Video poker Rules

Video Poker is based on the game of draw poker and has virtually the same rules except that you are not playing against any other players. The machine deals five cards on the screen. The player then has the option of drawing up to five new cards. (In some instances you may not want to draw any new cards) You keep the cards you want to keep by pushing the “hold” button that corresponds to the card on the screen. When you have made your choice you hit the “deal” button and the cards you discarded will be replaced by new cards. Your win or loss is determined by the outcome after of your final hand after you hit the draw button. How much you win is based on the pay table that is posted on the front of the machine.

One advantage that video poker has over regular slot machines is that you can determine the return of the game by reading the pay table on the front of the machine. Most video poker games use the combinations of hands that can be made from a standard 52 card deck. I say most because there are some Joker Poker Games that use one ore two Jokers added to the 52 card deck. One popular variation of the game is Deuces Wild which uses a 52 card deck but the deuces are wild cards. With a set number of combinations that can be made from the cards used in the game the payout can be calculated by how much the machine pays for each winning combination.

There are 2,598,960 hands that can be produced with a 52-card deck. The RNG (random number generator) in a video poker machines is set to simulate the probabilities of drawing any one of the combinations of hands. Because this is a set probability the casino gets its edge by adjusting the pay table of the machines.

Although you will not be able to make the calculations in you head. There are software programs (more on those later), strategy cards, books and internet sites where you can obtain the information you need to determine the payouts for each pay table. By knowing how to read a pay table you can make sure you are playing the machine with the best return. Some casinos will put two identical machines that have different pay tables next to each other. You want to make sure you are choosing the one with the highest return. See pay table link in the sidebar.