Video Poker Guide
Video Poker Guide
The popularity of video poker has increased tremendously in the last few years. This is because video poker gives a player a chance to use skill instead of just inserting coins and pulling the handle. Some of the games offered have over 100% return in the long run when using correct playing strategy. Although most of the games with “Positive Expectations” i.e. 100% payback are offered in Nevada, there are full pay video poker machines that offer higher returns than slot machines in many gaming destinations. When you combine full pay video poker with your players club benefits you can come up with a winning strategy.
The advantage of playing video poker is that a player can determine the “Expected Return” (ER) of a machine by looking at the pay table on the front of the machine. 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. By knowing how to read a pay table you can make sure you are playing the machine with the best return. I have seen two identical looking machines next to each other with different pay tables.
Let’s take a look at standard Jacks or Better and Bonus Poker machines. The pay table is shown below. The Royal Flush pays 250 per coin with a bonus 4,000 coin pay out when you play the maximum five coins. This is shown as 250/4000. The bonus for the royal flush is figured in to the overall return. The key to the Jacks or Better game is the pay out for the Full House (9) and the Flush (6). A machine with this pay table is referred to as a 9/6 machine and has an ER of 99.5 percent. The full pay Bonus Poker game pays eight for the Full House and five for the Flush. This is because of the bonus pay out of 80coins for the four-of-a-kind Aces and 40 coins for the twos threes and fours. The casinos lower the pay out by reducing the coins paid for the full house and the flush. A quick rule of thumb is that the pay out will be reduced by approximately 1.1% for each coin taken away from either of these hands.
|
|
Full pay Deuces Wild offers a 100.7 return. The key to the return is the five coins paid for the four-of-a-kind. By reducing the four-of-a kind pay out to four coins they reduce the over all return by whopping 6.4%. This is quite a reduction in the overall return.
| Machine | Full Pay | Low Pay |
| Royal Flush | 250/4000 | 250/4000 |
| 4 Deuces | 200 | 200 |
| Wild Royal | 25 | 25 |
| 5 of-a-kind | 15 | 15 |
| Straight Flush | 9 | 9 |
| 4 of-a-kind | 5 | 4 |
| Full House | 3 | 3 |
| Flush | 2 | 2 |
| Straight | 2 | 2 |
| 3 of-a-kind | 1 | 1 |
| Return | 100.17 | 94.3 |
Double Bonus Poker is another game that offers a return of over 100% with proper play on a full pay machine. The game pays double for the four-of-a-kinds over the standard Bonus Poker game and gives you an extra coin for the straight . To make up for this additional bonus the two pair pay out is reduced to one coin. The key to adjusting the overall return still lies in the pay out for the Full House and Flush.
| Machine | Full Pay | Low | Lower |
| Royal Flush | 250/4000 | 250/4000 | 250/4000 |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| 4 – Aces | 160 | 160 | 160 |
| 4 - (2 3 4’s) | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| 4 (5-K’s) | 50 | 50 | 50 |
| Full House | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Flush | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| Straight | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 3 of-a-kind | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 Pairs | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Jacks | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Return | 100.7 | 99.1 | 97.8 |
Although video poker machines may look alike they are quite different. It is up to you to read the pay table before you sit down and make sure you are choosing the machine that will offer the best return. Any Video Poker machine can be analyzed to determine the Expected Return.
