Video Poker Strategy

Originally played only in brick and mortar casinos, video poker has since taken to the internet like many popular gambling favorites before it. For those who haven't yet played video poker online, it is a cross between a slot machine and the traditional game of poker, and can be played at many different slots online. Video poker is popular because people can now enjoy a game of poker without the need to play with others.

Playing Video Poker

Unlike other slot machine based games, it takes a good video poker strategy to perform well at video poker. This is because it takes some skill in addition to luck to get a winning hand and even turn a poor hand into a potential jackpot. There are various types of video poker games, but perhaps the most common type is "Jacks or Better". We can concentrate on this game for the sake of clarity.

Basically, in every hand that you get "dealt", the goal is to hit jacks or better. This means that the lowest paying hand is a pair of jacks and up. From here it is possible to acquire traditional hands such as three of a kind, a straight, flush, full house, straight flush, four of a kind and a royal flush. To get started, you will need to select your bet which will determine the amount of money to gamble and the amount of winnings possible for each hand.

When dealt a hand, you will have the option to hold and discard cards. Usually you will only be given one chance to be dealt new cards which will be your final hand. The total number of cards that are used for each hand is 5 (most games are loosely based on 5 card stud poker), and jokers are typically not used. After winning, players will have the opportunity to double up by gambling their winnings using a side game. This could involve choosing the suit or level (high or low) of a random card or more.

6 Important Video Poker Strategies
1) If you have been dealt a straight, flush or a straight flush - keep all of your cards.
2) If you are 1 card away from an open ended straight after acquiring 2 pairs, change the spare card for a chance at a full house.
3) If you have 3 of a kind and are 2 cards away from an open ended straight, change the 2 useless cards instead of losing the 3 of a kind.
4) If you have been dealt two high cards, then "hold" these and change the other 3. If you have been dealt several high cards, then keep 2 with the same suit for a chance at winning a flush.
5) If you just have a high card, then "hold" it and change the rest. On the same note, if you have nothing, change all 5.
6) Use the double up feature wisely (such as for small wins like a single pair), but avoid using it for high level wins.