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Playing Video Poker Slot Machines

Video poker is a game of skill and is a good mix of slot machines and table games. Here you have the chance to maximize your gains by being able to put the odds in your favor. Most casinos video poker machines give a lower house edge than other online slot machines. Today besides Jacks or better draw poker there are over 100 variations of the game that can be played online.

The game –

Video Poker has the same rules as draw poker, the only difference being that you play against a machine and not players. The machine deals five cards on the screen. The player has the option to take up five new cards. The player keeps the cards he wants by hitting the "hold" button that corresponds to the particular card shown. After that the player hits the "deal" button and the discarded cards are replaced by new cards. You get the results after the final hand is completed. Your winnings are shown on the pay table that is on machine the player is playing.

Pay Table and Return –

One big advantage of video poker over slots is that the return of the game can be calculated by reading the pay table on the front of the machine. Most video poker games use combinations from a 52-card deck while some other Joker Poker Games use one or two Jokers added to the deck. For example, the game Deuces Wild uses a 52-card deck with deuces as wild cards. The number of combinations that can be made from the cards used in the game means the payout can be worked out by what the machine pays for each winning combination. There are 2,598,960 possible hands from a 52-card deck. The program in a video poker machine is such that it simulates the probabilities of drawing any of these combinations. By virtue of this being a set probability, the casino simply adjusts the pay table of the online machines to produce the house edge.

By knowing how to read a pay table, you can pick a machine with the best return and best odds of success.