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Here at Everygame Casino, we call video poker a game of skill. It is a game of chance as well since, even if you make the correct decision on every hand in terms of which cards to hold on to and which cards to replace, the cards don’t know what decision you have made.
With the best strategy on every hand, your return to player rate in video poker is about 99.5%.
So, the first area we all have to learn to achieve the great 99.5% return to player rate is to learn how to evaluate the five cards you are dealt.
Some Hands are Obvious Keeps
If you are dealt a Royal Flush, straight flush, full house, or four of a kind, you keep those hands. To get these hands on the deal is extremely rare. The reason a full house is last in the hierarchy of hands below the others is because it is easier, not easy but easier, to get a full house on the draw than to fill four of a kind, a straight flush, or a Royal Flush.
The Next Set of Hands are Much More Common
After a full house, working down from the top of the hierarchy of hands is the flush, then the straight, and finally three-of-a-kind , two pair, and one pair. In video poker, if you don’t have so much as a high card, you replace all five dealt cards.
If you are dealt either a straight or a flush, you will almost always hold onto it because there will usually be no other hand that you can improve to. The exceptions are if you also have four to a straight flush or to a Royal Flush.
Now, we have arrived at the tricky part of video poker strategy: there are times when you will give up a winning hand in order to go for a better winning hand.
How Can a Gamer Know When to Break up a Winning Hand?
It takes a little analysis to see how this can be good strategy. Let’s say that you have 4 cards to a flush and a winning pair. The best strategy is to keep the four to a flush and discard the second card of the pair. Of course, you are giving up a winning hand but it is the weakest winning hand and a flush is a much better winning hand. There will be many times that this kind of hand occurs and certainly you will not get the flush every time.
Playing the Odds
The reason that breaking up a winning pair in some hands is correct is because you can get other winning hands. Let’s see what the odds are that you will win the hand.
After the deal, there are 47 cards left in the deck. 8 of them are of the suit you need for the flush; thus, you have 8 out of 47 chances to get the flush.
You also have a high card that was part of the original winning pair. You could get another card to give you another winning pair. This is 2 cards out of 47.
If you had another high card in the hand, there are 3 more cards that can give you a winning pair.
The bottom line is that the payout for a flush is worth taking the chance on breaking up the pair and the chances of getting a winning pair if you don’t get the flush simply increase your winning chances.
Video Poker is a Game of Attention and Concentration
Slots are different. Players play slots for the sheer fun of spinning the reels and hoping for a good combination. As an online casino, Everygame offers about 200 slots. Gamers can, and should, play all of our slots over time. We would venture to say that no one plays all of the slots offered at a land-based casino no matter how many long weekends they spend at the casino!
The kind of attention we urge gamers to pay to slots is how different they all are. Some use color, some are more about ancient cultures than about color, some are futuristic, and some are fantastical. The great fun you can have playing slots is in their great variety.
In video poker, you need to really think on every hand. As much as slots are a fast-moving casino game, video poker should be a much slower game. You should take your time deciding what to hold and what to discard in video poker.
A lot of people have jobs that require close attention to detail and deep concentration. If you play video poker seriously, you will find that the attention and concentration the game requires carries over to your work.
Naturally, video poker is not the only game that requires attention to detail and deep concentration. Even at the casino, we offer blackjack as well as video poker and blackjack also requires attention to detail and close concentration on every hand.
Variations of Video Poker
Everygame Online Casino offers several variations of video poker. Aside from Jacks or Better which is the most commonly played video poker variation, the next favorite is Deuces Wild. If and when you venture forth to play other video poker variations, you will need to study the best strategy for that game.
Each game has slightly different rules so you should learn them before playing for real money. Fortunately, Everygame Casino offers free play. We feel that gamers should have the chance to learn the ins and outs of any new game without taking the financial risk of a bet.
Everygame Pays 9-6 for a Full House and a Flush
When video poker was introduced, the casinos had to decide on a fair payout for every hand. In Deuces Wild, for instance, there is no payout for a simple pair. In Jacks or Better, casinos had to arrive at a payout for a full house and a flush that would be to the benefit of both the gamer and the casino.
It is unfortunate that many land-based casinos now pay only 8-5 or 7-5 for a full house and a flush.
Everygame Casino Offers 300 Games and Counting
In addition to slots, blackjack, and video poker we offer a wide range of table games. We also have several casual games. Gamers who play online at Everygame have come to love to end a session with a few rounds of Banana Jones.
Ol’ Banana is just the cuddliest creature around! You’ll love him when you join Everygame.