Video poker is a casino game which is based loosely on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console which is a similar size to a slot machine.
History
Video poker first became commercially viable once it was economical to combine a television-like monitor with a solid state central processing unit. The earliest models appeared at the same time as the first personal computers were produced, in the mid-1970s, although they were rather primitive by today's standards.
Video poker became more firmly established when IGT brought out Draw Poker in 1979.
Throughout the 1980s, video poker became increasingly popular, as people found the devices less intimidating than playing at the tables.
Today, video poker enjoys a prominent place on the gaming floors of many casinos, and the game is especially popular with Las Vegas locals, who tend to patronize off-Strip properties for the better odds offered by those establishments.
Operation of the game
Game play begins by placing a bet of one or more credits,
by inserting money into the machine, and then
pressing a "Deal" button to draw cards.
The player is then given an opportunity to keep or discard
one or more of the cards in exchange for a new card
drawn from the same virtual deck, after which the machine
evaluates the hand and offers a payout if the hand matches
one of the winning hands in the posted pay schedule.
On a typical video poker machine, payouts start with a minimum hand of a pair of jacks. Pay schedules allocate the payout for hands based partially upon how rare they are, and also based upon the total theoretical return the game operator chooses to offer.
Some machines offer progressive jackpots for the royal flush,thereby spurring players to both play more coins and to play more frequently.
Regulation
Video poker machines operated in state-regulated jurisdictions are programmed to deal random card sequences. A series of cards is generated for each play; five dealt straight to the hand, the other five dealt in order if requested by player. This is due to a Nevada regulation, adopted by every other state with a gaming authority, that if dice or cards are used for an electronic game, the electronic versions must be as random as the real thing, within computational limits set by certain tests that are performed by gaming authority agents. It is unclear whether all video poker machines at Indian gaming establishments are subject to the same Nevada-style regulations, as Indian casinos are located on property that is sovereign to the tribe which holds the gaming license.
Kinds of Video Poker
Newer video poker machines may employ variants of the basic five-card draw. Typical variations include: Deuces Wild, where a two can serve as a joker and a jackpot is paid for four deuces or a natural royal; pay schedule modification, where four aces with a five or smaller kicker pays an enhanced amount and multi-play Poker, where the player starts with a base hand of five cards, and each additional played hand draws from a different set of cards with the base hand removed.
In the non-wild games a player who plays five or six hundred hands per hour, on average, may receive the rare four-of-a-kind approximately once per hour, while a player may play for many days or weeks before receiving an extremely rare royal flush.
Full Pay Games
When certain pay schedules are offered by a video poker machine, players using perfect or near perfect strategy can obtain greater than 100% payback over a sufficiently long period of play. These machines are referred to as "full pay" machines. Casinos place full pay machines alongside other machines with pay schedules that offer a negative return, so it is up to the player to properly identify which video poker machines offer the full pay schedules.
Most full pay machines are configured with a pay schedule that is only full pay when the maximum amount of credits is bet.
Deuces Wild
One variation of video poker, called "Deuces Wild", can be found with pay schedules that offer up to a theoretical return of 100.762%, when played with perfect strategy. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:
| Hand | 1 credit | 2 credits | 3 credits | 4 credits | 5 credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Royal Flush | 300 | 600 | 900 | 1200 | 4000* |
| Four Deuces | 200 | 400 | 600 | 800 | 1000 |
| Wild Royal Flush | 25 | 50 | 75 | 100 | 125 |
| Five of a Kind | 15 | 30 | 45 | 60 | 75 |
| Straight Flush | 9 | 18 | 27 | 36 | 45 |
| Four of a Kind | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Full House | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Flush | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Straight | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| Three of a Kind | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Theoretical Return | 99.679% | 99.679% | 99.679% | 99.679% | 100.762%* |
- Notice the gap between the payoff for a Natural Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits. The payoff schedule for most video poker machines has a gap like this, such that players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a negative theoretical return.
Double Bonus
Another variation of video poker, called "Double Bonus", can be found with pay schedules that offer up to a theoretical return of 100.1725%, when played with perfect strategy. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:
| Hand | 1 credit | 2 credits | 3 credits | 4 credits | 5 credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000* |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four Aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Full House | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| Flush | 7 | 14 | 21 | 28 | 35 |
| Straight | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Theoretical Return | 99.107% | 99.107% | 99.107% | 99.107% | 100.172%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits. Players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a negative theoretical return.
Double Double Bonus
Another variation of video poker, called "Double Double Bonus", can be found with pay schedules that offer up to a theoretical return of 100.067%, when played with perfect strategy. It is also available with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical returns:
| Hand | 1 credit | 2 credits | 3 credits | 4 credits | 5 credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Flush | 250 | 500 | 750 | 1000 | 4000* |
| Straight Flush | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Four Aces w/2, 3, or 4 | 400 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2000 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 w/A-4 | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four Aces | 160 | 320 | 480 | 640 | 800 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 | 80 | 160 | 240 | 320 | 400 |
| Four 5-K | 50 | 100 | 150 | 200 | 250 |
| Full House | 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
| Flush | 6 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 30 |
| Straight | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| Three of a Kind | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| Two Pair | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jacks or Better | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Theoretical Return | 98.915% | 98.915% | 98.915% | 98.915% | 100.06%* |
- Notice the gap between the payoff for a Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits. Players who do not play with the maximum number of credits at a time are playing with a negative theoretical return.
Other Full Pay Games
Other kinds of video poker only have positive theoretical returns when the progressive jackpot is high enough. Many establishments advertise with a billboard when the progressive jackpot is high enough.
Locating Full Pay Games
Although full pay video poker machines are found in many "locals" casinos games in the Las Vegas market, most Strip casinos and casinos in other markets only offer video poker pay schedules with a negative theoretical return.
The maximum bet size is kept fairly small on video poker machines with a full pay schedule, which makes it impractical to win a large amount of money over any reasonable period of time.
Player's Clubs
Many casinos offer free memberships in "players clubs" or "slot clubs", which return a small percentage of the amount of money that is bet in the form of "comps", or sometimes as cash back. These clubs require that players use a card that is inserted into the video poker machine to allow the casino to track the player's "action" (how much the player bets and for how long), which is often used to establish a level of play that may make a player eligible for additional comps.
Comps or cash back from these clubs can make a significant difference in the theoretical return when playing video poker over a long period of time. In some cases, usage of a club card can even add enough value to the pay schedule of a video poker game with a negative theoretical return to make that same game have a positive theoretical return.
