Video poker

Video Poker is a virtual card game, similar to classic poker but with much simpler rules. Simply put, this is a five-card draw game where you have the right to make one change.

Most of the online casinos available to New Zealand players offer the option of playing Video Poker.

Our expert team has selected the best casinos for you to play Video Poker for free or for real money.

Most popular video poker game online

screenshot of video poker game
Jacks or Better
Jacks or Better

Best Video poker casinos

How does Video poker work?

Video Poker at online casinos is played in the same way as in land-based casinos, the player is dealt a virtual hand.

Screenshot of the Videopoker game.
Videopoker Kiwi

The virtual hands would have five cards dealt the player. It is just the player and the machine RNG, no dealer or other player’s hand is dealt.

The payout table is on the video screen, or payout is painted on the glass.

On the left, two buttons are for cashing out and betting one credit. On the machine, five buttons correlate to each card that dealt with the player’s hand.

These buttons are marked withhold or cancel. On the right side, the button is marked as a deal or draw. The last bet is called bet max.

How to play Video poker?

Video Poker is actually one of the easiest games in gambling. At an online casino, you can play it free or for real money, and there are so many different titles variants of this game.

After you register at the online casino all you have to is find the Video Poker category and choose one of the listed games.

When the game starts al you have to do is set up bet size and start to play. Below you can see in steps how to play.

  • After setting up the bet you press button start (deal)
  • The player hand is dealt with them face up show their card options
  • The player can either hold or cancel the hold on the card
  • The next step during the game is that the player would push the deal or draw button. The cards in the hand that wasn’t held would then be discarded
  • New cards would then replace the ones that were discarded. This would make the player’s final hand
  • After that, the machine would compare that hand to the paytable shown on the screen
  • If it is a win, then the newly earned credits will go into the credits for the guest

After final hand players can choose to gamble (double) or collect. ( Not all video poker games offer gamble feature).

How to gamble or multiply prize in Video poker?

This option makes video poker a very exciting and interesting game. Thi virtual card game would certainly not be so popular if it were played without the “gamble” option where we have a chance to double our prize up to 10 times.

*Related: Video poker is not the only game where players can double up their winnings. An online slot with the double up feature is casino game where players can double up their winnings in the gameplay.

At Video Poker with double up or the gamble option we always have a choice to gamble or collect our prize, as wee sees in the image below.

Two options after winning hand: to gamble, or to collect.
Example of a chance to gamble prize after getting two pairs (3,3 and 8,8) at video poker

If we decide to gamble or double, the new window will be opened automatically and there we will have the opportunity to choose to gues outcome. Depending on the game type and the software we will have to guess the higher or lower card, red or black color, or some of the card sign. In the example from below we have to guess will the next card be red or black for a multiply of 2x, and for multiply of 4x we need to guess the sing of the card ( ♠♢♣♡ ).

Screenshot of the gamble feature page at Video Poker.

We have used Video Poker game Jacks or Better from Red Drake Gaming. At any time you can collect your price and stop to gamble.

The goal of the game

The big objective of video poker is to obtain the best hand- whether it is Jacks or Better or Wild Deuces, and try to win. The best way to win is to have a strategy and a basic idea on how to play the game. Winning at video poker is dependent on the machine that is played on and how the hand looks.

Video poker tips and tricks

For beginners who are playing video poker here are some tips to earning more and having fun still.

  • Understand the strategy of the game: If the player understands the game and what they are playing can get them closer to winning.
  • Play at the maximum coins: If a player hand ends up being a royal flush that can give a bigger payout, play at the max would give the player a higher chance at getting that royal flush.
  • Look out for Video Poker games to pay schedules: Looking for these kinds of nuances can help earn some money back. Checking on the pay schedules can lead to either earning and losing less or earning less and losing more over time.
  • Tip four, the last tip for beginners have fun: Losing is part of the learning experience when playing this virtual card game. Guest who wants to have fun and possibly win a little bit on the way should play in small amounts. Everyone loses, and everyone wins at some point.
  • Tip five is to practice and know the game: New players can go online to study how to play video poker. There are many online practice games of this game to teach starters. Depending on the website or software used to practice it’ll let the player know about how to fix the mistake. If the player had a Jack and Ten, the practice session would correct that if the player had Queen to use with the Jack. Players have to practice before they go to the actual Poker Video game.

Learn 12 facts you did not know about Video Poker!

The variations of Video poker games

There are different types of games for the digital poker game. In total there is a five-game type ranging from Jacks or Better down to Two Way Royal.

Jacks or Better

Jacks or Better is the standard format for most digital poker games. The play will win if their final five cards contain a pair of jacks or better. The only difference within this game type is that one version pays out differently for full houses and flushes versus to its alternate version. Payoffs tend to between a 98.4 percent to 99.5 percent chance.

Below we have listed odds.

jacks or better odds.

Joker Poker or Joker Wild

Joker Poker has another name as Joker Wild. This game is another variant of Jacks or Better. The Joker in this game type acts as the wild card. During the gameplay, the Joker can replace any other card from the deck to potentially win. With the Joker added to the mix, it creates a 53-card deck. The odds of a payout is between 95.6 to 100 percent. These odds are heavily dependent on the cards that are dealt with for the player.

Odds are listed below.

Joker Poker or Joker Wild odds list.

Deuces Wild

Deuces Wild is a different format of the poker on the computer. All the cards that are 2s are wild. The pay off is technically 100 percent if the player knows. The lowest technical pay off is 99.7 percent to 100 percent.

Odds are listed below.

Deuces Wild odds list.

Another less popular video poker games

Two Ways Royal: is a game that only certain casino games play. The main idea of the game is that two through six straight flush pays the same as the royal flush. Only when the player bets at the max bet. The chance to get a payout is a little over 45 percent but also closer to a half. In decimal format is 1 to 0.99 percent.

Aces and Eights: The game is equal to Jacks or Better, but for players, if they can get aces through 8s in the dealt playing cards, they would earn the biggest pot. If a player has an eight or ace in cards, the chance of winning is still viable. Chances of winning are 1 to -0.05 chances. That is from ace to 8 down nothing at all.

Aces and Faces: This is a different take on Jacks or Better. Players would get the same payout for a pair jacks or a pair of queens. With Aces and Faces, if the players get a four of a kind with four face cards, the earnings are larger. The payout odds for aces and faces are from 99.25 to 100 percent.

Odds

The odds of earning a payout are very likely in most virtual poker games. Most games would only have an edge to the house if the chance of winning were less likely on bigger or rarer cards.

Still, the chance of winning play with computerized poker is high than any other poker game. If the poker player finds the right game to play, they would have one over house almost every single time.

Below we have listed the common stats of odds for possible poker hands when playing Video Poker.

HandOdds
Royal Flush649,740 to 1
Straight Flush72,193 to 1
Four of a Kind4,165 to 1
Flush509 to 1
Straight255 to 1
Three of a kind47 to 1
Two Pairs21 to 1
Pair J, Q, K or A7.69 to 1
Any Pair2.37 to 1

House edge

Games with 9/6 chances of paying out are called a “full pay.” Casinos though would offer most that are 8/6 or 8/5 chances of making the payout. The number difference would give the house the edge.

To avoid the house edge, one would have to find a Deuces Wild game that is full pay. This can also be up to chance for a regular player is up against a professional video poker player to find this game.

For new and current video poker players is to study and learn about the strategies.

Hand ranking

Here you can learn winnings for different hand in video poker, learn card value and payouts winning. for Jacks or Better game.

hand ranking and value videopoker

A pair of jacks or better: A pair of jacks or better is having all high pairs such as Jack and Jack, a Queen to Queen, or even an Ace to Ace. These would lead to an overall win.

Two pairs: Two pairs are when having two cards that are the same to each other. These cards aren’t aces or face value cards like 3 to 3 or 5 to 5.

A three of a kind: A three of a kind is three cards are of the same rank 7, 7, 7. A straight meaning five in numerical order. Ace (1), 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Flush: A flush is when there are five cards of the same suit if the cards were of the same suit if the player has all clubs.

Full house: A full house is a hand that has a combination of a pair and a three of a kind. The Full House can devel to three threes and two twos.

Four of a kind: Four of a kind is having four of the same numbers. So to speak four ones in games. A straight flush is the combination of a flush and straight. A royal flush is having the ace-high with one suit. Ace-high with the Jack, King, and Queen falling under heart suit.

Online Video poker vs Video poker machine

video poker machine vs online video poker

The difference between physical video poker machines and online video poker is that there are more games to be had in the online version.

The wait though is shorter through the land casinos poker table than the online poker games. The atmosphere is different from each environment of poker.

With land-based Video Poker, there are people, lights, ringing bells, waiters, or even the smell of food around the player.

When a player is playing poker through the screen, there isn’t much of that.

The promotions and bonuses between the land and online versions aren’t too far from one another.

The bonuses and promotions vary however between casino to casino and from online casino to online casino.

The last thing is dependent on whether the player can leave the dealer table or their computer or phone is walking away.

Players at the dealer table could after a lost go and get a drink. Players playing through their computers can walk away through closing out their browsers or turning off their phone to have a break. It all depends on the players will power to walk away from it.

Video poker history

Video poker history is not so glamorous and talked about like the history of the land-based poker.

We all know that hand poker is one of the most popular casino games from the beginning of gambling. But how regular poker evaluated to a virtual and video poker is a story by its self.

The first video poker machine was presented to the world in 1970 by Dale Electronics and it was called “Poker-Matic”.

Las Vegas was the city with the first video poker machine and the Poker-Matic was installed in every Las Vegas brick-and-mortar casino.

After that at the end of 1970’s the Si Redd a distributer for Ballys gaming has presented a new casino game to his superiors in Chicago.

Si Redd presented them a casino game called Video Poker but they declined and refused that game because of fear of changing the current industry of slot machines at the time.

firs videopoker machine.

Redd has the right to keep the patent and ten years later after hard work, he made a deal with the Fortune Coin Company and formed SARCOMA, After that the mass production of poker machines has begun and the video poker became one of the most popular games at casinos worldwide.

Fun facts

  • From the distance to untrained eyes, the game is akin to that of a slot machine.
  • At more significant and more regal casinos the Video poker machine can have far over 100 different combinations.
  • In each different variation is determined by definition such as 1 cent, 10 cent, 2 dollars, and so forth with the machine to cash ratio.
  • The game types fall under those variants from Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better and so forth. Each game type is on a specific pay schedule too.
  • The exact amount of variations is around 2,598,960 playable hands.

FAQ

Are video poker games rigged?

No! All games at online casinos that we are recommending run under the computer program called “Random Number Generator”. Video poker is not excluded and all the cards are dealt randomly by this program. Always choose to play at reliable and fair casinos with legal licenses.

What is the best payout video poker game?

Best payout Video Poker game is definitely Jacks or Better with the house edge of 0,48%. Combining with the good strategy the return to player is up to 99,52%.

Where can I play video poker for free?

Video Poker is available for free at many websites, but online casinos are the best places to play video poker for free. You can play for free at one of the casinos from our list.

Sources:

  • https://gambling-systems.com/video-poker-odds-probability.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_poker
  • https://skycityauckland.co.nz/casino/gaming-machines/