A large number of savvy online gamblers believe that video poker is the best game offered by casinos, and that holds true for land-based casinos as well as online gambling websites.
We can say with confidence that when you play video poker you are playing one of the best games in the casino, purely in terms of the return on money wagered. Sometimes it takes a little searching, but you can always find casinos whose machines' return is at least 99.5%. In fact there are online video poker machines that return in excess of 100%. But, this is only if the game is played using optimal strategy. If you make mistakes, you give the casino the edge and that is why they can offer this game - most players make mistakes!
You can also get this return from craps or blackjack, but those are games where the bet is essentially even money. There is no possibility of a single large win, as there is with video poker. Other casino games have very large potential payout for a single bet, like slots with their mega-jackpots, but the casino compensates by substantially increasing the average house cut and lowering the payout returns. For example, the cut in Keno averages about 25%!
Video poker typically has a jackpot possibility of at least 800:1 (4000 coins for 5 coins bet), yet the house percentage is closer to those of 1:1 table games like craps, and as we said in certain cases the advantage actually swings in the player's favor when he uses correct video poker strategy.
We will discuss optimal strategy for the various video poker games in future articles. For now you must bear in mind two crucial rules: First, you must always play the maximum number of coins allowed. Second, you must only play those machines with good payoff returns.
Maximum coins must be played so as to ensure the full royal flush jackpot when you hit it; even though you only hit the jackpot on average once every 30,000 or 40,000 hands, it still pays enough to make this about 2.5% of your total return. Straight flushes, in contrast, account for only about 0.5% of your total return.
The second rule is to only play machines with the correct pay table. Some casinos will set the payoffs on certain hands lower than the standard pay; this can increase their total take by up to ten times what it would normally average for the same amount of play. Video poker payouts are shown on the front of every machine. Better-paying machines usually pay equal or better in every single category than the lower-paying machines. Players that ignore the payout tables are the casino's victims, and they deserve their fate. Do not be one of the suckers.
Related Gambling Articles:
- How to play Video Poker
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