Online Video Poker Guide

Online video pokerWhat do you get when you cross a slots machine with a popular card game? The answer is Video Poker! Online Video Poker is played like the traditional Poker game, except, instead of sitting at a Poker table trying to keep a straight face, you’re sitting in front of a console much like a slot machine.

Video Poker has everything you could ever want out of a casino game – it has a low house edge, big payouts, it requires skill and not just luck, and gives you anonymity when that’s what you want. Check out our list of best video poker casinos, all of which offer many variations of Video Poker for SA players:

  • no. 1

    Winner Casino offers 300+ games and 200% bonus up to R2000 for S.A players

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  • R32,000 Welcome package + 200 Free Spins and the best VIP program for South Africans

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  • Slots Heaven offers a colorful and exciting experience for Slot lovers and excellent value with a 200% first deposit match bonus

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  • G'day is an Aussie facing casino that embraces South African players with unlimited first deposit bonus in rand

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  • R4200 Free with first deposit exclusively for South Africans players!

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How To Play Video Poker:

Video Poker is played by the same fundamental rules as standard Poker. The aim is to create the strongest hand possible using your five cards. The cards are valued in order from two to King, with the Ace being either the lowest or highest value, depending on what you need it to be.

To play Video Poker, you’ll start out by placing your bets, where you’ll choose to play 1-5 coins. You’ll now be dealt five cards from the 52-card deck, jokers are included depending on the version. Then you’ll take a look at what you have in your hand. Click on the hold button underneath each of the cards that you want to hold, then press on Deal. The cards that you didn’t hold will be discarded and replaced with new cards from the deck. Any payouts will be based on this final hand, and the Rand amount you’ll win can be seen in the paytable. Your payout depends on how many coins you bet.

These are the hand rankings of standard online Video Poker:

  • Royal Flush – The Royal Flush is always the ultimate hand to hold and consists of a 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace all from the same suit.
  • Straight Flush – This poker hand is made up of five cards in sequence all from the same suit.
  • Four of a kind – This hand has four cards of the same rank
  • Full House – A Full House has a set of three matching cards of one rank, and then the other two cards match each other
  • Flush – This is a hand that has five cards not in sequence, but all from the same suit.
  • Straight – A Straight is comprised of five cards in sequence but not from the same suit.
  • Three of a kind – Also known as trips or a set, this hand is made up of three cards of the same rank, and the remaining two cards are from a different rank to the set but also don’t match each other.
  • Two of a kind – This hand has two cards from the same rank and another two cards of a different rank, plus a final card that is neither of these two ranks.
  • One pair – This is a poker hand that has 2 cards of one rank, and another 3 cards that are not from this rank and don’t match each other.
  • High card – This isn’t even considered a poker hand. Basically when none of the above requirements are met, the highest card in the hand is what is counted.

Game Variations

  • Jacks or Better – This is the most common variation of video poker out there and is the best way to start playing. As the name suggests, the minimum pair that counts is Jacks or better. You’ll get even payout for a pair of Jacks or any higher pair.Can be found at winner.com
  • Deuces Wild – This version of online video poker uses the standard 52-card deck. The difference is that all four deuces (which are the 2’s) are counted as wild cards. This is an extra bonus of the game and so the three of a kind is the minimum rank to create a winning poker hand in Deuces Wild. Can be found at Mansion casino
  • Double Double Bonus – Double Double Bonus was created to compensate for the fact that only a Royal Flush would pay out really big payouts. In this version, you can receive a payout of up to 2000:1 for a hand of 4 Aces combined with a low-value card (2, 3, or 4). Even though the payout is half of a Royal Flush, it’s still 8x more than the usual Four of a kind in Jacks or Better. Can be found at casino.com
  • Progressive – A Progressive Poker machine is generally a Jacks or Better version with the opportunity to win an incredible progressive j
  • Jackpot prize – If you hit the right combination of cards. The payout for a full house and a flush is lower i
    n these versions, but this is compensated for by a high progressive jackpot prize.

The top Video Poker machines you will find are the 9/6 Jacks or Better, 10/7 Double Bonus, and Full-Pay Deuces Wild. These variations will pay out 99.5%, 100.2% and 100.8%, respectively, if you bet the maximum number of coins and play with an optimal strategy.

Video Poker Odds

Play online video poker

Since Jacks or Better is the most common Video Poker game, let’s take a look at the odds of each type of hand.The odds of getting a Royal Flush is generally 1 in 40,000, and a straight flush is 1 in 9,148. These are the two strongest hands in

n 7, and 1 in 4, respectively. standard Jack or Better Video Poker. Next up is Four of a kind with odds of 1 in 423, then a Full House with 1 in 86. A Flush has odds of 1 in 90 and a Straight comes just after with odds of 1 in 89. Three of a kind, Two pair, and Jacks or Better are 1 in 13, 1 i

Video Poker has one of the lowest house edges of all casino games and it’s at 0.46% for the most common version, Jacks or Better (Full Pay). This is not much more than Blackjack, which has a house edge of 0.28%; and beats Baccarat, which is at 1.06% for a banker bet.In fact, you can even have a slim advantage yourself if you use an optimal strategy. Because it is a game of skill, you can put the odds in your favour when you play video poker well, unlike the more luck-based games such as slots and scratch cards. 

A good idea would be to first practice free video poker in demo mode and once you have gotten your strategy in line you can move to real money video poker games

Final Words on Video Poker

Video Poker is one of the most popular choices amongst South Africans and players from all over the world, because it combines the traditional card game of skill with the speed and convenience of a slots machine-type console. The fact that it has one of the lowest house edges of all casino games makes it a very attractive choice too

There are many variations of Video Poker available and you can enjoy these at any one of our recommended South African online casinos, so check out the list and play Video Poker today.

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