How To Play Video Poker Machines
- Video Poker For Money
- How To Play Video Poker
- How To Win On Video Poker Machines
- How To Play Video Poker Machines
- Free Video Poker Machine
In the 1990s, Bob Dancer arrived in Las Vegas with $6,000 and won a million dollars in 5 months playing the video poker machines. His book told the story of that windfall in an entertaining and eye-opening fashion. These books convinced many gamblers that video poker machines (of the era) could be beaten. It was very primitive compared to modern-day video poker games but it was the first-ever computerized video poker machine that paved the way for other video poker games. The popularity of these machines started to skyrocket when a company called SIRCOMA (Si Redd’s Coin Machines) introduced a video poker game, namely Draw Poker, in 1979. Establish a Bankroll. This is the part of the process where you insert money into the machine. How to Play Video Poker First Cards Drawn. After you’ve chosen the bet size, hit the Deal button to receive your first five cards. Hold Your Cards. Next you have to select which cards you want to hold on to. Use the Hold buttons under each card to. Second Cards Drawn.
Not many casino games give you an opportunity to win profits. Poker games like Texas Hold’em, blackjack (card counting), and certain progressive slots (jackpots that offer +EV) are among the select few games that provide a long-term advantage.
Video poker also carries the reputation for being a beatable game. It offers over 100% return to player (RTP) on certain variations.
Of course, these variations are hard to find and not accessible to most gamblers. So, is video poker actually beatable?
This guide discusses how you can beat video poker over the long run. It also covers if the methods covered below are actually realistic.
Video Poker Is Beatable in Some Cases
Most real money video poker variations are favorable when compared to the average casino game. For example, the common 9/6 Jacks or Better variation offers 99.54% RTP with perfect strategy.
The “9/6” refers to how this Jacks or Better game pays nine coins for a full house and six for a flush. 8/6 Jacks or Better, by comparison, only offers 98.39% payback.
Here are the highest paying video poker game machines that exist today:
- Full-pay Deuces Wild = 100.76% Return To Player
- Full-pay Joker Wild = 100.65%
- 10/7 Double Bonus = 100.17%
- 10/6 Double Double Bonus = 100.07%
The house rarely gives you an opportunity to win long-term profits. Therefore, the games listed above are quite unique.
You’re not going to get rich by playing these machines. This is especially true when you consider that the coin sizes are only worth a quarter ($1.25 per five-coin hand).
However, you can win decent money on full-pay Deuces Wild. Here’s an example on how much you can look forward to winning under ideal circumstances:
- You bet $1.25 per hand and use perfect strategy
- You play 800 hands per hour
- 25 x 800 x 0.76 = $7.60 in hourly profits
- The casino offers a 0.1% comp rate
- 800 x 0.001 = $0.80 in hourly rewards
- 6 + 0.8 = $8.40 in total hourly winnings
Most jobs today pay well over $8 an hour. But if you want to make guaranteed money from your gambling hobby, then Deuces Wild offers this chance.
Games With +EV Are Rare
You can see that multiple types of video poker offer positive expected value (+EV). But you’ll have trouble finding these machines anywhere outside of Las Vegas.
Sin City is home to the large majority of beatable video poker games. Assuming you try playing anywhere else, such as Atlantic City or Macau, you’re not going to find +EV machines.
Even when you visit Vegas, though, you’ll mostly be dealing with 10/7 Double Bonus and 10/6 Double Double Bonus games. As covered before, these variations only pay 100.17% and 100.07% RTP, respectively.
Sam’s Town is the only Las Vegas casino that currently offers full-pay Deuces Wild. As you can imagine, its Deuces Wild machines are crowded with gamblers who want to make profits. Therefore, you may not even find an open seat for the best games.
Profits Are Theoretical
Video poker isn’t like blackjack, where it offers a fairly even payout distribution. Instead, it features a wide range of payouts.
Therefore, video poker can be volatile over the short term. You may not earn a straight flush or royal flush until after playing tens of thousands of hands.
In fact, you’ll only get a royal flush on around 1 out of every 40,000 hands on average. Theoretically, you need to play at least 40k hands before receiving a royal.
Maybe you’ll find an open full-pay Deuces Wild machine and play a large amount of hands. Even so, you might need to play for many hours before actually realizing the 100.76% RTP and making profits.
What You Must Do to Win Profits
You can see that the road towards video poker winnings is difficult. But if you’re still interested in the matter, you can follow the tips below.
Travel to Las Vegas
Some +EV video poker machines are sprinkled around Nevada. If you truly want a real chance at winning, though, then you should take a trip to Las Vegas.
Sin City is the only place in the world with full-pay Deuces Wild and Joker Wild. It also offers a fair number of Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus games.
You can also look forward to some of the best rewards programs in Vegas. These VIP benefits will add to your bottom line.
Look for the Limited +EV Machines
Once in Las Vegas, you need to start searching for the small percentage of beatable video poker games. After all, you can’t just sit down to any machine and expect to win.
Most of these games are located in downtown casinos or on the Boulder Strip. Meanwhile, you won’t find any of these machines on the Vegas Strip.
Keep in mind that open seats for the most desirable games aren’t always available. You may have better luck hitting up casinos during non-peak hours, such as the morning and late evening.
Play Countless Hands to Overcome Volatility
A royal flush only makes up around 2% of the total payback for any video poker game. Considering this fact, many gamblers put too much emphasis on getting a royal.
Nevertheless, you still need to get the best hand at some point to earn over 100% payback. You’ll likely have to log countless hands to make it happen.
On average, you’ll need 40,000 hands to get a royal. You should consider yourself blessed if you’re able to land one within the first 10,000 or 20,000 hands.
Target Days With Double Rewards
Las Vegas casinos commonly feature promotions involving double or even triple points through their loyalty programs. Assuming you visit the casino on these days, you can look forward to a lot more rewards.
These extra rewards won’t line your pockets with riches. But they’re definitely worth taking advantage of when available.
The Average Player Isn’t Going to Beat Video Poker
Unless you live in Las Vegas or can afford to frequently visit, you’re not going to win guaranteed profits. You instead need to rely on some luck to be most games.
You should treat beating video poker as more of a hobby than a legitimate way to profit from gambling. If you’re already going to be visiting Las Vegas, you might as well take advantage of the +EV machines.
But you won’t make a career out of beating video poker. The travel costs and hotel bookings will eat up your profits. Even if you live in Las Vegas, you won’t be able to make any more than $8 to $10 an hour with perfect and rapid play.
Should You Still Consider Playing Video Poker?
Video poker may not be beatable from a realistic standpoint. But that doesn’t mean you should completely avoid it.
It’s still a fine game that has lots of entertainment value to offer. You can play for big payouts while still enjoying some of the best payback in the casino.
Honestly, you have a better shot at winning with video poker than almost any of the other casino games. You can stick with the aforementioned tips to boost your odds.
9/6 Jacks or Better is never a bad game to play in terms of odds. Its 99.54% RTP is right in line with the world’s most-favorable blackjack games.
You can even opt for 8/5 Bonus Poker if 9/6 Jacks or Better isn’t available. It gives you a solid chance to win with its 99.17% RTP.
Conclusion
Theoretically, video poker is a beatable game. Full-pay Deuces Wild, Joker Wild, Double Bonus, and Double Double Bonus all exist in Las Vegas. You can find Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus machines in other parts of Nevada too.
However, the days where you could bet $1 coins ($5 hand with five coins) on full-pay Deuces Wild are long gone. The latter is only available in one Vegas casino through quarter machines.
Video Poker For Money
You can still win profits from video poker if you’re willing to visit Sin City. But you aren’t going to make a living from doing so.
Like many casino games, video poker is most entertaining when you treat it as a hobby. Assuming you get a little luck on your side, you could land a royal flush and earn a large profit.
While visiting casinos, I have often wondered how video poker machines work. Is there any skill involved in beating them? Or are they programmed in favor of the house and require luck to win like slot machines? So, I did a bit of research and these are my findings.
How are poker machines programmed? Video poker machines are programmed with primitive software designed around the random number generator (RNG). Basically, the RNG is constantly shuffling the deck until a player hits the button that deals the cards. Machines favor the house but there are no programmed patterns or rigging done.
Now, let’s explore the different types of machines and how they are programmed in greater detail.
What Type of Software Is Used in Video Poker Machines?
Poker machines do not use software the way computers do in the modern age. In fact, it is not really software at all since it was mostly created during the 1980’s using old technologies.
The “software” is much more rudimentary and basically only picks random numbers that generate the images of cards on the screen. Usually, once the initial deal is made the cards are set and no more calculations are made until the next hand is dealt
Types of Video Poker Machines
A video poker machine is usually computerized and in casinos, you will find two types of video machines. They include the Class II Machines and the Class III Machines.
What Is a Class II Machine?
The class II games are pertinent and related to bingo. They, therefore, include lottery-style games and pull-tab machines played within one location, including the card-games that are not house-banked are within the Class II games
Seemingly, Bingo has little to do with video poker gaming, but we will get to that later.
What Is a Class III Machine?
The Class III casino games are common in Las Vegas Casino gaming. Every traditional casino game such as blackjack, roulette, traditional slot machines, and the video poker games is within the Class III category
Federal law allows Native American casinos to conduct Class II gaming without supervision. To conduct Class III gaming, they have to negotiate with the state first. The first thing that some people think of after the phrase “video poker games” is mentioned is Class III gaming.
The Difference Between Class II and Class III Machines
Each outcome of a Class II video poker machine is determined by an electronic bingo game. If you already know how the bingo machine functions, you will find it easier to understand this
In a bingo game, the entry fees and number of entries determines and limits the prizes. When playing Class II gaming machines, you will be participating in electronic bingo games with very many players. The cards on the video poker game are there for display purposes alone
The odds of video poker machines are based on the hit bingo patterns. Actually, on Class II video poker machines, a big screen will display the cards but you will have another subtle screen displaying the electronic bingo card
The small electronic bingo card is the only clue you require to understand what is happening mathematically.
How Do Class II Video Poker Games Play?
Most video poker machines that you see in casinos are similar in function. In fact, video poker play is very simple.
When you play, you will be dealt with five cards alone and then you will have the chance of deciding on which to keep by tapping the pictures that appear on the screen or pressing the buttons situated on the console
Random Video Poker Number Generator
Some believe that the purpose of RNG is to shuffle the virtual cards. That is not the case; the RNG generates many combinations of numbers in predetermined ranges on a constant basis.
Basically, the RNG uses the same randomness found in an actual deck of playing cards. In practice, the concept is the same.
For example, each of the 52 cards in the Better or Jacks video poker game has corresponding numbers – between 1 and 52. If a gamble presses on the “Bet Max” or Bet One Credit” buttons or deposits coins, the microprocessor in the video poker machine will collect five random numbers within a period less than 1/1000th second and translate them into real card images. After that, the player will get a hand to start the game.
Are Video Poker Machines Actually Random?
The RNG is the computer program which determines the results of every hand. There are no patterns or rigging done to the software. Instead, it constantly “spins” through the deck until someone clicks the deal button.
In Class III machines, the odds are random, but some people assume that the machines use similar probability and logic to that of a deck of cards. The random number generator has to use the same probability and odds to generate 5-card hands – found in the standard decks of 52-cards. Some games have 53 cards because of the wild card (the joker).
A video poker machine deals the first five cards in the above manner, but some other machines generate the replacement for cards that a player wishes to get rid of in different ways.
The Parallel Dealing Method
After a player decides to get rid of a card, the machine will show the replacement card. At the time the machines entered the gambling world, some people were against parallel dealing. The primary reason behind that was that the card a gambler requires to complete a winning hand might be behind a card that they have kept. Therefore, they cannot receive the card.
The Switch to the Serial Dealing Method
Due to complaints about the parallel method, the modern poker machine was created based on a different way of determining the cards. The “serial” dealing method. This basically means that all of the future replacement cards are now in one stack. In other words, there are no longer cards out of play.
This change took place in the 1990s and is now the preferred method of dealing video poker in the vast majority of casinos.
Are Video Poker Machines Programmed to Favor the House?
How To Play Video Poker
The probability of winning and the payout ensures that the casino will make huge profits in the long term. Moreover, the casino has the main goal of influencing you to keep playing for the longest time possible. They design the random number generator and the payback tables with that in mind.
Video poker machines are definitely designed to favor of the house.
Is Video Poker Beatable?
Only a few people will actually win at video poker over the long term. Some individuals believe that making a living out of it is possible, but that is very hard. To be a professional in the field, you have to be intelligent, manage to sit in one place and play for very many hours.
In the best case scenario, the maximum edge attainable for winning video poker players is about 1% or 2%.
To win in video poker games, you will need a lot of practice and a sound mathematical strategy. There are available online tools that will tell you each time you make a strategic mistake. The tools offer simplified strategies, which are easier to play or remember and will work more like the professional strategies.
Can Video Poker Machines Be Rigged or Hacked
Video poker machines have to be FIPS compliant. The interfaces have to be locked and in trigger-
Moreover, there are no WAN interfaces or intranet and the firmware and house-variable updates happen through the ports. Outside the glitching and the logic backdoors and bugs, including the RNG Weakness, the machines are impossible to compromise physically.
How the Paytable and Returns Are Programmed
The amount of money you win for every hand depends on the machine’s pay table. Each paytable offers five columns because the winnings only depend on whether you played 1,2,3,4 or 5 coins. Keep in mind that the Royal Flush offers a bonus. For example, instead of winning 1250 coins (equal to 5 coins x 250), you will win 4000 coins.
Therefore, it is always good to play five coins at once and switch to the lower-denomination machine. That is the opposite of what most people will advise you when it comes to slots. The reason behind that is that penalties for failing to play the maximum coins in the video poker games are higher.
Benefits of Knowing the Paytables
One great thing about video poker games is that you will be aware of the return of each machine before you even start playing. On the typical video poker games, the average profit of a casino after each play is around 3 percent – known as the house edge
The return refers to the actual amount the casino returns to the players. If a casino gets 3 percent after every bet, the players will get around 97 percent of the money bet. The paytable determines the returns on the video poker machine
Conversely, in slot machines, you will not have any clue on the payout you are getting. And in cases where the return is usually displayed, it is more likely lousy. In fact, the slot machine is the only casino game with very bad odds. After you have learned the best playing strategy for video poker, you will have to select the machine with the good paytable.
Video Poker Programming Myths
There are quite a few prevailing myths floating around out there that many people believe. Here are three common ones:
- The number of coins bet determines the strength of the hand myth – The idea behind this myth is that people think the machines are rigged to give more frequent payouts or stronger hands for lower betting amounts. That way, when someone wins big, they will be suckered into pumping larger amounts into the machine for a larger payout.
- The pattern myth – As we have discussed before, some people believe that the machines are set up to payout in patterns. Similar to slot machine campers, they think they can just sit around and wait for someone to pump a bunch of money into the machine and then swoop in to get the big jackpot.
- Thrown away cards can reappear myth – Some players think that cards that are gotten rid of can show back up on a future draw.
What Is the History of Video Machines?
Understanding the key differences between the two types of video poker machines requires a look at the past.
Gambling machines entered the market for the first time in the year 1988 after Congress authorized the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The law governs the type of casino games a tribal casino can provide.
Class I casino games also exist, but they are the traditional Indian games and social games. Put differently, the class I games are not commercial.
Is Online Video Poker Programmed like Live Video Poker?
Online video poker users a more complex RNG that is similar to the one designed for regular online poker. It is more akin to the serial dealing method.
How To Win On Video Poker Machines
If you want to try online video poker, I recommend Ignition Casino. It is my favorite place to play poker and has the best variety.
Final Thoughts
I find it interesting that there has not been more updating done to video poker machines over the years. The machines are still using technology that was created with PacMan and Donkey Kong were the biggest computer games in town.
While it might seem fun and simple to play a quick video poker game, it is definitely not really a game of skill. If you want to win money at poker you are better off learning strategy and playing with real people.
If you are interested in getting into online poker and learning a simple strategy for winning at cash games, you can get a free basic strategy that I created by signing up for my newsletter.
Thanks for stopping by and good luck at the tables! (or machines)
How To Play Video Poker Machines
Related Questions
What is the video poker risk of ruin? Risk or ruin means how likely you are to lose your whole bankroll based on how much money you have and your skill level. For more information, read this.
Free Video Poker Machine
How do you tell if a video poker machine is going to hit? There is no way to tell if you are going to be dealt a strong hand in video poker. The machines operate off a random number generator that is not programmed or rigged by the casino.
Are there video poker professionals? Most poker professionals play against other players and not on video poker machines. This is due to the very small edges that are attainable in the games. However, there are players who manage to make money on the machines. Even so, it would be very difficult to make a sustainable living as a professional video poker player.