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Video Poker
History and Rules
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Video
poker first became
commercially viable
when it became
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 SIRCOMA, which
stood for Si Redd's
Coin Machines, and
which evolved over
time to become
International Game
Technology
introduced Draw
Poker in 1979.
Throughout the
1980s, video poker
became increasingly
popular in casinos,
as people found the
devices less
intimidating than
playing table games.
Today, video poker
enjoys a prominent
place on the gaming
floors of many
casinos. The game is
especially popular
with Las Vegas
locals, who tend to
patronize locals
casinos off the Las
Vegas Strip. These
local casinos often
offer lower
denomination
machines or better
odds. |
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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.
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Video
poker machines
operated in
state-regulated
jurisdictions are
programmed to deal
random card
sequences. A series
of cards is
generated for or a
53 card deck if
using a joker).
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
reservations that
are sovereign to the
tribe which holds
the gaming license.
Newer
versions of the
software no longer
deal out all 10
cards at once. They
now deal out the
first five cards,
and then when the
draw button is
pressed, they
generate a second
set of cards based
on the remaining 47
cards in the deck.
This was done after
players found a way
to reverse engineer
a random number
generator's cycle
from sample hands
and were able to
predict the hidden
cards in advance.
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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 wild
card 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 (gamesile
a player may play
for many days or
weeks before
receiving an
extremely rare royal
flush. |
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Full
pay video poker
machines are games
which offer the
typical maximum
payback percentage
for that game type.
The payback
percentage on a full
pay game is
typically close to
and sometimes over
100% when played
with perfect
strategy. Full pay
Jacks or Better, for
example, offers a
payback percentage
of approximately
99.5% when played
with perfect
strategy.
Casinos often place
full pay machines
alongside other
machines with pay
schedules that offer
less attractive
payback percentages,
leaving it up to the
player to identify
which video poker
machines offer 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.) |
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"Jacks or Better" is
the most common
variation of video
poker available.
Payoffs begin at a
pair of jacks or
better. Full pay
Jacks or Better is
also known as 9/6
Jacks or Better; the
9 refers to the
payoff for a full
house and the 6
refers to the payoff
for a flush. Full
pay Jacks or Better
has a theoretical
return of 99.54%
when played with
perfect strategy.
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 of
a kind |
25 |
50 |
75 |
100 |
125 |
Full
House |
9 |
18 |
27 |
36 |
45 |
Flush |
6 |
12 |
18 |
24 |
30 |
Straight |
4 |
8 |
12 |
16 |
20 |
Three of
a Kind |
3 |
6 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
Two Pair |
2 |
4 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
Jacks or
Better |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Theoretical
Return |
98.05% |
98.05% |
98.05% |
98.05%% |
99.54%* |
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*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.
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"Deuces Wild" is a
variation of video
poker in which all
two's are wild.
(Wild cards
substitute for any
other card in the
deck in order to
make a better poker
hand. In Deuces
Wild, the payout for
a four of a kind
makes up
approximately 1/3 of
the payback
percentage of the
game, and a four of
a kind occurs on
average once every
15 hands or so.
Deuces Wild can be
found with pay
schedules that offer
a theoretical return
as high as 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.
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"Double Bonus" video
poker is a variation
of Jacks or Better
with a bonus payout
for four aces. This
variation offers 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%* |
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"Double Double
Bonus" video poker
is a variation of
Jacks or Better
which offers bonus
payoffs for
different four of a
kinds, as seen in
the payout table
below. Full pay
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%* |
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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.
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Although positive
expectation and 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 offer less
attractive video
poker pay schedules.
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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.
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