Deuces Wild video poker and Jokers Wild video poker. The Bonus video poker games offer payouts for additional bonus hand types displayed in the payout tables.

For example:

Bonus Video Poker

offers additional payouts for Four Aces, Four Deuces, Threes or Fours.
Double Bonus Video Poker has bonus payouts typically for Four Aces, Four deuces, Threes or Fours and Four Fives through Kings.

Double Double Bonus Video Poker

Has bonus payouts typically for Four Aces, Four Aces with a Deuce, Two, Three or Four kicker*, Four Deuces, Threes or Fours with an Ace through Four kicker*, Four Deuces, Threes or Fours and Four Fives through Kings.

Double Double Jackpot Video Poker

Has bonus payouts typically for Four Aces, Four aces with a King, Queen or Jack kicker*, Four Kings, Queens or Jacks with an Ace, King, Queen, Jack kicker and Four Deuces through Tens.

*A Kicker in video poker is the 5th card when you have 4 of a kind, it will affect the payout. eg. In double double bonus video poker, when you have 4 Aces, deuces, threes or fours, the fifth card must be an Ace, deuce, three or four to receive the bonus payout. In double double jackpot the same applies to 4 Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces, if the kicker is a Jack, Queen, King or Ace.

The Wild Card games such as the popular Deuces Wild have the Deuces (Two's) as the Wild Card. Simply put, If I drew a pair of Seven's and a Deuce, this would be counted as Three Of A Kind. There are also Jokers Wild Games, Seven's Wild and other variations.

More info can be found at Video Poker 1