Global Sports: How to get the Most from Video Poker

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

How to get the Most from Video Poker

By Sami Donsin


Video poker is in reality a mechanical derivative of five-card draw poker. It is helpful to understand some of the elements of how draw poker works in order to better understand how video poker works.

In five-card draw poker, all players are dealt complete hands before the first round of betting. Each player then develops his or her hand is by drawing and replacing those cards that are considered unhelpful in building a profitable and combination.

Once a player has received his cards, he must specify how many of them he wants replaced. These replaceable cards are then discarded for new cards in the same quantity that were let go. After a player has replaced all the cards he chooses, he should still have five cards in his hand.

At this point, players can bet again. This is where for poker gets really exciting because now is an opportunity for bluffing and subterfuge, giving the illusion, perhaps, that one has drawn cards to make a more fearsome hand than is really the case. At the showdown all players reveal their cards. Naturally, the player with the best hand will win the pot.

With draw poker, the house will often limit the number of cards that are permitted to be replaced. At most casinos this is set at three cards. The reason? The house feels (and perhaps rightly so depending on your perspective) that there should be an element of making do with the cards that you're dealt, so to speak. That is, there should be an emphasis on the basic substance of your hole cards.

The card right at the bottom of the deck is never permitted to be a replacement card. This rules exists in order to prevent someone "mistakenly" seeing the card and then using it to his advantage.

In essence, video poker is the computational equivalent of draw poker. Players must retain some cards and have the option of discarding others based on the probability of certain card combinations.

The popularity of video poker has really come about because of the advances in microprocessor technology in the late 1970s. Many major casinos decided to modernize the kinds of gambling attractions on the floors in an effort to encourage patronage and thereby increase foot traffic (and of course their monetary coffers).

One of the advantages (or disadvantages depending on how you view it) of video poker is that it does away with the social nature of the game. It's therefore all about odds and payout ratios based on certain card combinations. The better the card combination and the higher the base wager the better your payout. This is why we always advise you to play to the maximum bet. Although this might mean your bankroll will erode faster, it at least ensures maximum monetary advantage when fortune is in your favor. Additionally, many video poker machines will offer maximum-bet bonuses reserved only for the full five-coin players.




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