Jim Green's guide to Video Poker
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Jim Green shares a few more thoughts on video poker, including Deuces' Wild strategy
Video poker is a beautifully simple idea. It's somewhere between a slot machine and a game of five card draw poker (more like a slot machine, but a lot more interesting to play). So, how exactly does Video Poker work?
Basically, you wager between one and five "coins" (typically between 25 cents and $5 in value, but there are smaller games, and probably larger ones) and the machine gives you five cards. You then choose which ones to hold, draw replacement cards, and are paid out based on the final value of your hand according to poker hand rankings. It sounds so simple - and that's its attraction.
The sweet thing about most kinds of video poker is that the house edge against perfect (or even near-perfect) play is very small. On some machines (Deuces Wild being the most common) a sensible player actually has a slight edge! So, how do you become a good player? Well, maximising your return gets a little tricky. Video Poker takes a different set of skills from Draw Poker. Some key things to remember.
1) The most important thing to do is to always bet the maximum number of coins for the machine you're on - ALWAYS.
Betting less than the maximum means that your payouts for big hands are disproportionally smaller. It's these big payouts that make the game profitable. Basically, betting less than five coins (play a smaller denomination machine if you have to) is one of the classic blunders (the most famous of which, as fans of the Princess Bride will know, is getting involved in a land war in South-East Asia).
2) Unlike Five Card Draw, you're not playing against anyone else, just the payout table. So you look at your cards, decide which ones to throw away and which ones to keep. There is NO value in deception - don't keep any cards that do not add value to your hand.
3) You are not trying to beat another hand, but get as much payout as possible. Since Royal Flushes (and to a lesser extent straight flushes) are so valuable, you have to pretty much take a shot at one whenever you have even a slim chance.
So, here are strategies for the two most common types of Video Poker on the internet. They might not be quite perfect, but they are pretty easy to use. As a rule, the more complicated a strategy is, the closer it comes to perfect play - it's also harder to use and there comes
Jacks or Better:
Work from the top of this list down, and keep the first set of cards that applies to your hand, discard the rest of your hand, cross your fingers for good luck and draw (crossing fingers optional, but makes the game more fun).
1) Full House or better (four of a kind, straight flush, Royal)
2) Four cards of a Royal
3) Flush
4) Straight
5) Three of a kind
6) Four cards for a straight flush
7) Two pairs
8) One pair (Jacks or better)
9) Three cards of a Royal
10) Four cards of the same suit
11) Pair (Tens or lower)
12) Open ended straight draw (2 cards will make your straight)
13) Two high cards (Jack or higher) of the same suit
14) Three cards of a straight flush
15) Two high cards of different suits
16) Ten Jack, Ten Queen, Ten King of the same suit
17) One Jack or higher
If your hand doesn't match any of these categories, then dump the lot, and hope to get lucky on the redraw.
The other main type of video poker is Deuces Wild. Like the name suggests, twos are wild cards (they can stand for whatever card you need). To counter this, you need a minimum of three of a kind to get paid. Even so, the wild cards make this machine a slightly better-paying option than Jacks or better (with normal pay-tables).
So, how to best play a Deuces wild hand?
Well, first, count up how many deuces you have. Then work your way down the appropriate list and keep the first hand that applies to your situation.
No Deuces
1) Royal Flush
2) Four cards of Royal Flush
3) Any paying hand (only keep the paying cards)
4) Four cards of a straight flush
5) Three cards of a Royal Flush
6) Pair
7) Four cards of a flush
8) Four card open-ended straight (2 cards complete the straight)
9) Three cards of a straight flush
10) Four card gutshot (1 card completes the straight) except A345
11) Two cards of a Royal Flush
Otherwise discard all your cards and hope for a bit of luck.
One Deuce
1) Any four of a kind or higher
2) Four cards of a Royal Flush
3) Full House
4) Four card straight flush draw (three consecutive cards 5-7 or better)
5) Flush
6) Straight
7) Three of a kind
8) Four to any other straight flush
9) Three cards of a Royal Flush
10) Three card straight flush draw (two consecutive cards 5-6 or better)
Otherwise just keep the Deuce
Two Deuces
1) Four of a Kind or better
2) Four cards of a Royal Flush
3) Four card straight flush draw
Otherwise, just keep the Deuces
Three Deuces
1) Royal Flush
Otherwise, just keep the deuces.
Four Deuces - Duh, keep the four deuces, it's the second best hand anyway.
So, that's a bit more about Video Poker. Remember to always play maximum coins, and keep hitting royals.Comments on Jim Green's guide to Video Poker |
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