Poker Winner Blog

Video poker shares some of the characteristics of a slot machine. The gambling gear itself is housed in a similar cabinet, and most have a coin slot and a payout hopper. Many have a slot-club card reader and/or a bill acceptor. The important difference is that on a reel slot you just pull the handle and hope for the best, but video poker involves an element of skill.

To the novice player, the main attraction of video poker is the prospect of pitting wits against the machine in fast action with a chance at a big jackpot. To the skilled player, however, the appeal is that some games offer an opportunity for a long-term profit. Just as in a live poker game, you can expect a considerable amount of risk and luck involved in the short term, but a player’s skill can make the difference between a winner and a loser in the long run.

Unlike the no-brainer reel slots, the maximum payback of any video poker game can be ascertained from the game’s payoff schedule. No, you don’t have to do any math; just compare the payoff schedule shown on the glass or the screen of every machine with the tables below. A game’s rated payback — the statistically projected return on money played — generally assumes perfect play. But leave perfection to the pros; we won’t even attempt it here, yet we will easily get very close to the rated payback for a much higher return than is possible on any other low stakes casino game.

Getting started

The slot-club rebate may make up a significant portion of your expected win rate, or it may even turn a negative expectation game into a positive situation. If the casino has a slot club and you don’t have a card, you should get one before you begin playing.

Nearly every casino has a slot club, and membership is free. Before playing, go to the slot-club booth, fill out an application, and get your card. You may want to ask for two cards so you have a spare in case you leave one behind, or if you want to play two machines at once. In some casinos, your friend or spouse would be on the same account, and in others each of you would have a separate account.

Slot clubs have a variety of inventive names, but they all serve the same purpose of enticing you to play more at that casino by offering comps (compensation) and/or cash rebates for your play. Check out the club brochure for information on what you can get for your loyalty to that casino.

Paying hands

Now you’re ready to play. To begin a hand, insert the number of coins you want to play. Although most machines accept from one to five coins, some accept only three or four, some accept eight or ten, and a few accept up to 100 coins. Always play at least the number of coins required to qualify for the full per-coin payoff on all jackpots (five coins on most machines).

After inserting the coins or pressing the Max Bet button, the machine “deals” your first five cards. Most machines immediately tell you if you have a dealt paying hand by beeping and displaying the type of hand. Select the cards that you want to keep by pressing the Hold buttons. There is one Hold button for each card on the screen. On most machines, you can press the same Hold (or Hold/Cancel) button again to deselect a card. The word HELD appears on the screen above, below, or across the center of each card selected.

Some of the newer machines have touch-sensitive screens, enabling you to select which cards to hold simply by touching their images on the screen. You can also touch the screen for the Bet and Deal functions, but most serious players speed up the process by using the buttons for all functions.

You can sometimes break up a paying hand that’s been dealt. For example, you may choose to break a dealt flush or straight in favor of a four-card royal flush draw — most of the strategy depends upon the actual game.

When you’re satisfied with your selection, press the Deal/Draw button to replace the discards in an attempt to make a winning hand (or to improve an existing winner), just as you would do in a live draw poker game. The game is then over. If you end up with a winning hand, the machine automatically pays according to the payoff schedule.

Most modern machines provide for credit play. That is, your wins step up a credit counter on the screen instead of automatically dropping coins, and you may bet from those credits rather than insert coins for your next play. If you are playing at over 100 percent expected payback, your average win rate is in direct proportion to your playing speed. So, always use credit play for maximum speed. Some machines feature Max Bet buttons for playing the maximum number of coins, or Replay or Deal buttons for requesting the same number of coins as for the preceding play. In either case, the deal for your next hand begins when you press one of the buttons.

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