Why Play Video Poker?

This is a question I'm asked often - why bother playing Video poker? Casinos have numerous types of gaming available to play - From slot machines to table games - there are literally thousands of variations of games to play.

When it boils down to it, Video Poker is a game that offers some of the best jackpots and best returns, with numerous variations of games to play. Essentially what this means is that Video Poker offers the "excitement" of gambling while presenting some of the best odds of beating "the house."



Everyone knows that Slot Machines are a suckers game. Casinos make the bulk of their income off of slot machines. They usually return anywhere from 75%-90% of the money that's put in. At these HORRIFIC odds, you can never beat a slot machine over the long run. Will there be a few players who are life time winners due to extreme luck/jackpots, yes, but this is absolutely not the norm.

Video Poker on the other hand, can offer a theoretical payout percentage from 99.xx% to over 100.xx% That means, a player can potentially make a living off of playing Video Poker. It seems almost unbelievable that a casino would offer a game that it would lose money on, but it is true. There is a catch however -- These games require perfect play strategy to earn these returns. Any errors by a player will drop their return percentage. The biggest factor is that there are only a minority of people who know how to play Video Poker perfectly, and the vast majority of people playing at these machines have no idea what optimal play is. Making mathematical errors in Video Poker can drop your return considerably, and make your game no longer profitable to play.

Video Poker also offers one of the best Jackpots over any other game. Hitting the elusive Royal Flush nets a player 800-to-1 in an instant. Some Video Poker games give even HIGHER jackpots. You just can't beat that kind of Jackpot. Craps and Roulette can only give 33-1 and 36-1 respectively. BlackJack's biggest "jackpot" is 3-2.

Video Poker becomes profitable with the joining of a casino's Players Club Rewards Card. Because you are constantly re-betting the money you win, your "coin-in" will generate considerable comps and points that will increase your return. Often a casino's players club card will add .1% to your return, as well as net you mailers that give comps to buffets, free rooms, and tickets to a show.


Yes, Video Poker is a great game to play, but what are some of its drawbacks?


Variance (aka volatility) -- Video Poker variations all have different degrees of variance. While Jacks or Better offers one of the lowest variances, other games like Double Double Bonus (DDB) can offer significantly higher variances. What this essentially means is, during any given session a player playing a high variance game can expect a big win or a big loss. Video Poker players MUST maintain crucial bankroll management, and be able to tolerate the swings of playing. You cannot always win in a session, perfect play or not. No guarantee exists you'll make money over a short-term session.

Bankroll -- A player needs to have a significant bankroll just to play at some of the lower denominations of Video Poker. To play $.25, it is recommended that you have at least a bankroll of near $1000. Not don't freak out, you're not likely to lose this $1000 in one sitting. But only bringing $100 to a quarter game, could potentially net you 8-10 hours of gameplay, or it could be gone in 30 minutes. Therefore big bankroll is required to play these games, as well as be able to handle the swings.

Practice/Studying -- This alone is what will determine if you'll make it in the video poker world. If you have the drive to actually want to study and practice video poker daily, so that you can play perfectly when you enter the casino - then Video Poker is for you. If the thought of having to train, practice (hundreds of hours sometimes) turns you off, Video Poker is absolutely not for you. Video Poker requires that you learn how to play every single hand dealt to you. Every time you hold the incorrect mathematical best hand, you are losing money in the long run.

Sticking to the Strategy -- This is the second huge hitter towards Video Poker players. Many players learn the game and learn how to play perfectly, but instead of playing by the strategy they learned, they will often deviate from it. "I know this is not the best play, but I just have a feeling this time holding for the Royal Flush will hit!" If you want to be a great Video Poker player, you must ignore such urges to defy the perfect play strategy in hopes of hitting a long shot. Believe it or not, this is very difficult for most people to handle - made only worse when the incorrect play turns out to be "a winner" per that particular outcome - this only adds more justification to the player to break optimal strategy. It is crucial to understand that the "mathematical correct play" will not always win, but over the long run playing that hand correctly will yield more return than playing it incorrectly.

Hopefully these tips will help determine if Video Poker is right for you!