Casino

Video Poker Rules

Video poker first became available in land based casinos in the 1970's. It quickly became a popular game because there are opportunities for very high payouts and the game does not have the same large house advantage that games like roulette and slot machines have.

Online video poker was made available with the advent of the first Internet casinos in the mid 1990's. The rules for regular poker and online video poker have some similarities and some differences and this overview of online video poker rules should give you a better understanding of what to expect when you sit down to play.

The Basics

The basic rules of video poker as far as the rankings of hands, discarding and drawing cards etc. are the same as a regular poker game played with a deck of cards. The rankings of the individual cards are Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and then the numbers 10 through 2. In poker, whether you are playing a seven card game or a five card game, the goal is to make your best possible five card hand. The rankings of the possible hands are as follows:

Royal Flush - The royal flush is is the best possible hand in the game of poker. It is an ace high straight flush meaning that all five cards are in sequence ie. 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace and are all the same suit, either spades, clubs, hearts, or diamonds.

Straight Flush - As described above a straight flush is five cards all of the same suit and in sequence. The only difference between a royal flush and a regular straight flush is that the royal flush has an ace high which makes it out rank a straight flush with a smaller high card.

Four of a Kind - Four cards of equal value

Full House - Three of a kind and a pair at the same time. For example, three Kings and two 7's would be a full house.

Flush - Five cards of the same suit -- spades, clubs, hearts or diamonds

Straight - Five cards in consecutive order. An ace can be used as either a high card or a low card to make a straight. For example, a hand containing 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace (of different suits) would be a straight as would Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 (of different suits).

Three of a Kind - Three cards of equal value. Also known as a "set"

Two Pair - Two sets of two cards of equal. For example the three of clubs, the three of hearts, the eight of clubs, and the eight of diamonds would be two pair.

Pair - Two cards of equal value

In a regular poker game if no one has at least a pair, whoever has the highest card wins. In video poker you will need at least a high pair to win any payout.

Online Video Poker Rules

The above describes how the cards and the various hands in poker rank. The ranking of the hands is the same whether you're playing video poker or playing an actual game with a deck of cards but when it comes to video poker there are other rules in play because you are not playing against a number of other players at the table you are playing against the house.

There are many different online poker games and variations. All video poker games start by you inserting some money and pressing a button to deal the hands. After the hands are dealt to you then you have the option to keep any cards you wish to keep and discard any cards you wish to get rid of. You would then draw new cards to replace the ones you have discarded and then you would either win or lose based on the payout table displayed in the game.

A big difference between online poker and regular poker is that in regular poker one hand will outrank another to determine the winner. In video poker the ranking of the hands determines how much you will win by assigning a point value to each of the possible winning hands. The number of points for a given hand will be displayed on the game that you are playing.

This section will give a brief description of some of the more popular video poker options.

Jacks or Better:

As the name suggests you need a pair of jacks or better to win a payout. A hand smaller than pair of jacks will lose.

Deuces Wild:

In this game all four of the 2's in the deck are wild and can be substituted for any other card to make your best hand. In this game you need at least a three of a kind to win a payout.

Joker's Wild:

A standard deck of cards contains 52 cards. Jokers wild is played with 53 cards because the Joker is added to the deck and can be used as a wildcard which can be substituted for any other card to help you make your best five card hand. The minimum winning hand in this game is a pair of Kings.

In addition to the games above there are many other variations and we will briefly go over a few more of these.

Double Draw:

In this variation if the player gets a three of a kind or a full house on the deal the player has the ability to get two draws rather than the usual one. This gives the player a better chance of improving the hand to a four of a kind.

Acey Deucy:

A variation of the game that pays more for four Aces or four 2's than on any other 4 of a kind.

Anything's Wild:

A variation that lets the player choose any card to be wild.

Five Aces Video Poker:

In this game an extra ace is added to the deck with a star as the suit of the extra ace.

As you can see there are many variations of video poker and the ones discussed above are only scratching the surface. Depending on where you play you may see these variations or many others. One casino may offer several dozen video poker options. Once you choose a video poker game it is important to study the pay tables on the games so that you know which hands will win and how much a given hand will pay out. It's possible for payouts to differ from one casino to another even on an otherwise identical game. Many games also offer better payouts if you are making the maximum bets than if you are betting the minimum. If you take the time to search out the best pay outs for a given hand you will increase your chances of putting some of the casino's money in your pocket.

In addition to knowing the rules of the games and the pay outs of the various hands there are also strategies for playing certain hands in a certain way to give yourself the best chance of winning, much like the proper "basic strategy" in blackjack. Proper play reduces the house edge over the player as much as possible. Obviously the casinos are in business to make money but a smart and informed player can reduce the house edge to a point where they have a better chance of holding on to their money and maybe even a little bit of the casino's money as well. A player that does not know how to play the games properly makes it too easy for the casino to empty their pockets. If you're a beginner and you have not played video poker before you may want to look for a lower limit game so that you can learn the game without risking too much money. If you are the high roller type I'm sure you will have no trouble finding the action you crave. Learning the rules is very important but learning some strategy about the right way to play the games is every bit as important if you want a chance to win.

#	Name	Bonus	Type	Software
1	888 Casino	£800	Multiple Deposit	Proprietary	More Play Now
2	William Hill Casino	£66	Free - No Deposit	Playtech	More Play Now
3	Eurogrand Casino	£1000	1st Deposit	Playtech	More Play Now
4	21 Nova Casino	€3250	Multiple Deposit	Playtech	More Play Now