If you were to cross Stud Poker with a slot machine, throwing in a few wild cards, you would have video poker. This is a fast paced game. It is almost look you're playing Stud poker. You also have a wide range of options for play. Examples are Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, All American, Joker Poker and several other variations. In each game a particular type of play is rewarded.

The machines will let you play anything from 1 through 5 coins. The more coins you play the greater the payoff. When you know poker and have taken the time to learn your game, video poker is a fast paced and fun game that can also be quite rewarding.

There is a special strategy for each individual game. As an example, the game of All American will pay you better than the others for straights and flushes. This then can affect the way you select your cards. Each game has its own individual strategy for winning. If you take time to learn these strategies you will fare much better.

Objective
It is the aim of the player to achieve the best possible hand. The payoff for the various hands is indicated on the front of the Video Poker machine. Studying it can serve as a fast lesson of the hand rankings. All of the various types of Video Poker rank hands in the same manner. Some variations may actually add a rank or two.

Betting
It is to be expected that a slots version of Poker would offer a fairly straightforward form of betting. It is typical to be able, on any particular machine, to choose between betting on $0.25, $0.50, $1, or $5 games. Typically the bets are one time, two times, three times, four times, or the maximum bet of five times the stated cash denomination depending on which game you are playing. If for example, you were playing a $1 machine, you would be able to bet $1, $2, $3, $4, or $5.

Payoffs
When you begin you should take note of the payoffs for each level of betting which appears on the face of the machine. You are usually better off when you play the Max Bet. in addition to this, the pay offs are better. Better than any of the lower multiples. The savvy player will select a comfortable betting level and choose their games accordance with this.

If the $5 bet is good for you, then choose the $1 machine and play the Max Bet for $5. Or maybe you prefer paying for $25. Then pick the $5 game and play the Max Bet for $25 or five time the minimum bet. This gives you , in both cases, the best payoff odds that are available for that particular game. This strategy is similar to slots strategy.

Another thing of major importance is that the payoff ratios will vary from machine to machine. For example, Jacks or Better pays at a rate of 25 to 1 when you get four of a kind, but All American usually pays 30 to 1 odds for the same combination and Joker Poker will pay you only 20 to 1 odds. These ratios will not always reflect the true odds so knowing the game will help you to play smarter.

Pay Schedules
Casinos many times will mix into a grouping of video poker machines, which are known as banks or carousels, all seeming to look the same, several VP machines that are designed with inferior pay programs giving short or partial pay. In such a bank of normal non-progressive, non-bonus VP machines, there will be only 1 or 2 with a Jacks or better 9/6 payoff. This means that 9 coins are paid for a full house and 6 for a flush. The rest might be as low as 8/5, 7/5, or actually worse at 6/5.

The player who is playing the 9/6 machine, will actually be winning more than players who are playing the same hands on the machines with the lower payout. For comparison purposes, a 9/6 VP machine generally hits the royal flush every 40,000 hands played. These communities to about one win for every 80-100 hours of play. On the other hand, an 8/5 VP machine pays out about every 45,000 hands. In the case of the 7/5 VP machine the payout is once in about 50,000 hands and for the 6/5 machine it is only once in about every 70,000 hands that are played.

If you were to bet 5 coins, then all of your winning hands would be paid out and multiplied by a factor of 5. The exception for this is in the case of a royal flush. This bonus amount is put in as an incentive to play the five coins. Those players who are playing less than the maximum number of coins are allowing for the best payoffs for those who are not.

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