Best Real Money Casinos for Video Poker in 2023

Video poker games that you can play across many online casino venues are based on video poker games that you play at brick and mortar venues. The game is super simple and the rules are easy to learn. Taking inspiration from five-card draw poker, video poker machines also use some slot machines’ principles. While there are many different variants of the game, each of them has some things in common.

Once you have found your online casino venue that offers the game, you start your gaming sessions by placing your wager. To do so, select a preferred coin size alongside the number of coins. 

The next step is to click the Deal button. At the start of the round, you get five cards. After you have examined your cards, you decided which one you want to keep and which one you want to return and trade for other cards to get the strongest five-card hand.

When playing online video poker games, you can keep all five cards you have received as well as trade all five cards for different. Once you have your final hand, you get paid according to the game’s paytable if your hand is a winner. Naturally, higher-ranked poker hands deliver higher payouts regardless of which video poker game you choose. The highest-paying hand is a Royal Flush which delivers 4,000 coins for a five-coin bet. When playing Jacks or Better, you most commonly come across a payout table like this:

• Jacks or Better delivers 5 coins for a five-coin bet

• Two Pair delivers 10 coins for a five-coin bet

• Three of a Kind delivers 15 coins for a five-coin bet

• Straight delivers 20 coins for a five-coin bet

• Flush delivers 30 coins for a five-coin bet

• Full House delivers 45 coins for a five-coin bet

• Four of a Kind delivers 125 coins for a five-coin bet

• Straight Flush delivers 250 coins for a five-coin bet

• Royal Flush delivers 4000 coins for a five-coin bet

In other words, each poker hand pays out according to how many coins you wagered. Different video poker games use the same poker hand ranking while the payouts differ from one variant to another. During your gaming sessions, all of the winning poker hands are listed on the main gaming screen, so you always know what to expect based on your coin bet and your hand strength.

Playing video pokers perfectly is an essential part of maximizing your returns. Each video poker has a strategy, and following through on it gives you an edge over players who do not.

Casino members must adjust their strategy depending on the video poker variant and paytable. You cannot employ the same strategy for Jacks or Better or another game. However, all strategies should look something like the following Jacks or Better strategy with a full paytable.

• When dealt five disconnected cards, draw five
• If one high card is in your cards, draw four
• Two high cards mean we draw three cards
• Two to a royal flush also results in a three-card draw
• Draw two cards if you have three to a straight flush
• If you have four to a straight, draw one
• One low pair means drawing three cards
• When dealt four to a flush, draw one
• Three to a royal flush mean drawing two cards
• If you get one high pair, draw three
• Draw one card if you get two pairs
• When dealt four to a straight flush, draw one card
• If you get a straight hand, do not draw any cards
• Draw two cards if dealt a three of a kind
• Stand pat if you get a flush
• Do not draw cards if you get four of a kind, straight flush, royal flush, or full house

Using this strategy when playing Jacks or Better will guarantee the best chances of winning for every hand. Casino members can make slight adjustments if they are feeling lucky. However, do not forsake the strategy entirely!

While video poker games appear to be solely based on luck at least to inexperienced played, the truth is much different since video poker also involves an element of skill. In other words, every decision you make during your gaming sessions has a profound impact on the outcome. The payback percentage in video poker games is usually between 97% and 99% and this shows you how much of your wagers on average will return to you in the long run. When compared to slots and other games, this is a great RTP.

Then, to understand the winning odds when playing video poker, you must understand the game’s rules. As previously mentioned, the game is based on a five-draw poker which is the simplest poker form. Usually, video poker games used a deck of fifty-two cards and you are dealt five cards at the initial draw. Once here, you have the option to discard some or all of those five cards or you can keep them all.

Once you have your final hand, a second draw takes place and if your hand is a winning hand, you receive a payout according to your bet placed and according to the strength of your hand. Today, all variants of video poker run using Random Number Generators of RNGs, which means that all outcomes are random and there is no way to predicts them which essentially guarantees fairness.

When it comes to the game’s winning odds, higher-ranked hands are rarer than weaker hands while the exact odds of getting a certain winning hand vary from one video poker game to another. Nonetheless, when playing Jacks or Better or other video poker games that use a deck of fifty-two cards, the winning odds on the initial draw are well known. Initial odds of getting winning hands when playing Jacks or Better are:

• Royal Flush 649,740 to 1

• Straight Flush 72,193 to 1

• Four of a Kind 4,165 to 1

• Full House 694 to 1

• Flush 509 to 1

• Straight 255 to 1

• Three of a kind 47 to 1

• Two Pairs 21 to 1

• Pair J, Q, K, or A 7.69 to 1

• Any Pair 2.37 to 1

After you examine these numbers, it becomes obvious that you will get any pair almost half of the time. These numbers also suggest that every seven to eight hands, you will receive your wager back. Looking into higher-ranked hands, the winning odds of getting a Royal Flush on the initial draw around 1 in 649,740 which is quite rare. The odds of getting a Straight Flush on the first draw are 1 in 72,193 while the odds of getting a Four of Kind on the first draw are 1 in 4,165.

According to the winning odds listed above, players get a Full House on the initial draw once in six hundred and ninety-four games. Following the same pattern, players get a Flush on the initial draw once in five hundred and ninety games, a Straight once in two hundred and fifty-five games, a Three of a Kind once in forty-seven games, a Two Pairs once in twenty-one game, and a Pair of J, Q, K, or A once in almost seven games.

With the growing popularity of online gambling, online casinos are facing more and more competition every day. That is why websites have added countless different games over the years to appeal to a broad audience. That includes a resurgence of video poker games. It is far from surprising, as video pokers feature many traits shared with the most popular casino games. These include:

Just you and the game – Video poker stands out from all other poker and live games because you can enjoy it by yourself. It is just you facing off against a random number generator without having to take other players into account in any way.

Easy way to track payouts – Unlike poker games against players, each winning hand has set payouts. That way, you always know what reward you can expect depending on the cards in your final five-card hand.

Exciting bonuses await – Almost all UK casinos have top-notch promotions in the form of welcome bonuses and no-deposit promotions. We can score bonus funds using these bonuses, allowing us to play for longer.

No-stress entertainment – Playing video poker beats other multiplayer poker games because they do not have any time limits. You do not have to know everything immediately or stress that you are wasting people’s time checking a guide.