Video Poker originally came about in the mid 1970s, as that was the first time in history that it was commercially viable to pair a monitor with a central processing unit. The first Video Poker games were extremely basic, and hardly resemble the flashy games seen in the casinos of today. The first video poker game that was released was “Draw Poker” in 1979, which was produced by International Game Technology. “Draw Poker” was the big game throughout the early 1980′s, and players started becoming very fond of Video Poker machines because they were simple and much less intimidating than the more complicated table games like Craps or Blackjack.
Present day Video Poker games come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. The most common game, Jacks or Better, has been around for over 20 years and continues to remain a player favorite.
Jacks or Better is played just like the original “Draw Poker” game. The player receives five face up cards, and chooses which of those five cards he/she would like to hold, and which he/she would like to discard for new cards. After you’ve selected which cards to hold, click “Draw” to receive your new cards. If your final hand is a pair of Jacks or better you receive a payout that varies in size depending on the hand and the pay table used at the specific Jacks or Better machine.
That brings us to our next point in this article: pay tables actually vary from machine to machine, even if both machines are running the same game. Jacks or Better, for example, is offered with over five different pay tables ranging from full pay (the best for the player) to low pay (the best for the casino). If you’re going to play video poker, you should research the respective pay tables for the machine you’re playing to make sure it is offering the best odds possible. Full pay Jacks or Better pays out a maximum of 99.54%, while some of the low pay versions pay back as little as 95%.
Another fact to note about Video Poker games is that some games actually have twists on them such as wild cards, progressive jackpots, or bonus rounds. Wild card games like Deuces Wild designate a certain card (in this case, twos) as wild, and they can be used as any card in the deck to improve your hand. Progressive video poker games have progressive jackpots that are won by the first player to hit a Royal Flush. Bonus games offer players the opportunity to double their winnings every time they have a payout by picking a card that has to be higher than another card.
Overall, video poker has really developed and matured over the last thirty years since its inception.
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This is the same as Bonus Poker, except there’s a bonus for four Js-Ks instead of 2s-4s. The switch results in more bonus hands, because you naturally hold the face cards more often. Hence, all other payouts being equal, Aces & Faces is a higher-paying game.
Bonus Poker has a similar pay schedule to Jacks or Better. The main difference is that the payout for 4-of-a-kinds varies, with bonuses for 2s-4s and aces. These higher payouts for quads are compensated for with lower payouts for the full house and flush.
In this game, all 4-of-a-kinds pay 400. This juicy reward for quads is paid for by a reduction in the payout for a full house and an even-money return on two pair.
Deuces Wild Bonus is essentially Deuces with a kicker opportunity and 5-of-a-kinds broken out into bigger jackpots. Four 2s with an ace kicker pays a big 2,000 coins. Five aces pays 400, five 3s–5s pays 200, and five 6s-Ks pays 100. The reduction in the payout for a straight is a significant giveback that calls for key adjustments in strategy.
This is the second most popular pay schedule, due in great part to the game’s high hit frequency. The even-money payoff requires that you make 3-of-a-kind, but the presence of four wild cards greatly enhances this prospect, and makes for lots of straights, flushes, and full houses. Four deuces pays a sizable 1,000 credits. Paytables are tightened in this game by reducing the payouts for straight flushes, and 4- and 5-of-a-kinds.
In this game, the payout for five aces is doubled to 800 and the payout for five 3s-5s is increased to 250. The payouts for full house and flush are reduced. The result is a more volatile game that offers bigger paydays at correspondingly increased risk.
This game doubles the 4-of-a-kind payouts from Bonus Poker, paying a big 800 coins for aces, 400 for 2s-4s, and 250 on all others. This is another game that pays only even money for two pair. It’s a fun game, but tricky to learn to play well.
Aces with a 2, 3 or, 4 “kicker” pays 2,000. Four aces without a kicker or quad 2s-4s with an ace, 2, 3, or 4 kicker pays 800. To compensate for these juicy jackpots, the full house is usually reduced by one or two coins. Double Double is the most popular game in Nevada. Playing it can result in a great or rough ride, but it’s rarely dull.
Jacks or Better is a straightforward game with relatively low volatility, which means you can often play it for longer periods of time than other video poker pay schedules. As the name implies, it pays even money for a pair of jacks or better. All 4-of-a kinds pay 125 coins.
This game is primarily popular on the east coast in Atlantic City. The deck has 53 cards, due to the addition of one joker. The royal (without the joker) on this game often pays 4,700 coins. This is because the extra card in the deck lengthens the odds of hitting it. The 5-of-a-kind pays 1,000. These higher jackpots are compensated for by counting only kings or better as a high pair.