The Basics of Video Poker Slots

Video Poker Slots – The Basics You Need To Know To Win

By Sacha Tarkovsky

Although a slot machine game, Video Poker slots if you use strategy you can put the odds in your favor, which makes them highly attractive compared to normal online slots.

Video poker slots also bridge the gap between simple slot machines and more complex table games, so it’s easy, you can use some skill and if you do, it can be a really rewarding game.

Video Poker Slots is not your typical “one-armed bandit”.

Here you have a chance to win, and where you make decisions and the outcome of the event. That means that the house odds (as compared to normal slots) can be lower if you play right and with a set strategy.

Here is How to Play

As most poker games, Video Poker Slots is also based on classic 5 card draw poker and basically uses the same rules.

The major difference of course is that you are not playing against other players, just a computer.

After an initial bet (putting coins in the slot) the machine deals five cards on the screen. At this point, the player can take up to five cards.

The player can retain the cards desired by pressing the "hold" button corresponding to individual cards shown and discard the rest.

When the player has decided what to keep and what to replace, he presses the "deal" button, and the cards discarded are replaced by new cards.

The game is now actually over.

The player wins or loses by the poker hand ranking system, and how much a player wins (if at all) is shown on the pay table.

What the Pay Table Means – How to Read it

A distinct advantage video poker has over other the other slot machines are the reward from winning can be calculated by reading the pay table on the front of the machine.

As video poker uses a 52 card deck (or a 54 card deck employing 2 jokers) there are only so many combinations of hands that can be made.

It is the number of combinations that determine the payout, and these are based on the frequency (possibility) of each winning hand.

In fact, there are 2,598,960 possible hand combinations from a 52-card deck.

The computer chip in a video poker machine is designed to simulate the probabilities of drawing any of these combinations in a random manner.

As these are fixed probabilities, the casino has adjusted the pay table of the online machines to produce the house edge which equals their long term profit.

How to Win – Despite the Odds

Even though there is a house edge against you, there are some tips to help you around those and to win by getting the odds more in your favor

1. Play maximum coins

Never bet one coin.

Always bet the full five coins and all winning hands are paid out by a factor of five (except for the royal flush). This is the incentive given as a bonus to play five coins.

All who plays less than maximum coins are just contributing to a royal flush jackpot and you need to win it to make money longer term so don’t contribute just for someone else to win it!

2. Be on the lookout for favorable payouts

Before you start playing, be on the lookout of only for machine with the most favorable payouts.

You will find the payouts for all video poker machines are the same, except for the flush, full house, or royal flush.

So, a 9 / 6 will generally hit the royal flush once for each 40,000 hands. The 8 / 5 odds are once for each 45,000 hands etc – So try and play 9 / 6 machines only. Play the 9/6 machine and you increase your odds of success.

3. Do your homework

You can find on the net, free strategy cards for various video poker slot games. There free, so take some time to study them, and get your strategy firmly in place before you begin to play.

4. Don’t Rush Your Game!

Relax, chill, and take your time.

The machine is not in a hurry and neither should you be take time to play correctly. You receive nothing extra for playing quickly.

Video Poker Slots still the Best Slot for the money

You get all the fun and excitement as you do from the other slots, except Video Poker Slots can give you some chance as it’s interactive and the outcome is dependant to a degree on the actions you take.

Visually, video slot machines offer a great graphics so if you want a visually great game that allows you to use some skill without taxing your brain to much them video poker slots are a great game to play

So in conclusion, video poker slots give you the opportunity to influence the odds in your favor a bit and can win.

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