JazzPoker - Online Video Poker as its best !!
Video Poker
Video poker is a combination of both a slot machine and five-card draw poker. You can play it in casinos across the nation, or in in the comfort of your house at your PC through sites. In the early 70s, when video poker was first introduced in to the country and was still struggling for acceptance, the machines were usually usually called to as poker slots, that's because video poker has a lot in common with slot machines. Both are easy to use, requiring no interaction with a dealer or with other players. Card combinations, like slot reels, are produced by a random-number generator.
But video poker adds something slot machines don't have, a skill element. Players have decisions to make that affect the outcome. And because cards are required to be dealt from a randomly shuffled 52-card deck (53 cards, in the case of Joker's Wild machines) all the combinations possible are known, the frequency of the combinations can be calculated, and an playing strategy can be prepare.
The video poker machines, played skillfully, offer odds that rival any other table game. Jacks or Better is a game that when played in his full version returns 99.5% with optimal play over the long haul. Other machines (especially some versions of Deuces Wild), offer a positive expectation to the player, they'll return more than 100 percent with optimal play.
But you may be asking, Why do casinos offer games that can be beaten? Well, because only a very few players know the basics of plying properly. They make enough mistakes that the casinos actually pay out only 2 to 4 percent less than the expectation for skilled players.
Enough people around the country are very familiar with the rank of poker hands that video poker has easily become one of the most popular casino games. As gambling markets mature and players become more experienced, the demand for video poker has tended to become stronger and still growing.
How to Play Video Poker
Winning a slot machine jackpot is based solely on luck, you put your money in the machine, hit the spin button and hope the best. There are no decisions to make that will change the outcome of the spin. On the other hand, many table games require skill and the decisions you make can vary the outcome. Most table games when played properly have a lower house edge than the slot machines. Knowledgeable Blackjack players know that learning basic strategy will reduce the house edge to less than one percent.
One reason why more people don’t play table games is the intimidation factor that comes about from sitting down at the table in front other players. Some players want to play skill card games but are afraid to look like fools if the make the wrong move. This kind of people is more comfortable with slot machine games.
Video Poker is a game that requires skill and it bridges the gap between slot machines and table games for many players. In most casinos video poker machines(played correctly), offer a lower house edge than the slot machines. Over the last few years video poker has been gaining a lot terrain in popularity and the casinos are adding more machines to the gaming floor. When video poker machines first appeared on the casino floors in the late 1970’s the only game offered was Jacks or Better draw poker. There are more than a 100 variations of video poker games.
Video Poker is based on the game of draw poker and has virtually the same rules except that you are not playing against any other players. To start the machine deals five cards on the screen. The player then has the option of drawing up to five new cards. (In some instances you may not want to draw any new cards) You keep the cards you want to keep by pushing the “Hold” button that corresponds to the card on the screen. When you have made your choice you hit the “Deal” button and the cards you discarded will be replaced by new cards. Your win or loss is determined by the outcome after of your final hand after you hit the draw button. How much you win is based on the pay table that is posted on the front of the machine.
The Return
One advantage that video poker has over regular slot machines is that you can determine the return of the game by reading the pay table on the front of the machine.Video poker games usually used a 52 card deck in their play to get all the combinations in poker hands, but some also use 1 or 2 jokers added to the 52 card deck. One popular variation of the game is Deuces Wild which uses a 52 card deck but the deuces are wild cards. With a set number of combinations that can be made from the cards used in the game the payout can be calculated by how much the machine pays for each winning combination.
With a 52 card deck you can get 2,598,960 possible hands. To simulate the probabilities of any given hand or card, video poker machines use a Random Number Generator, or RNG. Because this is a set probability the casino gets its edge by adjusting the pay table of the machines.
Although you will not be able to make the calculations in you head. There are software programs , strategy cards, books and internet sites where you can obtain the information you need to determine the payouts for each pay table. By knowing how to read a pay table you can make sure you are playing the machine with the best return. Some casinos will put two identical machines that have different pay tables next to each other. You want to make sure you are choosing the one with the highest return.
Video Poker Strategy
It is not enough to just know the payback of a video poker machine. In order to achieve the maximum return you must play the game using a set mathematical strategy. Strategy is fundamental in any poker game to play your hands correctly. Just making a few mistakes in your strategy increases the edge of the house by a lot. Each video poker game has its own strategy. For example you can not use the strategy for Jacks or Better when playing Deuces Wild. Most of the Video Poker games are variations of “jacks or better”, so it’s a good idea to begin learning this game first.
