Video Poker Guide

If you’re familiar with online poker you might think that video poker is very similar, but that’s simply not true. The only thing that the two games share is the poker combinations that are used to determine the value of a hand. Other than that they are very different. Video poker is a computerized game that relies on reels and a simple card draw process. There’s also a table of prizes that are paid out based on your bet amount.

Online poker is played with cards rather than reels, and payouts aren’t as simple or set as video poker. There is more chance and strategy to poker games, especially when playing against other players from around the world. Video poker is a simple game similar to pokies that is good for players that want a straightforward experience, or for players just trying to learn the poker combinations. Online poker is more complex and good for players that understand basic poker strategies and want more of a challenge.

Video poker is quite simple to play as long as you know the common poker combinations and how to go for them as you play. The basic idea behind the game is that you get five or seven reels that represent cards values. You can choose to keep all or none of those cards and then draw a second set of cards in most of the video poker variations that you’ll play. You want to keep the good cards and get rid of the bad in order to make a winning hand and get paid out a prize.

It takes a bit of practice and strategy to start being successful with video poker, but you want to keep winning hands whenever you have them, except when you have a decent shot at a royal flush, because that’s the biggest payout that you can get and you should always go for it when it’s available.

Video poker was invented in the 1970’s when personal computers were just becoming a reality. A man names Si Redd came up with the idea for the game and tried to get Bally, a major slot machine distributor to take the game on and try to produce it. The executives wanted nothing to do with it and gave Redd permission to patent the game himself and the rest is history. He was able to convince the Fortune Coin company to produce the first run of video poker machines, and by 1981 video poker was a highly popular addition to casinos around the world. The first machines with very simple affairs with bulky CRT television sets and simple graphics, but they were still enjoyable to play.

Originally video poker only paid out to holders of a two pair or higher, but eventually machines began paying for a pair of jacks or better, which only served to make them even more popular with players. Draw poker was the first type of video poker offered and more complex versions weren’t released until much later on. Si Redd took his video poker company Sircoma public a year after machines were released around the world and changed the name to IGT or International Game Technology, a company most people are very familiar with today.

Now there are hundreds of different video poker variations and machines all around the world. IGT is still going strong and Si Redd is much better off for creating one of the most popular machine gambling games of the century.

Video poker is a game where strategy really matters, and many of the games have excellent odds when you know what you are doing. Essentially you should always go for a royal flush whenever the opportunity is there and you are off by a single card, unless you already have a straight flush. You should go for a straight instead of a flush when you have the same chance for either.

You should stick with a pair whenever possible unless you’re only a single card away from a significantly improved hand such as a flush or a straight. Essentially you want to make the most of the good hands that you get, and only try for better hands when you have a good chance at getting them, and when they are significantly better. If you do this while you play you’ll have a good experience and enjoy winning quite regularly as well.

Whenever you are evaluating a video poker game that you are thinking about playing, make sure that you take a long look at the pay table that it offers. You want the game that’s going to pay out as much as possible for the different prizes. The lower the pay table is, the less profitable the game is going to be overall. There’s no reason to pick out those low paying options when you are making a selection, they generally will not offer you wins any more often than the high paying options, you’ll just get less from them when you do eventually win the game.

Picking out the ideal video poker game and the right casino to play it at takes time and a bit of research. Our experts can help you cut down on the time involved and with figuring out the right casino option as well, but only if you trust in their advice. You’ll learn about the gaming options available at different casinos, the security features that they offer and why they are worth playing at. If you spend a bit of time reading you shouldn’t have any trouble figuring out where you should really be playing.