Free Video Poker / How to win at video poker
How to win at video poker
You win at video poker by giving up as little as possible: find a full-pay table, bet five credits, and hold the right cards every hand. Do those three things and you are playing a 99.5% game. Skip any of them and the casino's edge jumps.
1. Pick the table before you pick the machine
Read the glass. Jacks or Better should pay 9 for a full house and 6 for a flush. Deuces Wild should pay 5 for four of a kind. An 8/5 Jacks table costs more than two percent of everything you bet, and it sits right next to the 9/6 one. How to read a pay table.
2. Bet five credits
The royal flush pays 800 for 1 at five credits and 250 for 1 below that. If five credits is too much at one denomination, move to a lower denomination and bet max there. One quarter credit at max bet beats one dollar credit at one coin.
3. Learn the chart
Every dealt hand has one best hold. The chart ranks them; find the first line that matches and hold those cards. The handful of plays that cost most people the most: keeping a kicker, drawing to an inside straight, holding a low pair over four to a flush, and breaking a high pair to chase a royal. The chart and the common mistakes.
4. Start on Jacks or Better
It has the simplest chart and the smallest swings. Double Double Bonus looks exciting, and it is, but its return is lower and its strategy has more traps. Get to 95% right on Jacks before moving.
5. Know what a session looks like
More than half of hands lose. A royal comes once in 40,000 hands. A 100-hand session on a perfect-play 9/6 machine ends ahead a little under half the time, and most finishes are within a hundred credits of where you started. Winning sessions come from quads and full houses landing at the right time, not from anything you can force. The odds.
Practice where it is free
Every hold here is graded against the exact best play, so you can see your percentage climb before you sit at a machine. The trainer.
Play free video pokerNo signup. No download.
Questions
Is there a trick to winning at video poker?
No trick. The game is pay table, max bet and correct holds. Everything else, including betting systems and 'hot' machines, does nothing.
Should I play more than one hand at a time?
Triple Play and Five Play use the same strategy as single-hand play. They speed up both wins and losses. Learn single-hand first.
Does it matter which casino?
Yes, because the pay tables differ. Locals casinos in Las Vegas and some older strip properties still have 9/6 Jacks and full-pay Deuces. Read the glass wherever you are.
How long should a session be?
As long as you are playing correctly. Mistakes creep in when you are tired, and each one costs. Stop when your holds start to feel automatic in the wrong way.
More: How to play video poker · Video poker strategy · Jacks or Better · Deuces Wild · Double Double Bonus · Video poker pay tables · Video poker odds · Video poker hands, ranked · Video poker trainer