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Not all video poker is the same
Look at the following two pay schedules for two different video poker
games. Which game would you play and why?
(Note: The payouts are per coin played.)
Royal Flush 800, 800
Straight Flush 50, 50
Four Aces 160, 25
4 Four 2s-4s 80, 25
Four 5s-Ks 50, 25
Full House 9, 9
Flush 6, 6
Straight 5, 4
3-of-Kind 3, 3
Two Pair 1, 2
High Pair 1, 1
I would bet dollars to doughnuts the majority of video poker players would
play the game with the pay schedule listed in the first column. Why?
Because most players are attracted to the video poker games that have
bigger payoffs for four-of-a-kind hands (which is the case for the game in
column one vs. column two).
Let’s take a closer look at the two pay schedules. Besides the game in
column one paying more for four-of-a-kind hands it also pays more for a
paying straight (5 coins vs. 4 coins). Thus far, it looks like column one has
the better pay schedule, but hold off just a second. Glance down to the
payoffs for two pair and what do you see? A one-coin payoff for column
one and two coin payoff for column two. No big deal you say, well, guess
what? It is a big deal.
Deciding which video poker game to play based on how much four-of-a-
kind hands pay is not the right way to go about selecting a video poker
game. What ultimately determines which game you should play is the game’
s expected return (or ER). The ER is a percentage that tells you what the
expected theoretical return is for a game (if you play every hand correctly
over millions of hands). You won’t find the ER listed on video poker
machines. However, it is readily available in books, strategy cards, and
video poker sites on the internet. If you don’t know what the ER is of the
game you are playing in a casino, you shouldn’t be playing it. Generally,
the greater the ER, the better the game is for the player.
I won’t keep you in suspense any longer…the game in column one is
Double Bonus Poker and the game in column two is Jacks-or-Better (or
sometimes called Draw Poker). Both are popular games that you’ll find on
video poker machines. The ER for the Double Bonus game in column one
is 97.8% whereas for the Jacks-or-Better game in column two, it’s 99.5%
(assuming the royal flush pays 1,000 coins for max coins played). You
might think that difference in percent is not a big deal but it really is if you’
re serious about winning. Your goal should be to play only video poker
games that have the highest ER in a casino (and the casino manager isn’t
going to tell where these games are located…it’s up to you to find them
and play them).
Using strategy cards and video poker training software are two tools that
can help any player (even a beginner) play video poker like a pro. You
shouldn’t even think about playing video poker unless you use these tools
to optimize your game.
(Note: You can read more about video poker strategy cards and
training software in my web store on www.smartgaming.com.)
Henry Tamburin is the editor of Blackjack Insider Newsletter (www.
bjinsider.com), Lead Instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack
Course (www.goldentouchblackjack.com), and host of www.
smartgaming.com. For a FREE three-month subscription to his
blackjack newsletter, go to www.bjinsider.com/freetrial.com. To
receive his FREE Casino Gambling Catalog, call 1-888-353-3234 or
visit www.smartgaming.com.
Look at the following two pay schedules for two different video poker
games. Which game would you play and why?
(Note: The payouts are per coin played.)
Royal Flush 800, 800
Straight Flush 50, 50
Four Aces 160, 25
4 Four 2s-4s 80, 25
Four 5s-Ks 50, 25
Full House 9, 9
Flush 6, 6
Straight 5, 4
3-of-Kind 3, 3
Two Pair 1, 2
High Pair 1, 1
I would bet dollars to doughnuts the majority of video poker players would
play the game with the pay schedule listed in the first column. Why?
Because most players are attracted to the video poker games that have
bigger payoffs for four-of-a-kind hands (which is the case for the game in
column one vs. column two).
Let’s take a closer look at the two pay schedules. Besides the game in
column one paying more for four-of-a-kind hands it also pays more for a
paying straight (5 coins vs. 4 coins). Thus far, it looks like column one has
the better pay schedule, but hold off just a second. Glance down to the
payoffs for two pair and what do you see? A one-coin payoff for column
one and two coin payoff for column two. No big deal you say, well, guess
what? It is a big deal.
Deciding which video poker game to play based on how much four-of-a-
kind hands pay is not the right way to go about selecting a video poker
game. What ultimately determines which game you should play is the game’
s expected return (or ER). The ER is a percentage that tells you what the
expected theoretical return is for a game (if you play every hand correctly
over millions of hands). You won’t find the ER listed on video poker
machines. However, it is readily available in books, strategy cards, and
video poker sites on the internet. If you don’t know what the ER is of the
game you are playing in a casino, you shouldn’t be playing it. Generally,
the greater the ER, the better the game is for the player.
I won’t keep you in suspense any longer…the game in column one is
Double Bonus Poker and the game in column two is Jacks-or-Better (or
sometimes called Draw Poker). Both are popular games that you’ll find on
video poker machines. The ER for the Double Bonus game in column one
is 97.8% whereas for the Jacks-or-Better game in column two, it’s 99.5%
(assuming the royal flush pays 1,000 coins for max coins played). You
might think that difference in percent is not a big deal but it really is if you’
re serious about winning. Your goal should be to play only video poker
games that have the highest ER in a casino (and the casino manager isn’t
going to tell where these games are located…it’s up to you to find them
and play them).
Using strategy cards and video poker training software are two tools that
can help any player (even a beginner) play video poker like a pro. You
shouldn’t even think about playing video poker unless you use these tools
to optimize your game.
(Note: You can read more about video poker strategy cards and
training software in my web store on www.smartgaming.com.)
Henry Tamburin is the editor of Blackjack Insider Newsletter (www.
bjinsider.com), Lead Instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack
Course (www.goldentouchblackjack.com), and host of www.
smartgaming.com. For a FREE three-month subscription to his
blackjack newsletter, go to www.bjinsider.com/freetrial.com. To
receive his FREE Casino Gambling Catalog, call 1-888-353-3234 or
visit www.smartgaming.com.