Video poker is
a casino game which is based loosely on five-card
draw poker. It is played on a computerized console
which is a similar size to a slot machine.
History
Video poker first became commercially
viable once it was economical to combine a television-like
monitor with a solid state central processing unit.
The earliest models appeared at the same time as the
first personal computers were produced, in the mid-1970s,
although they were rather primitive by today's standards.
Video poker became more firmly established
when IGT (now a market-leading provider of gaming
devices) brought out Draw Poker in 1979.
Throughout the 1980s, video poker
became increasingly popular, as people found the devices
less intimidating than playing at the tables.
Today, video poker enjoys a prominent
place on the gaming floors of many casinos, and the
game is especially popular with Las Vegas locals,
who tend to patronize off-Strip properties for the
better odds offered by those establishments.
Operation of the game
Game play begins by placing a bet
of one or more credits, by inserting money (or in
newer machines, a barcoded paper ticket with credit)
into the machine, and then pressing a "Deal" button
to draw cards. The player is then given an opportunity
to keep or discard one or more of the cards in exchange
for a new card drawn from the same virtual deck, after
which the machine evaluates the hand and offers a
payout if the hand matches one of the winning hands
in the posted pay schedule.
On a typical video poker machine,
payouts start with a minimum hand of a pair of jacks.
Pay schedules allocate the payout for hands based
partially upon how rare they are, and also based upon
the total theoretical return the game operator chooses
to offer.
Some machines offer progressive jackpots
for the royal flush, (and sometimes for other rare
hands as well), thereby spurring players to both play
more coins and to play more frequently.
Regulation
Video poker machines operated in
state-regulated jurisdictions are programmed to deal
random card sequences. A series of cards is generated
for each play; five dealt straight to the hand, the
other five dealt in order if requested by player.
This is due to a Nevada regulation, adopted by every
other state with a gaming authority, that if dice
or cards are used for an electronic game, the electronic
versions must be as random as the real thing, within
computational limits set by certain tests that are
performed by gaming authority agents. It is unclear
whether all video poker machines at Indian gaming
establishments are subject to the same Nevada-style
regulations, as Indian casinos are located on property
that is sovereign to the tribe which holds the gaming
license.
Kinds of Video Poker
Newer video poker machines may employ
variants of the basic five-card draw. Typical variations
include: Deuces Wild, where a two can serve as a joker
and a jackpot is paid for four deuces or a natural
royal; pay schedule modification, where four aces
with a five or smaller kicker pays an enhanced amount
(these games usually have some adjective in the title
such as "bonus", "double", or "triple"); and multi-play
poker, where the player starts with a base hand of
five cards, and each additional played hand draws
from a different set of cards with the base hand removed.
(Multi-play games are offered in "Triple Play", "Five
Play", "Ten Play", "Fifty Play" and even "One Hundred
Play" versions.)
In the non-wild games (games which
do not have a wild card) a player who plays five or
six hundred hands per hour, on average, may receive
the rare four-of-a-kind approximately once per hour,
while a player may play for many days or weeks before
receiving an extremely rare royal flush.
Full Pay Games
When certain pay schedules are offered
by a video poker machine, players using perfect or
near perfect strategy can obtain greater than 100%
payback over a sufficiently long period of play. These
machines are referred to as "full pay" machines. Casinos
place full pay machines alongside other machines with
pay schedules that offer a negative return, so it
is up to the player to properly identify which video
poker machines offer the full pay schedules.
Most full pay machines are configured
with a pay schedule that is only full pay when the
maximum amount of credits is bet. (See the pay schedule
tables later in this article for details.)
Deuces Wild
One variation of video poker, called
"Deuces Wild", can be found with pay schedules that
offer up to a theoretical return of 100.762%, when
played with perfect strategy. It is also available
with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical
returns:
| Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Natural Royal Flush |
300 |
600 |
900 |
1200 |
4000* |
| Four Deuces |
200 |
400 |
600 |
800 |
1000 |
| Wild Royal Flush |
25 |
50 |
75 |
100 |
125 |
| Five of a Kind |
15 |
30 |
45 |
60 |
75 |
| Straight Flush |
9 |
18 |
27 |
36 |
45 |
| Four of a Kind |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
| Full House |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Flush |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
| Straight |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
| Three of a Kind |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Theoretical Return |
99.679% |
99.679% |
99.679% |
99.679% |
100.762%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Natural
Royal Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5
credits. The payoff schedule for most video poker
machines has a gap like this, such that players
who do not play with the maximum number of credits
at a time are playing with a negative theoretical
return.
Double Bonus
Another variation of video poker,
called "Double Bonus", can be found with pay schedules
that offer up to a theoretical return of 100.1725%,
when played with perfect strategy. It is also available
with other pay schedules that have lesser theoretical
returns:
| Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
500 |
750 |
1000 |
4000* |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Four Aces |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Full House |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
| Flush |
7 |
14 |
21 |
28 |
35 |
| Straight |
5 |
10 |
15 |
20 |
25 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Theoretical Return |
99.1079% |
99.1079% |
99.1079% |
99.1079% |
100.1725%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Royal
Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits.
Players who do not play with the maximum number
of credits at a time are playing with a negative
theoretical return.
Double Double Bonus
Another variation of video poker,
called "Double Double Bonus", can be found with pay
schedules that offer up to a theoretical return of
100.067%, when played with perfect strategy. It is
also available with other pay schedules that have
lesser theoretical returns:
| Hand |
1 credit |
2 credits |
3 credits |
4 credits |
5 credits |
| Royal Flush |
250 |
500 |
750 |
1000 |
4000* |
| Straight Flush |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Four Aces w/2, 3, or 4 |
400 |
800 |
1200 |
1600 |
2000 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 w/A-4 |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four Aces |
160 |
320 |
480 |
640 |
800 |
| Four 2, 3, or 4 |
80 |
160 |
240 |
320 |
400 |
| Four 5-K |
50 |
100 |
150 |
200 |
250 |
| Full House |
10 |
20 |
30 |
40 |
50 |
| Flush |
6 |
12 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
| Straight |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
| Three of a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
| Two Pair |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Jacks or Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| Theoretical Return |
98.9154% |
98.9154% |
98.9154% |
98.9154% |
100.067%* |
- *Notice the gap between the payoff for a Royal
Flush played with 4 credits vs. one with 5 credits.
Players who do not play with the maximum number
of credits at a time are playing with a negative
theoretical return.
Other Full Pay Games
Other kinds of video poker only have
positive theoretical returns when the progressive
jackpot is high enough. Many establishments advertise
with a billboard when the progressive jackpot is high
enough.
Locating Full Pay Games
Although full pay video poker machines
are found in many "locals" casinos (located off the
Strip) in the Las Vegas market (and in a few Reno
casinos), most Strip casinos and casinos in other
markets only offer video poker pay schedules with
a negative theoretical return.
The maximum bet size is kept fairly
small on video poker machines with a full pay schedule
(one dollar or less), which makes it impractical to
win a large amount of money over any reasonable period
of time.
Player's Clubs
Many casinos offer free memberships
in "player's clubs" or "slot clubs", which return
a small percentage of the amount of money that is
bet in the form of "comps" (complementary food, drinks,
hotel rooms, or merchandise), or sometimes as cash
back (sometimes with a restriction that the cash be
redeemed at a later date). These clubs require that
players use a card that is inserted into the video
poker machine to allow the casino to track the player's
"action" (how much the player bets and for how long),
which is often used to establish a level of play that
may make a player eligible for additional comps.
Comps or cash back from these clubs
can make a significant difference in the theoretical
return when playing video poker over a long period
of time. In some cases, usage of a club card can even
add enough value to the pay schedule of a video poker
game with a negative theoretical return to make that
same game have a positive theoretical return.
