Winning a huge jackpot on any casino game is good news but this sort of massive win doesn’t come around regularly. Instead, you will look to come out ahead in the long run by winning more than you lose, so how good is video poker at helping you to do this?
A Low House Edge Helps
One of the key points to check in any casino game is the return to player (RTP). This is a number that lets you understand the house edge, as it is simply the opposite way of looking at the same thing. A house edge of 3% translates to a 97% RTP, and the closer this number gets to 100% the better it is for you.
This number doesn’t guarantee how much you will get back from your stakes. Rather, it is an overall view of the percentage of the wagers received that the casino expects to pay out to their players over thousands of games.
The good news is that video poker games tend to have some of the best RTPs in the casino industry. This means that you should expect to win a fair number of games. Of course, the results are randomly generated at all times, so there is no way of knowing exactly what will happen each time you play.
Volatility is another measure of casino games, and video poker tends to be relatively low volatility compared to other games. This means that you should expect to get a reasonably regular supply of smaller wins. However, if the paytable is weighted more towards the less-common hands this is a sign of a higher volatility game.
Use Good Poker Strategy and Bankroll Management
Video poker is largely a game of chance, as you might get dealt a set of great cards or you could be given a hand that has nothing worthwhile in it. However, if you use a good poker strategy, this will help you to make the most of the cards that are dealt with you and maximize the chances of some wins.
To do this well, you need to understand the rules and what hand you want to create. A look at the paytable will let you see the payouts for each winning combination that is possible, so you can work out on that basis which cards are worth holding onto and which aren’t. You could try and aim for a big payout on a royal flush, or play it safe by looking at less impressive hands like 2 of a kind.
The use of a good bankroll management strategy will also help you to boost your chances of winning. Do you want to bet with the minimum stake to keep going for longer, or would you rather play with larger stakes to increase the chances of a big win? This decision will have a bearing on your chances of winning as it affects the payout on each hand.
Find the Version That Suits You
You might not realize that video poker is a genre of casino games that covers a number of different games. The gameplay is very similar on each version, but it varies in crucial aspects such as the amount paid on each combination, or whether jokers play a part.
For example, Jacks or Better is a variant that gives you a payout when you get a pair of the instantly recognizable jacks, or a set of 2 other face cards, or aces. This makes it easier to get a win since this sort of combination is fairly commonly seen, although you are typically paid a modest win with this sort of combination.
Deuces Wild games use the 2s as jokers, meaning that they automatically replace any other cards to complete a win for you. This version of video poker also often includes extra winning hands that include a set of 2s in them, together with aces or other powerful cards.
Any video poker game with Joker Poker in the title will have jokers that carry out the function of wilds to make completing a hand easier. A joker can also be used to form special hands, with this type of win marked on the paytable alongside the prize for getting it.
Progressive jackpots aren’t as commonly seen in video poker as they are in other games like slots. You can find a good website with video poker games here and check it out.
However, if you see a game like this, it means that you could win a bigger amount by creating a special hand or meeting certain conditions, such as having a royal flush while playing with the maximum stake.
Multihand games increase the volatility of video poker, as you either win or lose on up to 10 hands each time you play. This means that you may win bigger amounts if you get a good combination across several hands, but it may also cause you bigger losses if you get a poor hand.
