Video Poker Online
Video poker is a popular casino game that is played in land-based casinos as well as online casinos. The game shares a number of similarities to slots and combines the ease of play of slots with the challenging gameplay of poker. In online casinos, the genre is fast becoming one of the most played of all casino games as more and more slots players begin to switch over to video poker online. It is the perfect game to introduce non-poker players to the game of poker while still keeping the video slot format. The game is as easy to play as any online slot but also offers the advantage of a more challenging game experience. Video poker online requires players to use basic poker strategy in order to get the best five-card poker hand possible to win.
History of video poker
Compared to other types of casino game, video poker is still quite new. The first games were made by Dale Electronics in the early seventies. These first games were not popular with Las Vegas poker players at the time. The main reason for this was that the games were too different from traditional table poker and did not catch on.
Five years went by and a man named Si Redd who worked for Bally Gaming took the idea of video poker further. He ran his idea past the executives at Bally Gaming who felt that this new idea was too risky. They chose not to go in a new direction and rather stayed with their slots line. Si Redd managed to keep his idea and got a patent on it too. He then partnered with another company called the Fortune Coin Company and formed a new company called Si Redd’s Coin Machines or SIRCOMA for short.
SIRCOMA went on to be one of the most successful of all gambling machine makers and were the leading brand in video poker machines for many years. A few years later Si Redd rebranded his company to International Gaming Technology, better known in the industry as IGT. The first SIRCOMA machines were very simple. These first machines needed a two pair combination to win. Later versions of the game needed a minimum hand of jacks or better to win. Jacks or Better is still one of the most played games today.
Video poker was not an instant hit in the way that slots had been. At the time, traditional casino gamblers felt that the game was too modern. These players preferred to stick to traditional table poker and blackjack. Slots players also did not want to play video poker games. Many slots players felt that the lack of mechanical devices that all slots games had, made the games untrustworthy. Eventually, more gamblers started playing video slots and, by the time the internet arrived, video poker was just as popular as slots. The online casino made the games even more popular. Since all online casino games are virtual, it did not matter that video poker online was a virtual game. Video poker online offered a much faster way to play poker and get the same basic win results.
Rules of video poker
Game rules are quite simple to understand and the game is one of the easiest casino games to play. One of the reasons why video poker online is so popular is that new players can easily start playing the games. This puts the games on the same level as online video slots for ease of play. The games use basic poker rules in how winning hands are determined. This means that all machines use the same standard five-card draw rules to determine winning hands. The only thing that changes is what the winning combinations are from one game to another.
Every game also has an accompanying paytable which tells players what each combination is worth. Unlike some other casino games, there is more than one way to win. Each game has a top hand combination that pays out the most and successively smaller wins for more basic hand combinations.
Playing a hand or round of video poker is very easy to do. To start, pick a game that most appeals to you. Before you start playing, it is a good idea to pick the coin size that you want to bet with. The ability to do this makes video poker one of the best games to play for budget-conscious online casino gamblers.
Once you have picked your coin size you can start playing by clicking on the bet button. Once you have clicked on the bet button, the game will deal five cards out to you. The next step is for you to look at the hand that you have been dealt. You can pick the cards that are worth something and you can get rid of any cards that you don’t want.
The game will then add new cards to the screen to replace the ones that you got rid of. The game will then tally your hand combination based on the paytable that goes with the game. If you have any kind of a winning combination, the game will pay you out based on the paytable. You can now choose to play again by pressing the bet button.
Video poker tips
- Learn how basic poker hands are created and what their values are. This will make learning how to play video poker much easier.
- Play free games at video poker sites to learn how each one works and what the different winning combinations are in each game. You can also find plenty of online casinos offering great video poker bonuses. This is also a great way to develop a solid video poker strategy.
- Pick games based on their special features, for example, in Jokers Wild, all jokers are wild and can replace other cards to make easier winning hands.
Top video poker games
- Deuces Wild
- Jacks or Better
- Jokers Wild
- All American Poker
- Aces and Faces
Top video poker brands
The originators of modern video poker are, of course, IGT so choosing their brand of games is always a good idea. However, there are plenty of other top brands to choose from which is great if you want to learn to play video poker. All the top casino software brands produce great games and you will find Cryptologic, Microgaming and Playtech games at most top online casinos.
