Introduction to Video
Poker
Video Poker
Video poker is a beatable game. It is one of the few casino
games where the knowledgeable player can have an advantage
over the casino on every bet.
In most casinos, however, at least 80%+ of all video poker
games contain a built-in house edge, and in some casinos
100% of the games have a house edge. Video Poker Pay Schedules
A B C D E
Royal Flush 250 800 800 800 800
Straight Flush 50 50 50 50 50
Four of a Kind 25 25 25 80/40/25 160/80/50
Full House 9 9 8 8 10
Flush 6 6 5 5 7
Straight 4 4 4 4 5
Three of a Kind 3 3 3 3 3
Two Pair 2 2 2 2 1
Jacks or Better 1 1 1 1 1
The most important factor in identifying those games that
are beatable and those games that are not is found by
looking at the pay schedule --- which by law is prominently
displayed on the front of every machine.
At first glance, the chart above looks like a pay schedule,
but it actually represents five different pay schedules.
Notice the final hands are listed down the left side.
A. 9-6 Jacks or Better --- played with 1 thru 4 coins
--- 98.37%
B. 9-6 Jacks or Better --- max coins --- 99.54%
C. 8-5 Jacks or Better --- max coins --- 97.30%
D. 8-5 Bonus Poker --- 99.17%
E. 10-7 Double Bonus --- 100.17%
A. 9-6 Jacks or Better --- played with 1 thru 4 coins
--- 98.37%
Column A represents the one-coin pay schedule for the
best commonly found Jacks or Better game, which is also
called Draw Poker. It is also the basic game found on
"Triple Play", "Five Play" and "Fifty Play" machines.
The two most important numbers are the 9 listed beside
"Full House" and the 6 listed beside "Flush". These numbers
are so important that we call this the 9-6 version of
the game.
The next most important number to look at in Column A
is the amount the game returns for "Two Pair". If it says
2, you are on the correct game. If it says 1, it means
you are on a 9-6 Double Bonus game (which is a lousy schedule
on a good game) or a 9-6 Double Double Bonus game (which
is the best schedule on a game always avoided by knowledgeable
players).
Beside "Royal Flush", you usually see 250 or 300 on the
one-coin pay schedule. That is the amount you receive
if you hit the royal while paying fewer than "maximum
coins" --- which is usually 5 coins, but can be a different
number. As a general rule, always play maximum coins.
If you cannot afford to play maximum coins, find a machine
in a lower denomination with the correct pay schedule.
At the bottom of the chart you will see that playing one-coin
9-6 Jacks or Better returns 98.37%. The machine doesn't
automatically give this to you. Skill matters a lot. Playing
the hands correctly is vital. And the strategy isn't written
down anywhere.
B. 9-6 Jacks or Better --- max coins --- 99.54%
Rather than worrying about the strategy differences between
one-coin and maximum-coin play, just play maximum coins
at all times. Column B shows the pay schedule for this.
Everything is the same between Column A and Column B except
the amount returned for the Royal Flush. Column B says
800. To be sure, you will not see a machine saying it
pays 800 for a Royal Flush. What you will see, however,
are plenty of machines saying they return 4,000 coins
for a 5-coin bet. This means they return 800 coins per
coin bet, as long as you play maximum coins.
When you do play maximum coins, the game returns 99.54%
for perfect play. The 99.54% figure is for computer-perfect
play. Every hand has a unique best play. There are occasional
ties (where two different plays have identical expected
values) but they are rare in most games.
Another point to get clear here. If you ask a slot director
how much one of these machines pay back to the customer,
he will give you an answer around 97.8%. So how come I
tell you it is worth 99.54% percent and he tells you it
actually returns much less. Who's lying?
Actually, we are both telling the truth. I am talking
about your long run return if you play perfectly. The
slot director would be talking about the long run return
of actual players --- playing some mixture of maximum
coin and short coin and using whatever strategy they think
is best.
The public plays almost 2% less than optimal on this game.
Other games, such as Joker Wild, will find the public
playing at about 3% less than optimal.
Also, note that even at best, the game returns under 100%.
I for one never play video poker games unless they return
over 100%. This can happen on a Jacks or Better machine,
but only when you have a generous slot club or you have
a lucrative promotion going on.
C. 8-5 Jacks or Better --- max coins --- 97.30%
Column C shows 8-5 Jacks or Better. This is exactly the
same as 9-6 Jacks or Better, except it returns less for
both a full house and flush. It's only one unit each,
did I hear you say, so it's not a big deal? That one unit
represents 5 coins (since you are playing maximum coins,
aren't you?). And you hit about 7 full houses per hour
and 7 flushes per hour.
In round numbers, then, 8-5 Jacks or Better returns 70
coins less per hour than 9-6 Jacks or Better. (7-5 Jacks
players give up another 35 coins per hour and 6-5 Jacks
players give up still another 35 coins per hour.) The
8-5 Jacks returns 97.30%, and frankly are the best machines
at a number of casinos.
D. 8-5 Bonus Poker --- 99.17%
Column D shows the schedule for 8-5 Bonus Poker. This
is the same game as 8-5 Jacks, except that you receive
more for four twos, threes and fourss (you receive 40
instead of 25) and you receive much more for four aces
(80 instead of 25). These higher payoffs for these quads
make the game worth 99.17%.
This game returns quite a bit less than 9-6 Jacks or Better,
but is more popular among players. Go figure! Avoid the
7-5 Bonus Poker or 6-5 Bonus Poker games. They are real
coin suckers!
E. 10-7 Double Bonus --- 100.17%
Column E shows the schedule for 10-7 Double Bonus Poker.
Compared to Jacks or Better, this game pays more for all
4-of-a-kinds, full houses, flushes and straights, but
only half as much for two pair. Over all it's a good trade
off for the player.
10-7 Double Bonus returns 100.17%. It is the only game
EVER found on Triple Play that returns over 100%. This
game is found in virtually ALL of the bigger local casinos
and NONE of the bigger strip casinos.
There is one more game that you should know about if you
are playing for quarters in Las Vegas and that is Deuces
Wild.
Although some variety of this game appears in all casinos,
knowledgeable players insist on a pay schedule that returns
5 for 4-of-a-kind and 15 for 5-of-a-kind. This game returns
100.76%, is plentiful in Las Vegas, and is relatively
easy to learn.
You will find this game in ample supply at the local casinos
known for good machines --- i.e. (alphabetically) Arizona
Charlie's, Fiesta, Gold Coast, The Orleans, The Reserve,
Sam's Town and Santa Fe. It also exists in a few other
places, but not many.
Learning to recognize promising pay schedules is the most
important step in learning to play winning video poker
--but it is just the first step. This site will provide
more and more information over time, and there are free
classes taught by me on the first two Tuesdays of every
month.
These are held at the Fiesta Casino Hotel in North Las
Vegas, and begin at 7:00 p.m. Contact the Amigo Club at
the Fiesta for the current schedule.
That's it for now. Until next time, go out and hit a royal
flush. |
|
