So You Want To Play Video Poker Articles | Casino

By: Richard Bleuze

Video poker has become very popular with casino players worldwide.  Casino visitors all over the world are fast making traditional Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, and Jokers Wild (the 3 most popular video poker games) their games of choice.  American players especially find video poker very appealing.  The jury is still out on exactly why video poker is more popular with North American casino players than with gamblers elsewhere.  A few obvious reasons maybe are:

1.  may be the overall availability of the machines as there are millions upon millions of video poker machines in the United States alone.  

2.  a second reason may be the sheer number of outlets around the country where video poker players can test their skills.

Regardless of the actual reasons, one can visit nearly any casino in the U.S. and find a lots and lots of video poker machines in all denominations, sizes, colors, and styles.  But, FINDING them is not the problem.  The problem is finding one that is not already being played and is payingoff!

Video poker offers some of the best odds in the casino.  Especially, if you know the proper strategy.  It's a good alternative to slot machines since you still have the chance of hitting a big jackpot, and compared to a slot machine, you're about five times more likely to actually get it.  Well, what tips will help you become a better video poker player?  

Tip #1:  Playing Speed - faster is better.

Video poker machines are programmed to be as random as possible.  Digital processors cannot achieve true randomness, but the deviation away from 100% randomness is so small that it is not a factor in how the machines play.  Thus, each card has an equal chance of showing up on any given hand.

Playing speed is important because even though the machines are random, and are not subject to variant programming, they do experience natural fluctuations that are affected by two things:

The randomness of the draw in general which, in turn, is further affected by the card you choose to hold each hand.

Pro and semi-pro video poker players can play 700 to 1000 hands per hour.  They often play several machines simultaneously.  

Tip #2:  Card combination recognition - you need to know which cards to hold, and when to hold them.  This means that you MUST know the poker hands!

Tip #3:  Your bankroll will determine which denomination machine to play.
Before you decide which video poker machine to play with, you MUST be relatively certain of two things before you begin play:

1. Your bankroll must be able to support the denomination machine you have chosen to play while playing MAX COIN EVERY HAND.
2. Your bankroll must be able to withstand the normal downward fluctuations common to ALL video poker machines.

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