Strategy Tips for Video Poker

Video poker is something like a combination of slot machines and poker, specifically, five card draw. While the game is simple, there are some very important strategic concepts involved, more than many people suspect. Since online video poker is nearly indistinguishable from the live version, online video poker players have the opportunity to learn and practice optimal strategy from their own homes.

Basic Online Video Poker Strategy

The online video poker game you will be playing most commonly is jacks or better, meaning you need a pair of jacks or better to get a payout. The first crucial element to playing jacks or better is getting a machine with favorable odds. The standard good odds machine pays six coins for one for a flush

and nine coins for one for a full house. These are called 9/6 machines. If you are getting a smaller payout than this, move to another machine, unless you discover you are playing a game other than jacks or better with rules that make up for the loss in odds.

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Strategic Decisions

The best general video poker strategy is to keep winning hands, rather than going for a big score. In other words, don’t break up a straight to go for a flush or break up a full house to go for four of a kind, or even a pair to go for a straight. Choose your discards in such a way as to give yourself the maximum opportunity to win something, not a small opportunity to win the maximum.

Progressive Machines

Progressive video poker machines award a large progressive jackpot for hitting a high hand, generally a royal flush, and can be considered as a video poker bonus. Since all the video poker machines linked to the jackpot are paying in and the royal flush is very hard to hit, these jackpots can get extremely high. There is no real strategy to hitting the jackpot, other than the fact that the more you play the more likely you are to hit it. However, you cannot win the jackpot unless you have played the maximum number of coins that the machine allows. If you play less than the maximum, you are paying into the jackpot but cannot win it, which is highly undesirable. If you are playing a progressive machine, you should play the maximum amount of coins. If this is more money than you wish to invest, find a machine with a smaller single unit or play a non-progressive machine.

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