Video Poker Strategy
In this section you find information about how to play Video Poker. We will guide through the best Video Poker Strategies for each type of video poker and explain how you can become an expert video poker player. Our Video Poker Strategy guide can be useful to both new and more skilled players who wish to play video poker in an optimal way. The guide is divided into two sections; the first explaining basic video poker strategy and the second showing how to apply the video poker strategy on different video poker games by using Video Poker Strategy Cards. If you are not familiar with the video poker rules, we recommend that you learn the video poker rules before reading the video poker strategy guide. You can find the video poker rules in our Video Poker section.
The Best Video Poker Strategies
The Best video poker strategies is quite different from what you may have experienced playing normal 5 card draw poker even though the rules are basically the some. The video poker strategy is based on two essential factors; which is the potential profit from each hand and the odds of making any particular hand. In principle this means we should always hold the cards with the biggest potential profit given the odds of making the particular hand after the draw. In some cases this may even seem counterintuitive, because situations can arise, where we have to discard a made hand to make a potentially better hand and more long-term profit.
The most common mistake among inexperienced video poker players is due to errors in these situations. An example could be a situation, where you are dealt Ad, As, Kd, Qd and 4s. In this situation it would be a mathematical mistake to hold the two aces even though you would make a safe winning. This is due to the long-term profit from holding Ad, Kd and Qd, which has a higher expected value over a larger sample of hands. The video poker strategy helps you make the right decision in these situations and show you which cards to hold and discard in any of the above situations. Although it may sound illogically sometimes to through away safe winnings, the underlying math behind the video poker strategy does not lie and the strategies do work. Below we explain how to use video poker strategy cards to make the right decision in each hand for the most common video poker games.
Video Poker Strategy Cards
We have listed the video poker strategy cards for the most common video poker games fund in our online casinos, which include Jacks or better, Double Bonus Poker and Joker Poker. The first column shows how many cards to hold in each possible starting hand and the second how many to discard, when you are playing the video poker mentioned above.
Jacks or Better Strategy card and Double Bonus Poker (Jacks or Better) Strategy card
|
Hold |
Discard |
Starting Hand |
|
5 |
0 |
Royal Straight Flush |
|
5 |
0 |
Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 of a Kind |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Royal Straight Flush |
|
5 |
0 |
Full House |
|
5 |
0 |
Flush |
|
3 |
2 |
3 of a Kind |
|
5 |
0 |
Straight |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
Two Pairs |
|
2 |
3 |
Pair of Jacks or Higher |
|
3 |
2 |
3 Cards to a Royal Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Flush |
|
2 |
3 |
Low Pair |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Straight |
|
3 |
2 |
3 Cards to a Straight Flush |
|
2 |
3 |
2 Cards to a Royal Straight Flush |
|
3 |
2 |
3 High Cards |
|
2 |
3 |
2 High Cards |
|
1 |
4 |
1 High Card |
|
0 |
5 |
Other Hands |
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Joker Poker Strategy Card
|
Hold |
Discard |
Starting Hand |
|
5 |
0 |
Royal Straight Flush |
|
5 |
0 |
Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 of a Kind |
|
5 |
0 |
Full House |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Royal Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Straight Flush |
|
5 |
0 |
Flush |
|
3 |
2 |
3 of a Kind |
|
5 |
0 |
Straight |
|
4 |
1 |
Two Pairs |
|
3 |
2 |
3 Cards to a Royal Straight Flush |
|
3 |
2 |
3 Cards Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Straight |
|
2 |
3 |
Pair |
|
2 |
3 |
2 Cards to a Straight Flush |
|
2 |
3 |
2 Cards Royal Straight Flush |
|
3 |
2 |
3 Cards to a Flush |
|
3 |
2 |
3 Cards to a Straight |
|
0 |
5 |
Other Hands |
|
Hold |
Discard |
Starting Hands With Joker |
|
5 |
0 |
Five of a Kind |
|
5 |
0 |
Joker Royal Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 of a Kind |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Royal Straight Flush |
|
5 |
0 |
Full House |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Straight Flush |
|
5 |
0 |
Flush |
|
5 |
0 |
Straight |
|
3 |
2 |
3 of a Kind |
|
3 |
2 |
3 Cards to a Straight Flush |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Straight |
|
4 |
1 |
4 Cards to a Flush |
|
1 |
4 |
Other Hands with Joker |
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