History of video poker

As the name suggests, video poker is based on classic poker. A hybrid of slot and poker. In general, video poker appeared even earlier than slots. The first slot machine was released in 1891, it was mechanical, it had 5 reels spinning on which there were images of cards. The combination of cards on the reels made up the player's hand, and the winnings were calculated according to the rules of poker. And only 104 years later, players around the world were able to play online video poker on their computer, thanks to Microgaming.

Video Poker Rules

The goal of the player when playing online video poker is to collect a winning combination of cards. Let's talk about each of them:

Royal Flush - the strongest and rarest combination, consists of ace, king, queen, jack and tens. All cards must be of the same suit.

Straight Flush - five consecutive cards of the same suit

Four of a Kind - a combination of five cards, in which there are four identical cards.

Full House - a combination of three identical cards and a pair (two identical cards)

Flush - a combination of any five cards of the same suit.

Straight - a combination of five consecutive cards

Three of a Kind - a combination in which three of the five cards are the same

Two-pair - two identical cards, two more identical cards plus any card

At the very beginning of the game, the player makes a bet. Further, when the machine gives him cards in his hand, the player needs to assess the situation, select those cards that he wants to keep, and change the rest of the cards. If the player was able to collect a winning combination, then the winnings are paid to him, if not, then the bet goes in favour of the casino.

Video Poker Odds

Now let's smoothly move on to payouts and chances of winning, for greater clarity, we have collected all the information in a table.

Combination

Winning

Probability %

Royal Flash

250

0,0025

Straight Flush

50

0,01

Four of a Kind

25

0,23

Full House

9

1,11

Flush

6

1,11

Straight

4

1,12

Three of a Kind

3

7,44

Two-pair

2

12,92


How to play Online Video Poker for Free

Now all casinos allow players to try their hand at video poker for free, and in most cases you do not even need to create an account. Therefore, choose a casino, choose games and enjoy the free demo mode.

How to play Video Poker for Real Money

In order to play video poker for real money, you will need to register at the casino and make a deposit. To register, you need to enter your email address on the casino website, come up with a username and password. After you have created an account at the casino, it is the turn to make a deposit, for this, on the casino website, click on the appropriate tab, select a convenient payment system, copy the details and pay for them. We are waiting for the replenishment of the deposit, and you can play.

Video Poker Games

Casinos now offer a great variety of Video Poker Games. It will be easy for an inexperienced player to get confused by such an abundance. The main thing to know is that all these games are based on these two games: Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild.

Deuces wild

The key feature of this game is that when making a combination, deuces can replace any card in it, which is why the deuces are “wild”. In connection with this type of video poker, there are also additional "wild" combinations, for example, a wild royal flush and a combination of 4 identical cards and a deuce. It differs from most in the simplicity of the gameplay and increased chances of winning.

Jacks or Better

This is the most popular video poker game, judging by the name it is clear that the minimum combination here is a pair of jacks. All other games can be considered derivatives of Jacks or Better

2 Way Royal

Not as common as the previous two, but still. The difference is that you can make a royal flush from a sequence of lower cards of the same suit.

Video Poker Strategies

Here we will briefly talk about the key points of the video poker strategy.

Deuces Wild Strategy

The algorithm of your actions will depend on whether the first hand brought a deuce.

If you got 4 deuces, then you will not collect the best combination, we leave everything as it is.

If you get 3 deuces, then you need to look at the chances of collecting a wild royal flush, if it doesn’t work out, then you need to hold the deuces and replace the other two.

If you got 2 deuces, then again you need to evaluate the chances of a royal flush, leave the deuces to replace the rest (which do not fit into a royal flush combination)

If you get 1 deuce, then you need to collect the maximum possible paid combination.

If you didn’t get deuces, then you need to collect the maximum possible paid combination.

Video Poker Mobile

You can immerse yourself in the world of online gambling anywhere and anytime, this is facilitated by the widespread development of mobile gambling. We can play video poker on our mobile phone or tablet, maybe even on smartwatches. Any operating system, any mobile platform, any time and place, you can always pass the time playing video poker.


Video Poker Providers


Video poker is a very popular game, and a lot of providers have had a hand in popularizing this type of gambling. In short, here is their list: Microgaming, NetEnt, PlayTech, Real Time Gaming. As we wrote earlier, microgaming was at the origins of online video poker, then playtech, real time gaming and netent picked up the baton. In principle, all these providers make plus or minus the same products, there has not been anything breakthrough in this area for a long time, so it will not work to single out any particular provider. Each provider has Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and two or three variations of 2 Way Royal.

FAQ

Yes, of course, absolutely all online casino games are optimized for playing on mobile devices.

No, if you are playing at a licensed casino.

Yes, you can play video poker in instant play mode, the game will be played directly in the browser, no additional applications are required.

Deuces Wild can definitely be recommended to both new and experienced players, the chances of winning are higher, there are more combinations, and the gameplay is more exciting.

Do not worry, now all casinos work with this without java, you can do just fine.

Yes, they exist, but they are rare, and we strongly do not recommend playing them.