Video Poker Strategies: Playing to Win
Monday, June 30th, 2008Video poker has been around for awhile but in recent years it has become even more popular as a lot of players are looking to have fun with the game on their own.  With the addition of online casinos, video poker is becoming even more popular and a lot of people are looking for strategies to help them with.  The fact is that there are thousands of different video poker games for you to play, so it can be difficult to pin down one winning strategy.
Elements to Incorporate Into Your Strategy
It has to be said that to have a winning strategy you need to understand the variation of poker that you are playing.  Many people assume with video poker that they will simply “get the hang of things” with a new variation of the game.  A part of your winning strategy should always be to pick a video poker variation that you are familiar with.  If you are playing something that you have never played before, you may want to play for fun first to make sure that you know the rules and all of the ins and outs before you start betting your own money.
Next, you should know that the house edge on video poker games is limited; in fact it is often 0%!  When you know this, this may buoy your confidence and allow you to play more comfortably.  Many people assume that the house edge is the same with video poker as it is with the traditional poker games and so they play more conservatively than they would if they knew that the house edge is small, if there is an edge at all.
You should also plan to always play with the maximum number of coins allowable by the video poker game.  When you play with the maximum number of coins you can receive huge bonuses, which will add up in a hurry.  If you don’t initially feel comfortable betting the maximum number, don’t worry, you can reduce the number of coins to three or four and work your way up.
Some other common video poker strategies include buying two hands at one time, which gives the player the opportunity to land a full house.  The idea here is to do away with one card of these and when you are drawing to focus on getting a four of a kind, a royal flush, or a straight flush.
When you play video poker you should always be playing a “full play” game.  What this means is that you can take advantage of bonuses, but you will need to tailor your strategy to each game to play this way.  With new video poker games hitting the market every day, you need to keep your ideas about strategy open and evolving.  Each game may need its own strategy, so think about the game before you start to play, and then make it work!  Don’t’ be afraid to change the strategy halfway through if things aren’t working out.  Poker is all about being on your toes and being smart about the game you’re playing!
