Video Poker Rules

Video Poker came into play in the early 1970’s but was not easily accepted in the beginning. It quickly became acceptable due to the ease of use to the gambler. The basic premise is there is no involvement between player and the dealer. The system runs on a random number generator to decide the card combinations. Video poker still uses 52 card deck and it is the job of the gambler to guesstimate the possible outcome. Video poker quickly became more popular than table poker because if the gambler calculates the probability of the combination correctly they can see a return of more than 80 percent. Few players actually know how to do this but, it involves taking the 52 cards from the deck and correctly calculating the frequency of the combinations. In the 80’s Si Redd locked down much of the video poker gaming industry by obtaining exclusivity in manufacturing video poker machines. His machines are currently are on the floor of over half of the casinos in the US today. The only other main competitor in the manufacturing of video poker machines is Bally. Over the years video poker popularity has peaked so high that their space has taken up more than half of casino gambling floors.

The first thing to know about Video Poker rules are the hand and their ranking against one another. The Suits in Poker are Hearts, Clubs, Spades and or Diamonds. The ranking order of poker hands from lowest to highest is a Pair of Jacks or better, Two Pair, Three of Kind and a straight. Following the Straight is a Flush, Full House, Four Of A Kind, Straight Flush and a Royal Flush. A Royal Flush must have the same suit and has to include an Ace, King,Queen, Jack and the number 10. A straight flush is the same suit with five consecutive cards. Four of a kind is four card of same rank meaning four 10,s with different suits. A full house is when you have 3 cards of one rank and 2 of another, for example three cards with 5’s and two cards of 3’s. A Flush is five cards of the same suit meaning 2,5,8.10 of diamonds. A Straight is 5 cards in consecutive order with different suits, meaning you could have a 5,6,7,8,9 but the suits are diamond, club, spade, heart and club.

Three of a kind is when the player has 3 cards of the same rank but with different suits. If a player has three 5’s with the suit of diamond, club and a spade then they would have 3 of a kind. Two pair is when a player has 2 cards of the same rank and 2 other set of cards with a different rank; for instance when a player has 2 8’s and 2 7s in the same hand. Lastly the lowest hand is a pair of jacks or better meaning the player has 2 jacks, or 2 queens, or 2 kings or 2 aces. Learning these combinations will aid in letting you know hen you have a winning hand.

Now that you understand the cards, their rankings, and what translates into a win we now need to understand the hardware itself and how to operate it. The majority of video poker machines use a 5 card draw and very few use a seven card draw. Unlike table games there is no dealer or other players hands to beat. The firsts visual is usually the video screen where the player sees the cards being dealt. Any hand that results in a win is shown to the player as electronic credit on the screen, and at the gamblers request may be cashed out. Each unit will have a bill slot opening or credit card slot where players insert cash or swipe cards and their credits appear on the screen. Some main buttons on the screen will either say Bet Credit, Cash Out, Hold/Cancel, Bet Max and then of course Deal/Draw. The first step is for the player to press Bet and depending on the max and the gamblers choice, they can choose how many credits to bet. After the first bet is made, you must press the Deal button and five cards will be Dealt. Once five cards are dealt it is up to the player to decide what cards to hold, if any. Press Deal again and any cards that are not held will go away and new card will turn up. If the players hand ranks higher than the computers hand then the appropriate amount of credits will be added to the players credits on screen. The player can the decide to play another hand or press the cash out option and get a printed paper with their winnings. The winnings are then presented with ID to the casino cashier and cash is given.

Now that you have learned the tactile rules of playing video poker there is a strategical side of playing the game. While these rules don’t always guarantee a payout they will improve your chances. These are tips and tricks to holding certain cards when they have been dealt. First it is always best to hold any of the ranking payout hands, meaning a two pair, flush, royal flush, straight, etc. But there are instances where you can get a better hand than what you currently have. For instance, if a player has 3 of a kind it is better to discard the other two cards so there is a chance you can a full house or four of a kind. Some would see the three of a kind and hold all five cards instead of shooting for a better hand and a higher win. So its always best to save the best hand and discard remains because, then there is always the chance of a better hand.

Once you have this tip mastered you can move onto more complex methods of trying to calculate the correct outcome. Another important tip is to remember don’t over bet what you have to spend, because video poker machines payout over time. A machine that takes 5 dollars max bet at a time usually wont pay out for an individual who has less than fifty dollars to spend. Understand these rules, tools and tips, will definitely help the novice gambler enter and succeed in the world of video poker .