Basic Video Poker Strategy
In addition to the player understanding the basics of 5-card draw they must understand there are differences between live poker and video poker. For example, with video poker players need not concern themselves with bluffing, keeping what is called a �kicker� (holding an extra card in order to hide that the player discarding cards has a pair), and a 3-of-a-kind is the same in video poker regardless of its card ranking of a 3, 8, or even a King. The player receives the same payout for any pair.
In relation to 5 Card Draw it is important to know the odds of receiving a particular hand from the original drawing. This will give you an understanding of what is achievable when striving for a particular hand.
Rankings of Hands
| Original dealt Hand | Odds of Receiving a Hand |
| Royal Flush | 1 in 665,000 |
| Straight Flush | 1 in 73,000 |
| Four of a kind | 1 in 4200 |
| Full House | 1 in 700 |
| Flush | 1 in 500 |
| Straight | 1 in 250 |
| Three of a kind | 1 in 50 |
| Two Pair | 1 in 21 |
| High Pair | 1 in 8 |
| Low Pair | 1 in 3 |
| No Pair | 1 in 2 |
Frequency of Hands
| Hand | Payout | Frequency |
| Royal Flush | 4,000 | 1 in 40,390 |
| Straight Flush | 250 | 1 in 9,148 |
| Four of a kind | 125 | 1 in 423 |
| Full House | 45 | 1 in 86 |
| Flush | 30 | 1 in 90 |
| Straight | 20 | 1 in 89 |
| Three of a kind | 15 | 1 in 13 |
| Two Pair | 10 | 1 in 7 |
| Jacks or Better | 5 | 1 in 4 |
Therefore, with an understanding of the above odds the player can determine the correct decision of how to play the hand originally drawn.
Basic Strategy
| Initial Hand | Decision |
| 4 of a kind | draw none |
| 4 card royal | draw 1 |
| Full House | draw none |
| Flush | draw none |
| 3 of a kind | draw 2 |
| 4 card straight flush | draw 1 |
| Straight | draw none |
| 2 Pair | draw 1 |
| Pair (Jacks or Better) | draw 3 |
| 3 card royal | draw 3 |
| 4 card flush | draw 1 |
| Low Pair | draw 3 |
| 4 card straight | draw 1 |
| 3 card straight flush | draw 2 |
| 2 card royal(10, no ace | draw 3 |
| 1 high card (J,Q,K,A) | draw 4 |
| Mixed low cards | draw 5 |
It is important that the player understands how a machines payout schedule affects the odds of the player. This is crucial to succeeding at video poker. The payout schedule should consist of at least these minimum components.
Looking at the first column for betting 1 unit this should read:
a.) returns of the players original bet for a pair of Jacks or better
b.) A payout of 9 units for a full house and 6 units for a flush. This is called a Jacks or better 9/6 and has a higher payout than an 8/5 or 7/5 etc.
c.) A non-progressive machine that pays out at least 4000 units for a royal flush if the maximum coins are played.
The following are the odds between the different machines relating to their payout schedules.
Odds of different machines
| Machine | Payout |
| 10/7 (double bonus) | 100.2% |
| 9/7 | 100.7% |
| 9/6 | 99.5% |
| 8/5 | 97.3 |
| 7/5 | 96.3% |
| 6/5 | 95.2% |
Tags:
[tag-self]online bingo[/tag-self]
All our Bingo websites have been checked for 128 bit security encription, however, to ensure the Bingo site you are playing on has the maximum security protection check for either of these 2 digital certifications.