Video Poker

Video poker is a casino game that is played on a console very similar in design to the video slot machine. The first video poker machines came onto the market at around the same time as the personal computer (PC), in the 1970's, even though they were a lot moiré primitive than the ones that are around in casinos today.

Video poker became well known once Si Redd's Coin Machines (SIRCOMA), who developed International Game Technology, introduced Draw Poker in 1979. Throughout the 1980's, video poker was recombining more and more popular in gambling venues because gamblers found the machines a lot less intimidating than sitting down at the table and playing opponents face to face. Today, video poker occupies a key position in casinos worldwide, and is particularly popular in Las Vegas.

Broadly speaking, video poker is a mixture of poker and slot machine, and the game is accessible to everyone. The game starts by the placing of a bet, where a coin is entered into the slot, and then the player simply needs to press the ‘deal' button in order to draw their cards. The player can then decide whether to keep or throw one or more of the cards in exchange for another dealt card(s). After the cards have been drawn, the machine evaluates the hand and offers payment if the hand corresponds to one of the winning hands located on the table of payment.

On the average video poker machine, the payments start from a minimum combination of a pair of Jacks. The machine attributes payments according to the frequency with which a hand should be drawn, and the payment that the machine operator has pre-defined, the rarer the hand, the more money the player will win. Certain video poker machines will offer a progressive jackpot, in order to win this you need to get the maximum hand, a royal flush (and occasionally other rare hand combinations), you need to have bet the maximum amount in order to be eligible for the progressive jackpot.

Video poker machines that operate in countries with material legislation, such as America, France and England, are programmed to deal their cards in a randomised fashion, ensuring that the casinos do not cheat the players. A card sequence is generated for each individual game, 5 cards are directly dealt to the player, and a reserve of 5 cards is also dealt if the player chooses to exchange his originals. This rule was originally regulated in the state of Nevada, and was subsequently adopted throughout the USA. Video poker machines are frequently tested to ensure that the randomised mechanisms are operating, as they should.

Some of the latest versions of video poker will deal the first 5 cards to the customer, and then if they decide to exchange a card, the computer will choose again from the pack in a randomised way, based on the 47 remaining cards in the pack. This latest development was introduced after certain players were able to establish the value of the cards held, i.e. the 10 cards that were pre-dealt in the earlier versions.

Latest models of the video poker machine employ variants of the classic game:

1. Deuces Wild- two cards serve as jokers and a jackpot is paid for four Aces or a Royal Flush. The two jokers are called wild cards. The wild cards can be substituted for any other card in order to obtain the best winning combination.
2. For the games that have an adjective in the title, such as ‘bonus', ‘double', or ‘triple' (for example, Bonus Deuces, Double Aces and Faces or Triple Bonus) the payments vary according to the function of the cards, four Aces and a 5 have a higher value.
3. Multi-play poker- the player begins with 5 cards, as before, but the cards from additional hands are provided from another simulated deck, in revealing the basic hand.

Jacks or Better is the best-known variation of video poker available. Winning combinations begin from a pair of Jacks. Full pay Jacks or Better is also known as 9/6 Jacks or Better, the 9 can be brought in when the player gets a full-house, and the 6 is won with a royal flush. The Full pay Jacks or Better has a redistribution rate of 99.54% if the player employs a perfect strategy.

Full pay video slot machines are games that offer the maximum redistribution rate for this type of game. The redistribution rate is synonymous to the odds of the bet in the long term, expressed as a percentage. For example, a redistribution rate of 99% means that for every $100 bet, in the long term, the player will only lose $1- of course this is spread over everyone who plays the machine, but basically if you group all punters together as one entity, they will only lose $1 per $100 put into the machine, the rest is retained for profit for the casino.

The redistribution rates for full-pay machines will approach 100% the majority of the time, some will even surpass this amount, for other machines there will only be a positive redistribution rate once the progressive jackpot reaches a high enough level.

Casinos will often put their full-pay video poker machines next to machines with a lower redistribution rate, leaving their customers to discover the machines for themselves.

The following is a list of the different video poke machines available on the market:

· 3 Way Action
· Ace Invaders
· Ace$ Bonus Poker
· Aces and Eights
· Aces and Faces
· Acey Deucey Bonus Poker
· All American
· Anything's Wild
· Black Jack Bonus Poker
· Bonus Deuces
· Bonus Flush
· Bonus Poker
· Bonus Poker Deluxe
· Bonus Poker Plus
· Deuces and Joker Wild
· Deuces Wild
· Double Aces and Faces
· Double Bonus
· Double Bonus Deuces Wild
· Double Double Aces and Faces
· Double Double Bonus
· Double Double Bonus Poker Plus
· Double Draw Aces
· Double Joker Poker
· Double Pay Poker
· Draw 6 Poker
· Faces n' Deuces
· Five Aces Poker
· Flush Attack
· Full House Bonus Poker
· Going for Fours
· Jacks or Better
· Joker Wild
· Loose Deuces
· Lucky Suit Poker
· Max Out Poker
· Nevada Bonus
· One-Eyed Jacks
· Pay the Aces
· Pick 'em Poker
· Royal Aces Poker
· Sequential Royal
· Sevens Wild
· Shockwave
· Spin Poker
· Stacked
· Super Aces
· Super Deuces Wild
· Super Double Bonus
· Super Double Double Bonus
· Super Times Pay
· Super Triple Bonus
· Tens or Better
· Triple Bonus
· Two-Way Royal
· Triple Double Bonus
· Ultra Bonus Poker
· White Hot Aces