How to Play Video Poker
Playing video poker is easy. In fact, it is a lot easier than traditional multiplayer poker games. If you like slot machines but have always wished for more control over the game, video poker is made just for you.
The Video Poker Machine
A video poker console looks a lot like a slot machine. The game is housed in a box with a computer program inside it that runs the game. You will see a screen where the cards will appear once they are dealt. Below them are hold/discard buttons (more of that later) and buttons for betting credits, dealing and cashing out.
A "credit" is a unit of bet determined by the denomination of the video poker machine. If it is a quarter machine, each bet is worth $.25. If it is a $5 dollar machine, then one credit is worth that. Normally a video poker console allows 1-5 credit bets.
There is a computer chip inside known as a random number generator or RNG that perennially generates poker hands even when the game is idle. When the "deal" button is pressed, the poker hand made at that moment becomes the hand that the player is dealt. A "backup" hand is dealt also in case the player chooses to discard cards for the follow-up draw.
Pay Table and Payout
A table displays the payoffs for the various poker hands. This is the pay table. A figure like 2-1 is read as "two for one" and not "two to one." It means that for every $1 bet, you are paid $2 including your original $1 wager.
In blackjack, this is called "even money" or "one to one." But in video poker, "even money" refers to a 1-1 or "one for one" payout which isn't a payout at all, but a tie or "push" as it is called in blackjack (you get your money back).
It is important to understand this in video poker. Many newcomers to the game realize too late that a high pair doesn't pay at all but only returns their money in Jacks or Better.
Betting and Dealing
Before you do anything else, plug your slot card into the machine. You get a slot card by joining a slot club. Using the slot card lets the casino monitor your playing activities so they can reward you with "comps" if you play often enough. Comps is slang for free stuff (complimentary) like cocktail, snacks, rooms and Lord knows, even limousine service.
Now to play video poker, you insert coins or a bill into it. Then you pick how many credits to bet and choose deal.
Playing Your Hand
It is at this point that video poker stops being a slot clone and turns into a poker game. Video poker is based on 5 Card Draw Poker. You get dealt five cards and can choose to keep or discard as many of those cards as you wish. The goal is to make the best poker hand possible and a follow-up draw helps you do that.
If, for example, you get a three of a kind on the first draw, you can discard the two unrelated cards and hope for a full house or four of a kind in the follow-up draw. You will be paid as indicated by the pay table.
It is its decision-making feature that distinguishes video poker and raises it above slots as a thinking gambler's game. Each hold/discard decision can affect your long-term payback. Video poker strategy involves making the best of these decisions so you can make the most money in the long run.