Best Online Video Poker

How to Play the Game

The first thing you need to do when playing online video poker is to choose your coin size and decide on the number of coins you want to bet with. Then it's just a case of clicking on the 'Deal' button and you’ll be dealt your five cards.

Once you’ve looked your cards over, choose which cards you want to hold and which you want to exchange. You achieve this by clicking on the cards you wish to hold. You don’t have to hold any cards if you don’t want to.

Then you click on 'Draw' and any cards that you opted not to hold will be exchanged for new ones to create your new hand. This hand is then compared to the payout table to determine whether you’ve won or not, and, if you've won, how much you’ve won.

Some online video poker games include a wild card. This can act as any standard card to complete your hand. For example, in Deuces Wild, the 2’s are wild. And while 2-4-5-6-8 would be a losing hand in most cases, the 2 can act as a 7 in Deuces Wild to give you a straight. You can even achieve five of a kind with a wild card, which would otherwise be impossible. This is just one advantage of online video poker.

Another advantage is that you can play free video poker by selecting the ‘play for free’ mode on any of the games on offer in our lobby. That's one great way to get used to playing the game without risking any money of your own.

Video Poker Strategy

When you want to start playing for real money, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you've accepted the bonus being offered by our online casino. Read the terms and conditions of the bonus to find out if it can be used for video poker, but even if not, you'll be able to use it on another game, such as blackjack or baccarat. This will give your bank a boost and more money to play video poker with.

As mentioned above, the Deuces Wild version of video poker already gives you an advantage. By playing this variation and using more advanced strategy, you can actually put the odds in your favour by close to one per cent.

Another tactic you should always use is to bet the maximum amount of credits each time you play. If you don’t and you hit a royal flush, you’ll regret it. While a royal flush is rare, it does happen, and the full value can be as high as 4000-1. If you hit the royal flush on a bet less than the maximum, you’ll be paid on something closer to 250-1. While that’s still a nice payout, it definitely isn’t in the same league.

So, while some games like roulette might have limited strategy to take into account, don't make the mistake of thinking that that's true of video poker. There are definite factors that you can use to your advantage.

History of Video Poker

Video poker machines are believed to have been installed in many land-based casinos in the 1970s. They shared aspects of both slot games and the personal computer as it comprised two main parts: a computer chip and a television screen. The history of video poker began in 1970 when Dale Electronics created the first video poker device, a machine that became known as PokerMatic. While its primitive nature failed to win over players, it was significant in that it was the beginning of the video poker machine.

In 1979, SIRCOMA invested a new machine called DrawPoker. This was hugely popular among casino players, offering them a new experience and new opportunities.

In the 1980s, both video poker and slots became favourites of players, with video poker appealing to casinos players due too the fact that it combined both luck and skill.

With the advent of the internet in the 1990s, and with the success of online casinos came a key milestone in the timeline of video poker: online video poker games. The online version didn’t differ too greatly from its offline counterpart: players were able to play with a low minimum bet and transferring money was easy. Even easier, in fact, thanks to the technology used behind online payments.

Now, alongside other variations of the original game, such as live casino poker, video poker remains a popular fixture online. And it doesn't appear to be going anywhere any time soon.