Video poker made its entry to the casino in the seventies; and today one of the most popular forms of gambling. For the player who likes a game of skill, a low house edge, the possibility of large wins, and the anonymity of playing alone there is nothing else that can compare to video poker. The rules of video poker are simple; you play 1 to 5 coins, the machine give you five cards, you choose which to hold and which to discard, the machine replaces your discards and pays you off according to the value of your hand.
You may have heard the adage that the “house always has the advantage.” Video poker is an exception to that rule. If you look for the most liberal pay tables, and play them properly, you can have a thin advantage. Some pay tables, which are slightly in the machine’s favor, can return over 100%, if you factor in incentives such as cash back, free play, mailers, and other comps.
Video poker is one of my personal favorites to play. It isn't as strong as it was when I first moved to Las Vegas in 2001. However, good opportunities are still out there.
Video Poker is the perfect combination of skillful and strategic poker with exciting and surprising slots. It is a game in which you, the player, must battle out a single hand of poker against the machine. Because you are not competing against other players, Video Poker is also a great way for beginning poker players to improve their skill. EuroGrand has a variety of video poker games, including Jacks or Better, Aces and Faces, Mega Jacks and 2 Ways Royal.
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The odds
The odds on a given hand vary from game to game, of course, but generally speaking the house edge on Video Poker games is pretty small, even 0% in some cases. Where the Video Poker games get an edge is with players who do not follow an optimum strategy. In other words, winging any given game based on a loose understanding of Poker is going to lose you money.
Each Video Poker variation has its own quirks when it comes to the odds and optimum player strategy. In the next section we'll give you a rough guide to the most popular games, but detailed strategy guides would take pages. If you're serious about Video Poker, try some of the material in our reference section. Smart players can do pretty well at Video Poker.
Jacks or better
Jacks Or Better strategy can get a little complicated. For a full analysis check our references below, or follow this rough strategy guide:
Keep any hand that already pays. Possible exceptions, by potential value, are:
* Hold four card Royal Flushes to make Straights or Flushes.
* Four card straight flushes, inside or outside.
* High card Pairs rank here.
* Three card Royal Flushes.
* Four card Flushes.
* Low Pairs rank here, trying to build Three Of A Kind.
* Four card Flushes.
* Four card Straights. Hold inside Straights only if you've got three or more high cards (J, Q, K, A).
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