Learn Play Poker

Hey Guys,

Hope everyone is well. I am doing pretty good this week, lots of work, play and food and not much sleep! Anyway one thing that I wanted to mention was that I got a kick ass Jack Daniels dealer chip come, very nice although some scammer is trying to sell it on EBay.

Anyway, here is you article, this one is about video poker, it’s a good read especially as most people in America actually don’t play video poker. Hope you enjoy and remember you can get in touch with any questions and I will sort out an answer ASAP.

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Video Poker is in many ways a cross between poker and a slot machine.  It is poker in the sense that it is played with a standard deck of fifty two playing cards.  The cards are shown electronically on a video screen.  The payoffs are set forth in a manner consistent with the game of poker.  The better hand you form the higher your payout becomes.

Video poker is also very similar to a slot machine when you consider the payout schedule.  On most machines there is a massive jackpot for a royal flush that increases with each pull of the handle on one or sometimes a series of different machines.  This is why you play a hand of video poker much different than you would play the same hand at a table game.

You start a hand of video poker by placing coins in the slot and pulling the handle.  You are then dealt a five card poker hand.  The mechanics of the game now are very similar to five card draw poker.  You decision now is which cards to keep and which cards to discard.  To make this decision you need to know the payoff schedule for the machine you are playing. Not all machines are equal.  Most video poker machines only payoff for a pair of jacks or higher.  In table poker you would consider a hand like a pair of tens to be good. In video poker it is preferable to discard this hand often.  After you make your decision you press a button and the final cards are dealt.  You win based where your hand fits on the schedule of payouts.

The key concept you must consider is the payout schedule and most importantly the amount of any progressive jackpots.  Assume you are playing a $1 machine that has a current jackpot of $15,450.  You are dealt king of hearts, king of spades, jack of spades, ten of spades and two of diamonds.  In real draw poker you would keep the two kings are draw three cards.  In video poker this is all wrong.  The concept of a progressive jackpot must change your thinking.  Keeping the two kings ensures you win a small prize, maybe a medium sized prize if somewhat lucky.

Consider what happens when you keep the three high spades.  By drawing two cards you give yourself a chance to hit the progressive jackpot of $15,450.  Sure the odds are long; you can mathematically calculate them to be 2070-1 against (46 x 45).  But the payoff justifies the gamble.  When you are getting paid over 15,000 to 1 to take a gamble of only just over 2000 to 1 it is a good bet.  You therefore must rethink your strategy when playing video poker. You cannot play as you would a real poker hand, that is how a casino makes its money on these machines. You must think big and take long shot bets when the numbers dictate.