Video poker

Last updated
A video poker machine at Seven Feathers Casino Video Poker, Seven Feathers Resort.jpg
A video poker machine at Seven Feathers Casino

Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine.

Contents

History

Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like monitor with a solid state central processing unit. The earliest models appeared at the same time as the first personal computers were produced, in the mid-1970s, although they were primitive by today's standards.

Video poker became more firmly established when SIRCOMA, which stood for Si Redd's Coin Machines (and which evolved over time to become International Game Technology), introduced Draw Poker in 1979. Throughout the 1980s video poker became increasingly popular in casinos, as people found the devices less intimidating than playing table games. Today, video poker enjoys a prominent place on the gaming floors of many casinos. The game is especially popular with Las Vegas locals, who tend to patronize locals casinos off the Las Vegas Strip. These local casinos often offer lower-denomination machines or better odds.

A few people who are skilled in calculating odds have become professional video poker players. [1]

The game

Video poker machines at Harrah's New Orleans Video Poker Machines.jpg
Video poker machines at Harrah's New Orleans

After inserting money (or a bar-coded paper ticket with credit) into the machine, play begins by placing a bet of one or more credits and pressing the "deal" button. The player is then given 5 cards (like five-card draw) and has the opportunity to discard one or more of them in exchange for new ones drawn from the same virtual deck. After the draw, the machine pays out if the hand or hands played match one of the winning combinations, which are posted in the pay table. Unlike the table version, the player may discard all 5 of their original cards if they so choose. [2]

Pay tables allocate the payouts for hands and are based on how rare they are, the game variation, and the decision of the game operator. A typical pay table starts with a minimum hand of a pair of jacks, which pays even money. All the other hand combinations in video poker are the same as in table poker, including such hands as two pair, three of a kind, straight (a sequence of 5 cards of consecutive value), flush (any 5 cards of the same suit), full house (a pair and a three of a kind), four of a kind (four cards of the same value), straight flush (5 consecutive cards of the same suit) and royal flush (a Ten, a Jack, a Queen, a King and an Ace of the same suit). [3]

Some machines offer progressive jackpots or other unique bonuses, spurring players to both play more coins and to play more frequently. [4]

Regulation

Video poker machines in casinos in the United States are regulated by state or Indian gaming agencies. These agencies typically require that the machines deal random card sequences using a virtual deck of cards. This is based on a Nevada Gaming Commission regulation later adopted by other states with a gaming authority. Video poker machines are tested to ensure compliance with this requirement before being offered to the public.

Variations

Video poker variations include Deuces Wild, where a two serves as a wild card; [5] Joker's Wild, where a joker serves as a wild card; Anything's Wild, where the player selects any card (by rank) to act as the wild card before the hand is dealt; pay schedule modification, where four aces with a four or smaller kicker pays an enhanced amount (these games usually have some adjective in the title such as "bonus", "double", or "triple"); and multi-play poker, where the player starts with a base hand, and each additional played hand draws from a different set of cards with the base hand. (Multi-play games are offered in "Triple Play", "Five Play", "Ten Play", "Fifty Play" and "One Hundred Play" versions.)

Additionally, side bets have been added to the game where for a fee, the player may receive some sort of benefit. Popular examples include Super Times Pay, Double Super Times Pay, Hot Roll, Dice Fever, and Atomic Fever, where the player has a chance of receiving a factor which multiplies all winnings in a hand, [6] Ultimate X, where for double the bet the player gets a factor based on the strength of the final hand which is applied to the next hand, [7] and Super Draw 6, where for double the bet the player will receive a sixth card which can be used to have five card hands easier to make and make special six card hands with its own pay table. [8]

A version common in the early days of video poker, but rarely found today, is "Pick a Pair" where the player is presented two up cards and chooses between two pairs of three cards, one of which is face up and the other face down. [9]

In games without a wild card, a player on average will receive four-of-a-kind hand approximately once every 500 hands, while a player may play tens of thousands of hands before a royal flush, which usually has the highest payout.

Video poker games online are now available in the US in 3 different states: New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada. Players in all three states are able to enjoy fully regulated online video poker games provided that they are physically present in the respective state, of legal age to gamble and can validate their identity.

Full pay games

When modern video poker games first appeared, the highest-paying common variant of a particular game was called "full-pay". Game variants returning a lower payback percentage were termed "short-pay". Though the term full-pay is still in use, many game variants return more. Payback percentage expresses the long-term expected value of the player's wager as a percentage if the game is played perfectly. A payback percentage of 99 percent, for example, indicates that for each $100 wagered, in the long run, the player would expect to lose $1 if they played every hand in the optimal way. Full-pay Jacks or Better, for example, offers a payback percentage of 99.54%. Some payback percentages on full-pay games are often close to or over 100 percent.

Casinos do not usually advertise payback percentages, leaving it up to the player to identify which video poker machines offer the best schedules.

The payoff schedules for most video poker machines are configured with a pay schedule that pays proportionally more for certain hands (such as a royal flush) when the maximum number of credits (typically 5 coins) is bet. Therefore, players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a lower theoretical return.

Jacks or Better

"Jacks or Better," sometimes called "Draw Poker," is the most common variation of video poker. Payoffs begin at a pair of jacks. Full pay Jacks or Better is also known as 9/6 Jacks or Better since the payoff for a full house is 9 times the bet, and the payoff for a flush is 6 times the bet. [10] Sometimes, 10/6 and 9/7 versions of Jacks or Better can be found as promotions. [11]

HandPrizeCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Royal Flush80041,126,0220.0000251.9807%
Straight Flush50181,573,6080.0001090.5465%
Four of a kind253,924,430,6470.0023635.9064%
Full House919,122,956,8830.01151210.3610%
Flush618,296,232,1800.0110156.6087%
Straight418,653,130,4820.0112294.4918%
Three of a kind3123,666,922,5270.07444922.3346%
Two Pair2214,745,513,6790.12927925.8558%
Jacks or Better1356,447,740,9140.21458521.4585%
All Other0906,022,916,1580.5454350.0000%
Totals1,661,102,543,1001.00000099.5439%

Bally's All American

Bally Technologies All American video poker is based on Jacks or Better with an increased payout for flushes, straights and straight flushes, but reduced payout for full houses and two pairs (8–8–8–3–1 versus 9–6–4–3–2). The full pay version (quads return 50 bets), once common but now rare, is one of the highest return versions of video poker offered, but the play strategy is very complex and mastered by few. IGT's version of the game is called USA Poker.

Tens or Better

"Tens or Better" is a variation of 6/5 Jacks or Better. The minimum paying hand is a pair of tens, rather than a pair of Jacks. Strategy is similar between the two games, in spite of the very different full house and flush payouts.

Joker's Wild

"Joker's Wild", as the name implies, adds a joker to the mix. The joker is fully wild and substitutes to make stronger hands. The inclusion of the wild joker also adds another winning hand in 5-of-a-kind. The game's name inspired a game show of the same name. The full pay version of Joker Two Pair or better (6–7–8), once common but now rare, is one of the highest return versions of video poker offered, but the play strategy is very complex and mastered by few.

Deuces Wild

"Deuces Wild" is a variation of video poker in which all twos are wild. (Wild cards substitute for any other card in the deck in order to make a better poker hand). In Deuces Wild, the payout for a four of a kind makes up approximately ⅓ of the payback percentage of the game, and a four of a kind occurs on average approximately every fifteen hands. Deuces Wild can be found with pay schedules that offer a theoretical return as high as 100.8 percent, when played with perfect strategy. This full-pay version is found only in Nevada. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:

Hand1 credit2 credits3 credits4 credits5 credits
Natural Royal Flush30060090012004000
Four Deuces2004006008001000
Wild Royal Flush255075100125
Five of a Kind1530456075
Straight Flush918273645
Four of a Kind510152025
Full House3691215
Flush246810
Straight246810
Three of a Kind12345
Theoretical Return99.7%99.7%99.7%99.7%100.8%

Variations are available that pay different amounts for the quad "deuces", such as Double Deuces (2000), Loose Deuces (2500), Triple Deuces (3000), and Royal Deuces (4000). Full pay Loose Deuces (25–17–10), once common but now rare, is one of the highest return versions of video poker offered.

Sigma Flush Attack

Sigma Flush Attack is a combination of video poker and a banking slot, in this case what is being banked is flushes. [12] After 3,4, or 5 flushes (varies by machine), the machine switches into "flush attack mode" in which the next flush pays 100 or 125 credits instead of the more usual 30 credits of 9–6 Jacks or Better. Some of these machines are linked, which means players can simply wait for someone else to put the bank in flush attack mode, or alternately with non-linked machines a player can play after observing a previous player hit flushes but not enough to trigger the flush attack, a practice called "vulturing". The higher payoff of the flush attack represents one of the higher overlays of video poker. These machines, once common, are now relatively rare.

Bonus Poker

"Bonus Poker" is a video poker game based on Jacks or Better, but Bonus Poker offers a higher payout percentage for four of a kind. The full-pay version of this game returns 99.2%. (3) The game has multiple versions featuring different bonus payouts based on the ranking of the four of a kind.

Double Bonus

"Double Bonus" video poker is a variation of Jacks or Better with a bonus payout for four aces. This variation offers up to a theoretical return of 100.2 percent, when played with perfect strategy — however, this % is only on a "10/7" version video poker game (10/7 being the payouts for a full house and a flush). There are many other video poker varieties of 10/6, 9/6, etc. that have slightly lower than the most generous 10/7 version payout. Although the full-pay version has a theoretically-positive return, few play well enough to capitalize on it. Double Bonus is a complex game.(4)

It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:

Hand1 credit2 credits3 credits4 credits5 credits
Royal Flush25050075010004000
Straight Flush50100150200250
Four Aces160320480640800
Four 2, 3, or 480160240320400
Four 5-K50100150200250
Full House1020304050
Flush714212835
Straight510152025
Three of a Kind3691215
Two Pair12345
Jacks or Better12345
Theoretical Return99.1%99.1%99.1%99.1%100.2%

Double Double Bonus

"Double Double Bonus" video poker is a variation of Jacks or Better which offers bonus payoffs for different four of a kinds, as seen in the payout table below. Full pay Double Double Bonus can be found with pay schedules that offer up to a theoretical return of 100.1 percent, when played with perfect strategy. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:

Hand1 credit2 credits3 credits4 credits5 credits
Royal Flush25050075010004000
Straight Flush50100150200250
Four Aces w/2, 3, or 4400800120016002000
Four 2, 3, or 4 w/A-4160320480640800
Four Aces160320480640800
Four 2, 3, or 480160240320400
Four 5-K50100150200250
Full House1020304050
Flush612182430
Straight48121620
Three of a Kind3691215
Two Pair12345
Jacks or Better12345
Theoretical Return98.9%98.9%98.9%98.9%100.1%

Low pay video poker games

Often casinos choose to use pay tables which reduce the maximum payout percentage as compared to other commonly available game variants. This increases the house edge, but generally reduces net revenue for the casino as players experience less "play time" on the machine, busting out of their buy-in at an earlier point. Casinos that reduce paytables generally have to increase promotions to compensate and attract customers.

9/5 Jacks or Better

9/5 Jacks or Better is a low pay version of the game. The payout for making a Flush is cut from 6x your bet to 5x your bet, but all other payouts remain the same. This reduces the maximum payout percentage to 98.45% for players betting five coins per hand to receive the Royal Flush bonus.

8/6 Jacks or Better

8/6 Jacks or Better is another often used pay table for Jacks or Better games. The payout for making a Full House is cut from 9x your bet to 8x your bet, while all other payouts remain the same as in a full pay game. This reduces the maximum payout percentage to 98.39% for players betting five coins per hand to receive the Royal Flush bonus.

8/5 Jacks or Better

8/5 Jacks or Better cuts the Full House payout from 9x your bet to 8x your bet, and also cuts the Flush payout from 6x your bet to 5x your bet. All other payouts remain the same as in a full pay game. This reduces the maximum payout percentage to 97.30% for players betting five coins per hand to receive the Royal Flush bonus. A common promotion used by casinos to encourage play on this tight paytable was to add a 2% progressive meter to the royal flush.

7/5 Jacks or Better

7/5 Jacks or Better cuts the Full House payout from 9x your bet to 7x your bet, and also cuts the Flush payout from 6x your bet to 5x your bet. All other payouts remain the same as in a full pay game. This reduces the maximum payout percentage to 96.15% for players betting five coins per hand to receive the Royal Flush bonus.

6/5 Jacks or Better

6/5 Jacks or Better cuts the Full House payout from 9x your bet to 6x your bet, and also cuts the Flush payout from 6x your bet to 5x your bet. All other payouts remain the same as in a full pay game. This reduces the maximum payout percentage to 95.00% for players betting five coins per hand to receive the Royal Flush bonus.

Progressive jackpot games

Other kinds of video poker only have positive theoretical returns when the progressive jackpot is high enough. Many establishments advertise with a billboard when the progressive jackpot is high enough. Otherwise sub-optimal games like 8/5 jacks or better can become positive expectation when the jackpot is large enough.

Terminology

As with regular poker, there are many different terms and phrases that are associated with playing video poker, including the following: [13]

Video Poker TermExplanation
Full PayThe highest paying variant of a video poker game. Typically with high return-to-player game percentages.
Low PayRefers to video poker games which increase the house edge and reduce the return-to-player percentage.
Natural Royal FlushA unique case when the highest possible hand, a Royal Flush, is dealt to the player.
Power PokerTheoretically the most profitable poker strategy.
Multi-PlayA feature that allows participants to play with more than one hand.
HoldWhen a player chooses to keep the cards in their hand.
Auto HoldA feature available in certain video poker games. If turned on, the game automatically chooses which cards to hold.
Not So Ugly Ducks (NSUD)A game most well known for paying 16 for a 5 of a kind and 10 for a straight flush.
Game DenominationRefers to the value of the cards or the coin size in a video poker game.
FlushA five-card hand that contains cards of the same suit.
DiscardThe cards you decide to throw away after the initial deal.
DrawThe second deal of the cards, after you have decided which cards to hold and which to discard.
HandThe five cards (or less) dealt on the screen are known as a hand.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackjack</span> Gambling card game

Blackjack is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as "twenty-one". This family of card games also includes the European games vingt-et-un and pontoon, and the Russian game Ochko. Blackjack players do not compete against each other. The game is a comparing card game where each player competes against the dealer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poker</span> Card game

Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, but in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game was played with just 20 cards, today it is usually played with a standard deck, although in countries where short packs are common, it may be played with 32, 40 or 48 cards. Thus poker games vary in deck configuration, the number of cards in play, the number dealt face up or face down, and the number shared by all players, but all have rules that involve one or more rounds of betting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild card (cards)</span> Card which may stand in for a card of another value

A wild card in card games is one that may be used to represent any other playing card, sometimes with certain restrictions. Jokers are often used as wild cards, but other cards may be designated as wild by the rules or by agreement. In addition to their use in card games played with a standard pack, wild cards may also exist in dedicated deck card games, such as the 'Master' card in Lexicon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omaha hold 'em</span> Community card poker game

Omaha hold 'em is a community card poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must make their best hand using exactly two of them, plus exactly three of the five community cards. The exact origin of the game is unknown, but casino executive Robert Turner first brought Omaha into a casino setting when he introduced the game to Bill Boyd, who offered it as a game at the Las Vegas Golden Nugget Casino. Omaha uses a 52-card French deck. Omaha hold 'em 8-or-better is the "O" game featured in H.O.R.S.E.

Pai gow poker is a version of pai gow that is played with playing cards, instead of traditional pai gow's Chinese dominoes. The game of pai gow poker was created in 1985 in the United States by Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slot machine</span> Casino gambling machine

A slot machine, fruit machine, poker machine or pokies is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively as one-armed bandits, alluding to the large mechanical levers affixed to the sides of early mechanical machines, and to the games' ability to empty players' pockets and wallets as thieves would.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red dog (card game)</span> Game of chance played with cards

Red dog, also known as Yablon, is a game of chance played with cards, in which two cards are dealt and a player bets on whether the rank of a third card would fall between them. While found in some land casinos, its popularity has declined, although it is featured at many online casinos.

Lowball or low poker is a variant of poker in which the normal ranking of hands is inverted. Several variations of lowball poker exist, differing in whether aces are treated as high cards or low cards, and whether straights and flushes are used.

Caribbean stud poker, also called casino stud poker, is a casino table game with rules derived from five-card stud poker. However, unlike standard poker games, Caribbean stud poker is played against the house rather than against other players. There is no option to bluff or deceive as this is played against the house and not other players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Card Poker</span> Casino game

Three Card Poker is a casino table game based on poker. It was designed in 1994 by Derek Webb.

A progressive jackpot is a jackpot which increases each time the game is played but the jackpot is not won. When the progressive jackpot is won, the jackpot for the next play is reset to a predetermined value, and resumes increasing under the same rule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Card Poker</span>

Four Card Poker is a casino card game similar to Three Card Poker, invented by Roger Snow and owned by Shuffle Master.

<i>Daifugō</i> Japanese card game

Daifugō or Daihinmin, also known as Tycoon, is a Japanese shedding-type card game for three or more players played with a standard 52-card pack. The objective of the game is to get rid of all the cards one has as fast as possible by playing progressively stronger cards than those of the previous player. The winner is called the daifugō earning various advantages in the next round, and the last person is called the daihinmin. In that following round, winners can exchange their one or more unnecessary cards for advantageous ones that losers have.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teen patti</span> South Asian gambling card game

Teen patti is a gambling card game. Teen Patti originated in India and is popular throughout South Asia. It originated in the English game of three-card brag, with influences from poker. It is also called flush or flash in some areas.

Advantage gambling, or advantage play, refers to legal methods used to gain an advantage while gambling, in contrast to cheating. The term usually refers to house-banked casino games, but can also refer to games played against other players, such as poker. Someone who practises advantage gambling is often referred to as an advantage player, or AP. Unlike cheating, which is by definition illegal, advantage play exploits innate characteristics of a particular game to give the player an advantage relative to the house or other players. While not illegal, advantage play is often discouraged and some advantage players may be banned by certain casinos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casino hold 'em</span>

Casino Hold'em is a casino gambling game. This banking game, introduced by Stephen Au-Yeung in 2000 and now played in live casinos worldwide. It was licensed for use in the United Kingdom in 2007. In addition online casinos offer the game, which is based on the traditional multi-player Texas Hold'em Poker.

The following is a glossary of poker terms used in the card game of poker. It supplements the glossary of card game terms. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon poker slang terms. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.

Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round. The cards dealt face down to each individual player are called hole cards, which gave rise to the common English expression ace in the hole for any hidden advantage.

Draw poker is any poker variant in which each player is dealt a complete hand before the first betting round, and then develops the hand for later rounds by replacing, or "drawing", cards.

References

  1. Montero, David; Winton, Richard; Vives, Ruben (2017-10-09). "In the solitary world of video poker, Stephen Paddock knew how to win. Until he didn't". Los Angeles Times . ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  2. "Video Poker Rules & Gameplay".
  3. "Learn Video Poker Rules and Video Poker Hand Values". OnlineCasinosDoc.com. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  4. "How to Play Video Poker – Rules 2021". Veritop.com.
  5. "How to play video poker: a beginners' guide to playing poker slots". The Telegraph. 2020-05-28. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  6. "Video Poker Best Practices: Reviewing Specialty Games – Know Your Slots". www.knowyourslots.com. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  7. Editorial Staff. "How to Play Ultimate X Video Poker – Casino Player Magazine | Strictly Slots Magazine | Casino Gambling Tips" . Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  8. "Super Draw 6 Poker". wizardofodds.com. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  9. Editorial Staff. "How To Play Pick 'Em Poker – Casino Player Magazine | Strictly Slots Magazine | Casino Gambling Tips" . Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  10. "Video Poker Analyzer – Wizard of Odds". wizardofodds.com .
  11. Video Poker Optimum Play, Dan Paymar, Table 9: Attractiveness Quotient of Selected Games, page 175, ISBN   1-886070-11-3
  12. Robbing the One-Armed Bandits, Charles Lund, 1999, ISBN   091057510X, page 37ff
  13. Bracelin, Jason (2019). Fodor's Travel. Las Vegas (30th ed.). New York: Fodor's Travel Publications. pp. 228–231. ISBN   978-1640971950.