Video Poker Rules

The house advantage on Video Poker is usually quite slim, making this a popular game for those savvy players seeking the best possible odds at the casino.

After you place a bet, the "machine" deals you 5 cards, face up.

Just as in any other game of 5-Card Draw Poker, you are trying to get the highest possible poker hand. The amount of money you can win is determined by the strength of your hand and the amount of your bet.

Hand Rankings
The hand rankings are as follows (from weakest to strongest):

• 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 is the worst possible hand in this game

• High Card (Ace is the best)

• Pair (two cards of the same value)

• Two Pair (two cards of the same value and another two cards of the same value, different, of course, from the first pair)

• Three of a Kind (three cards of the same value)

• Straight (all 5 cards in sequence, regardless of suit. Aces can be used for a low or a high straight, both. Thus, a straight can be A, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10, J, Q, K, A)

• Flush (all five cards of the same suit, regardless of sequence. There is often confusion as
  to which is stronger, a Straight or a Flush. Let it be said here in no uncertain terms, a Flush is stronger than a Straight.)

• Full House (a pair of one value and a three of a kind of another)

• Four of a Kind (four cards of the same value)

• Straight Flush (all five cards both in sequence and of the same suit)

• Royal Flush (the highest valued straight flush possible - 10, J, Q, K, A all of the same suit)

• And in the case of games with Wild Cards…
  Five of a Kind (a four of a kind plus a wild card)

Once your initial hand is dealt, you click on each of the cards that you'd like to discard (selecting, of course, any cards that you believe will not help you in achieving the winning hand you predict is most likely to come up.)

The discarded cards are replaced with new cards and the hand is finished; your wins or losses are determined.

A pay table appearing beside the play window on your screen will tell you how much you'll win based on the strength of your final hand and the number of coins you wagered.

Oftentimes, an online casino will give you the opportunity to Double your winnings (by clicking "Double") rather than simply Collecting your winnings (by clicking "Collect"). If you choose this option, you will see 5 card dealt face down. You select one of these cards (by clicking on it) and hope that it is of a higher rank than the Dealer's single card. If your card is of a higher rank, you double your winnings from the previous hand. If the Dealer's card is higher, you lose it all.

Note that while the payouts generally increase proportionally depending on how many coins you "drop into the machine" (ie. 4 coins pays out 4X as much as it would if you bet just 1 coin), the payout on a Royal Flush with a bet of 5 coins is more than 5X that of the payout if you had bet only 1 coin. Therefore, while the odds of drawing a Royal Flush are admittedly low, there is a considerable advantage to betting the maximum number of coins per hand in case you happen to be fortunate enough to draw such a stellar hand.

There are many different variants of Video Poker, some of the most popular of which are the following:

Multi-line Poker (ie. 3-line, 5-line, 25-line):
In this version, your starting hand is the same for all "lines". When you draw, the same cards are discarded for all lines. However, the new cards drawn vary from line to line, giving you more opportunities to make a winning hand with the same starting cards.

Jacks or Better:
In this version, the lowest hand that still pays out any winnings is a pair of Jacks.