Despite lacking the colorful graphics of slots or the adrenaline of table poker, video poker is an exceptional casino game that catches the attention of thousands of players. It is easy to play, it has straightforward rules, and it is fully transparent in terms of payback. At the same time, video poker is challenging and exciting, relying on both chance and skill for its outcome. More than a hundred variations could be played online and while some of them are pretty basic, others require complex strategies to be used.
But how to pick the best video poker variation? The variety of games, especially online, is almost overwhelming but with a little guidance, both casual and serious, professional players can find the right game for themselves.
Factors to Consider when Choosing a Video Poker Game
Some video poker players prefer standard variations based on Jacks or Better, the most basic version of video poker. Others are looking for something more innovative or strategically challenging. Most fans of this game, however, know well that they should be focusing on video poker variations that offer solid payouts and good average return percentages. These can be used to determine the performance and, more importantly, the profitability of the games in the long term.
However, there are other factors that should be considered as well when choosing a video poker game. After all, it is a question of personal preference as much as it is a decision based on objective features such as expected returns. That’s why players should first look for an online casino that offers a good selection of games – the choice of video poker software is essential. If you start playing a game that is not interesting or visually appealing enough, betting would soon become repetitive and you would be prone to more mistakes.
In addition, some players look for variations with bonus payouts, wild cards, or progressive jackpots. Setting personal taste aside, there are several objective factors that should be taken into account and these include the simplicity of the game, its expected returns, and its volatility.
Simplicity and Ease of Play
Compared to other skill-based casino games, video poker has one great advantage – it is really easy to play. Those who have played poker would immediately notice that the winning hands here are the same as in classic poker. People who are complete novices also find video poker quite easy to grasp, especially after practicing at least a few rounds in demo mode.
Practically all video poker variations clearly display their rules in a second window, while the winning hands and their respective payouts appear on the main screen. So, there is no need to constantly check how the hands are ranked – all the important information is readily available as you play the game. Of course, players can choose basic video poker variations or go for games with more intricate rules. It is easy to spot games that require a complex strategy to be applied – they usually feature wild cards such as Jokers and wild Twos or they offer additional payouts for specific hands like four Aces, four Tens, etc.
RTP Percentage
The other factor that should be considered when choosing a video poker variation is its theoretical return, usually referred to as Return to Player or RTP. It is expressed as a percentage and shows what percentage of the bets in a particular game will be returned to players (in the form of winnings). Unlike some casino games where we do not have access to the odds and return percentages, video poker is completely transparent – knowing the payouts and the odds for each hand, we can calculate the RTP ourselves. Software developers, however, publish the return the percentages for all video poker variations.
What’s great about this game is that the average RTP is above 99%, which means that players are expected to lose less than 1% of their bankrolls over time. Some variations of the game offer RTP of more than 100%, which is quite rare but it shows that rather than the casino, players have the advantage. Video poker fans should look for the variations with the highest RTP percentages and in most online casinos, this is the classic Jacks or Better, which has a return of 99.54%. Even though these percentages are only theoretical and the real-life outcome could be quite different, the RTP is a great tool to determine how profitable a game is over the long-term.
Volatility
Another thing to consider when selecting a video poker variation is its volatility. When it comes to gambling, volatility refers to the ability of a game to affect players’ bankrolls – both positively and negatively. Games with low volatility bring small, yet quite regular and sustainable profits, while the chances of hitting a huge payout are insignificant. Highly volatile games, on the other hand, tend to be costly – the winnings are less regular and predictable, and players may need to spend a lot of money on such games before they hit a top-paying combination.
Choosing between low and high-volatility variations of video poker would depend on what players want from the game. If they are looking for sustainable wins with a small original bankroll, they should try low-volatility games. If they are willing to play a high-risk game for the chance of winning big in a short period of time, a highly volatile variation would be a better choice for them. Of course, they are just as likely to lose their entire bankroll with such a game.
Full-Pay Video Poker
Most video poker variations probably look identical to novices but each game usually has a slightly changed paytable. At the same time, the odds for forming each winning hand remain the same so even small changes to the payouts would have a significant impact on the house edge and the RTP percentage.
9/6 Variations
We can usually tell whether a game is a full-pay video poker variation or not by looking at how much it pays for Full House and Flush. These are the fourth and fifth-best paying hands in the classic version of video poker, offering 9 to 1 and 6 to 1 payouts. This is where the 9/6 comes from and it shows players that this particular game would have a great RTP. The standard 9/6 Jacks or Better has a return of 99.54%, for instance.
Low-Pay Video Poker Games
Many of the video poker games available in land-based and online casinos are low-paying variations, offering less than 9/6 games. Sometimes, even a difference of 1 coin in the payout leads to a noticeable change in the RTP rate.
- 9/6 Jacks or Better = 99.54%
- 9/5 Jacks or Better = 98.45%
- 8/6 Jacks or Better = 98.39%
- 8/5 Jacks or Better = 97.30%
This does not apply only to Jacks or Better, however. The full-pay Double Bonus Poker is one of the best variations ever created, having an RTP of 100.17%. Unfortunately, it is extremely rare and instead, most casinos go for low-pay versions of it. Rather than paying 10, 7, and 5 coins for Full House, Flush, and Straight, most Double Bonus games offer lower payouts and as a result, they have considerably lower return rates.
- 10/7/5 Double Bonus = 100.17%
- 9/7/5 Double Bonus = 99.11%
- 9/6/5 Double Bonus = 97.81%
- 9/7/4 Double Bonus = 97.74%
Additional Things to Consider
The payback percentages are a great instrument for new players to decide whether a game offers good value or not. Determining the volatility is a more complicated task but software providers tend to publish this information, as well. But there are additional things players should look for in a video poker variation since they can make a huge difference when it comes to the gaming experience and the expected returns.
Wild Card Games
Playing a regular video poker game such as Jacks or Better or Tens or Better may be rewarding and a wiser alternative to many other games. But such simple variations of video poker are not particularly exciting as the higher-paying hands are rarely hit. This is why many gamblers prefer video poker versions with a wild card – these cards function as substitutes and make forming winning hands much easier.
As soon as players receive the wild card, it can substitute for any other card in the deck. It will automatically turn into the card that improves the hand the most. The two most popular video poker games that feature wilds are Deuces Wild where all 4 Twos (or Deuces) are wild and Joker Poker, which has a Joker as the 53-rd card in the deck. Players will notice that new hands can be formed in these games, including a Five of a Kind, as well as a Natural Royal Flush (a Royal Flush without a wild card).
Low vs High Denomination Games
Video poker players should always take their bankroll into consideration and based on how much money they have for gambling, they should decide whether they can afford a high-denomination game or they should go for smaller stakes. This is an incredibly important part of every money management plan and this decision will have a huge impact on the result of each game session.
Let’s assume we have a session bankroll of $100 and we want to play the max 5 coins. The minimum coin denomination in the game we have chosen, however, is $1.00. This means that each round will cost us at least $5.00, which we obviously cannot afford unless we plan on playing only 20 rounds or so. A much better alternative is a game where we can choose a smaller coin size – $0.10, for instance, which will give us a minimum of 200 rounds to bet on.
Games with Bonus Payouts
There are many versions of the classic video poker game, which offer higher payouts for certain hands. Usually, these are Four of a Kind hands and players can easily identify such games by their name – it typically involves the word “bonus”. Depending on the particular game, the bonus payouts may be given for four Aces, four Fives, or four Sixes, etc.
To make up for the higher payouts and make the game more balanced, however, developers typically set up lower payouts for the Full House and Flush hands – players sometimes receive lower payouts for Straights, as well. Casino patrons should review each video poker variation very carefully since such bonus paytables may be very confusing and deceptive. Along with the payouts, they should consider the RTP percentages, as well. Moreover, they should understand that much like the wild cards, the bonus payouts increase the volatility of a game.
Multi-Hand Video Poker
There is another group of interesting video poker variations known as multi-hand or multi-play games. They allow players to bet on more than 1 hand simultaneously. The vast majority of low and moderate-volatility video poker games are available in a multi-hand version. Players can choose from 3, 5, 10, 25, 50 or even 100 hands. The strategy used for these variations is the same as for their single-hand counterpart.
While these games seem very exciting, they are much more expensive than regular video poker. Let’s assume we play with 5 coins of $0.10 each – this will be $0.50 per hand. If we open a 10-hand game, we will need to bet $5 per round; on a 25-hand game, we will bet $12.50 per round; and on a 50-hand game, each round will cost $25. As you can see, multi-hand video poker can easily eat up players’ entire bankroll.
So, before opening such a game, they need to determine whether they can afford it or not. A good alternative is to play multi-hand video poker for $0.05 or $0.10 per round – 5 coins of $0.01 or $0.02 each.
Is Progressive Video Poker Worth Playing?
Progressive jackpots are usually associated with the lotteries – there, the top prize increases constantly, reaching millions of dollars within days. In a casino environment, the games we all know have attractive progressive jackpots are the slots. But there are also progressive video poker versions and they can be found usually online where the variety of games is huge. But often, these variations of video poker have really small jackpots, while the cost of playing may be much higher than we anticipated. So, is progressive video poker worth playing?
Progressive Jackpots
The progressive jackpot does not have a fixed amount but rises until it is hit by some lucky player. Typically, such jackpots start from some predetermined amount and a small percentage of each bet contributes to the jackpot pool. The progressive jackpot is paid after hitting a Royal Flush (a natural Royal Flush rather than a hand that includes a wild card) while playing with 5 coins.
Of course, since one game is available in many online casinos and is played by even more players simultaneously, its jackpot rises constantly. At least in theory. In reality, very few progressive video poker variations are popular among casino players. As a result, their jackpots increase at a slower pace and never reach the levels we have seen in slot games.
High Cost
Progressive video poker games are usually highly volatile, low-pay variations with low RTPs of around 97% or even less. That’s why they are generally a bad bet and are often avoided by players. Playing such games is not a rewarding experience but moreover, hitting the progressive jackpot is quite hard. So, players usually invest huge amounts of money into the game before they get the jackpot – if they do, at all.
Break-Even Point for Video Poker Jackpot
As we have just explained, progressive video poker variations are costly and pay poorly for regular winning hands. Once the jackpot reaches a certain point, the game becomes profitable with a negative house edge. This is the so-called break-even point and it is different for each game, depending on its particular rules, odds, and payouts. Many players would wait for the game to reach its break-even point to start playing. Of course, this does not guarantee them winning the progressive jackpot – the size of the jackpot simply changes the mathematics of the game, not the odds.