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Everygame Casino carries several versions of video poker. The game is extremely popular because of the high return to player rate of about 99.5%, assuming that you make the best move from a statistical point of view on every hand. Gamers also love to play video poker at Everygame Mobile.
Let’s Turn the Tables on How We Look at Video Poker
The most common way to look at video poker is from the top down. First of all, that means that we start with a Royal Flush and all of the other set hands as they were dealt. If you get one of these hands, you keep it and rake in the high winnings.
These hands are a dealt Royal Flush, straight flush, full house, flush and four of a kind. Note that all of the hands except the four-of-a-kind have five cards and you keep them all. It is important for our purposes to note that the best hands are dealt hands but the most common dealt hands do not offer an immediate win.
What is the Worst Dealt Hand in Video Poker?
This is a hand with no true chance for a straight, a flush, no high cards, no connected and suited cards. In a word: a really poor hand. However, this is the most common hand in poker. In Texas Holdem, a player who “gets” a really poor hand folds before the flop.
In video poker, you can always get a winning hand by drawing and you can draw five new cards.
So, the first rule in video poker aside from not breaking a dealt big winner is to draw five new cards if you have no high card and nothing of value to keep.
What if I Do Get a High Card?
If you have a nothing burger hand and one high card, you keep the high card and draw four cards. If you manage to pair the high card, you would win. If you get lucky on the draw, you would get a much better hand and win big.
What if I Get Two High Cards?
This deal is common and is misplayed by a lot of video poker players. Most players automatically discard one of the high cards thinking that they have a better chance of pairing the high card if they draw four cards.
These players overlook the possibility that they could get a straight, two pair, or three of a kind on the draw.
In fact, the big difference here is whether the two high cards are suited. Two suited high cards have more value than two unsuited high cards. You also have to realize that a 10 suited with other high cards is of less value than if both suited high cards could give you a win if they are paired.
In Video Poker the Most Common Winning Hand is a High Card
In order to win consistently at video poker, you have to understand that a single high card is a valuable card even if it is also a lowly card.
Because players know that a high pair wins the hand, they are often leery of giving up the high pair in order to go after a better hand.
Here are the dealt hands with a winning pair where you would break the pair in order to go after a much better hand:
- Four to a Royal Flush.
- Four to a Straight Flush.
Some players make the mistake of breaking up a high pair if they also have these possibilities:
- Three to a Royal Flush.
- Four to a Flush.
- Four to an outside Straight.
These five hands do require some explanation.
Four to a Royal Flush
The four to a Royal Flush is easily the most obvious since video poker players normally bet the maximum on every hand. The extra payout for a Royal Flush is way too good to pass up even if the chances are small that you will hit it. In the case of four to a Royal Flush, you could also pair one of the high cards, get a regular flush, get a straight, and, if you have 10-jack-queen-king, you could get a straight flush with a suited 9.
Four to a Straight Flush
Here the four cards might include no high cards. Still, you could get a flush or a straight.
Three to a Royal Flush
Most players who have not studied the strategy tables well would keep the high pair here. The reason you go for the Royal Flush is because you have all of the auxiliary chances, as in four to a Royal Flush, albeit with lower odds and the payout for a Royal Flush is simply too good to pass up.
Four to a Flush
If one of the four is a high card, you might pair it. Two of the cards might be high cards. And there are 9 cards that would give you a flush. Since you are playing 9-6 video poker where you get 6 coins for a flush, this decision pays off in the long run.
There are a Few More Caveats
What if you get three unsuited high cards. In this case, the statistically best decision is to keep the lower two. This is based entirely on statistics. Computers have studied millions of hands in video poker and it is best to keep only two of the three unsuited high cards.
But why the lower two? Once again, statistics tell us that it would be easier to get a simple straight, as unexpected as that might be, if you keep two unsuited high cards.
If you have a dealt straight or flush and also four to a Royal Flush, you go for the Royal Flush. Thus is the power of that extra payout for a Royal Flush.
The last three items on our list above are three to a Royal Flush, four to a flush, and four to a straight. These are statistically just a bit inferior to a high pair.
Video Poker Statistics Run Deep
We have seen video poker charts with more than 30 line items. In other words, the very, very best strategy is a lot more complex than what we have explained here. If you follow our approach, you will have a return to player rate of about 99.5%.
Everygame Casino Offers Many Variations of Video Poker
Here we have talked about basic strategy in Jacks or Better. There are other variations with their own set of best decisions. We urge all gamers to study the best strategy for any video poker variation you wish to play.
Everygame Casino offers free play when you are checking out a variation of video poker that you are not familiar with.
We offer so much more for your gaming fun in addition to video poker. Gamers can avail themselves of thousands of dollars in deposit bonuses, free spins, over 300 games, safe banking, no waiting, and a fantastic mobile casino gaming platform.