How to Play Online Video Poker

Online video poker was introduced into casinos during the seventies. Today it is one of the most popular games available for players who enjoy games associated with high levels of skill, low house edges, and the possibility of large wins. The rules are relatively simple, in online video poker you play between one and five coins, and the machine will give you five cards. Of those five cards, you choose which you want to discard and which you want to hold, and the machine will replace your discarded cards and pay you according to your hand value.

The Rules

Most video poker games will be played using a standard 52-card deck, however, joker wild games may include one or more jokers in the deck. After you have made your wager and pressed the button to deal online, the game will randomly select and deal five cards from the deck. At that point, you as the player will decide which cards you want to keep and which you would like to throw away. The game will replace any discarded cards with new ones from the remaining deck, and the player will have his final hand.

Variations of Video Poker

• Jacks or Better is the game to start with for anyone who is new to video poker, as it has good pay back and relatively low variance.
• Aces and Eights comes with the additional feature of three further pays, these are for getting four sevens, eights, or aces. The variance is similar to Jacks or better, and so it can be a good game for beginners to cross into.
• Deuces wild means that all 2 value cards are wild, which adds a pay for five of a kind, four of a kind twos, and a wild royal flush.
• Double bonus offers two bonus pays for four of a kinds. With a five coin play, four aces will pay 800 coins, whereas four 2s, 3s or 4s will pay 400 coins.
• Deuces and Joker is played with a deck of fifty three cards. It is one of the few games in video poker where there is a win that can actually pay more than a royal flush. Getting four twos and a joker pays 10,000 coins at max bet.
• Jokers Wild has three main versions, including aces or better, kings or better, and two pairs or better, all relating to the lowest hand in play. Usually, kings or better is the preferred option.
• Tens or better is a good example of how casinos can make a motion to catch uninformed players out. Although it may seem that ten or better machines would have an improved payout in comparison to jacks or better, this is actually untrue.
• Bonus Deuce wild features an additional pay for four deuces with an ace kicker, as well as improved rates of pay for several five of a kind hands including five fours, five aces, and five threes. Generally, the traditional full pay deuces wild is a preferred option for most players, whether they are new or not.