Video poker is the game for you if you are looking for purely mathematical thrill at the casino. However, early on, it is important for you to know how to play one. Many people, who play video poker, do so because it bears resemblance to many other poker games that they have played like "Texas Hold'Em", Omaha, Stud and most of all, Five Card Draw. These poker games are different from Video Poker in one respect: Usually, poker games have many players in a game. Video poker has only one player - and that is you.
So here is how to play video poker: Think of it as a solitaire variant of Five Card Draw. You first choose a coin value, for which you want to play, then you bet a certain number of coins, then you receive five cards (first draw). You can choose to discard some of the cards, or even all of them. Then you follow the procedures to receive new cards (second draw). You get no more draws beyond the second draw. To determine how much you win, each video poker machine shows the payout table for the different types of poker hands. The casino profits from video poker machines because there are different payout tables for different pokermachines.
That gives players who want to find out how to play poker a ray of hope. Clearly there can be machines which, in the long run, are easier to beat than others? What's good in video poker is that you can control your fate and you have no opponent at all, so you don't have to bring those sophisticated moves that you may have been always using while playing regular poker games with other people. What is important for you to know are (1) the different poker hand rankings and (2) knowing the odds that you'll make highly desirable hands.
Knowing the hand rankings is a "no-brainer" piece of advice. To refresh you, the different poker hands from lowest to highest are: high card (when no pair is formed), one pair (two cards of the same rank), two pair (two cards of one rank and two cards of a another rank), three of a kind (three cards of the same rank), straight (five cards in sequence; an Ace can be high or low), flush (five cards of the same suit), full house (a pair and a three of a kind combined), four of a kind (four cards of the same rank), straight flush (five suited cards in sequence), and royal flush (a Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all suited). Many poker machines require the minimum hand to be a Pair of Jacks or better for you to win something.
Now that you know the hand rankings, you should know the odds of forming hands when you have five cards already. Odds are highly situation specific, so here are some tips to keep in mind so that you can make a long-run profit: (1) If you already have one pair, discard three cards so that you can attempt for a three of a kind instead of keeping a kicker. But if you have a two pair, don't discard a pair and the unpaired card; only discard the unpaired card so that you can draw to get a possible full house. (2) If you have a pair and an open-ended straight draw (such as 10-10-9-8-7), don't aim for the straight. Aim for the three of a kind by discarding the three unpaired cards. (3) If you have a hand that could conceivably not win anything, then discard all your cards and draw anew. Don't keep any lone Ace, King or whatever.
So here is how to play video poker: Think of it as a solitaire variant of Five Card Draw. You first choose a coin value, for which you want to play, then you bet a certain number of coins, then you receive five cards (first draw). You can choose to discard some of the cards, or even all of them. Then you follow the procedures to receive new cards (second draw). You get no more draws beyond the second draw. To determine how much you win, each video poker machine shows the payout table for the different types of poker hands. The casino profits from video poker machines because there are different payout tables for different pokermachines.
That gives players who want to find out how to play poker a ray of hope. Clearly there can be machines which, in the long run, are easier to beat than others? What's good in video poker is that you can control your fate and you have no opponent at all, so you don't have to bring those sophisticated moves that you may have been always using while playing regular poker games with other people. What is important for you to know are (1) the different poker hand rankings and (2) knowing the odds that you'll make highly desirable hands.
Knowing the hand rankings is a "no-brainer" piece of advice. To refresh you, the different poker hands from lowest to highest are: high card (when no pair is formed), one pair (two cards of the same rank), two pair (two cards of one rank and two cards of a another rank), three of a kind (three cards of the same rank), straight (five cards in sequence; an Ace can be high or low), flush (five cards of the same suit), full house (a pair and a three of a kind combined), four of a kind (four cards of the same rank), straight flush (five suited cards in sequence), and royal flush (a Ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace, all suited). Many poker machines require the minimum hand to be a Pair of Jacks or better for you to win something.
Now that you know the hand rankings, you should know the odds of forming hands when you have five cards already. Odds are highly situation specific, so here are some tips to keep in mind so that you can make a long-run profit: (1) If you already have one pair, discard three cards so that you can attempt for a three of a kind instead of keeping a kicker. But if you have a two pair, don't discard a pair and the unpaired card; only discard the unpaired card so that you can draw to get a possible full house. (2) If you have a pair and an open-ended straight draw (such as 10-10-9-8-7), don't aim for the straight. Aim for the three of a kind by discarding the three unpaired cards. (3) If you have a hand that could conceivably not win anything, then discard all your cards and draw anew. Don't keep any lone Ace, King or whatever.
