The Best Video Poker Guide in Ireland

Video Poker is an easy game to learn but a difficult game to master—the perfect combination, and one that has made this casino game a classic. It uses the classic 5-Card Draw Poker variant. You’re dealt 5 cards to begin with and from there, you have to choose which ones to keep and which ones to discard. Make your choice, hit “Deal”, and your final hand will be revealed.

Will you win, is the jackpot within reach, did you miss the cut? You have to play to find out.

Even if you have never played Video Poker before, providing you understand poker hand values, you’re good to go.

When the game begins, you will be dealt five cards. The goal is to form the best 5-card hand and to secure specific outcomes that will lead to fixed payouts (see the pay table for more info).

To reach these outcomes, you need to get rid of the cards least likely to help you and then click “Deal”. You’ll then be dealt new cards in place of the discarded ones and the game will end. If you win, you’ll get paid, if not, you won’t. It’s as simple as that!

Make sure you set a reasonable stake before you play and don’t be tempted to play too many hands at once if you are new to the game.

Video Poker odds vary from game to game, but they are generally fixed at less than 1%, which equates to a Return to Player (RTP) of 99%. This is very high—for comparison, many Slot Games have an RTP of just 95%, which is also what you can expect to find on games of Roulette.

Your chances of landing a Royal Flush with a 52-card deck are just under 650,000/1, but this drops significantly when a Joker is introduced and acts as a wild card. This is why games like Joker Poker reduce the size of the Royal Flush jackpot when the hand contains a Joker.

Get a grip on your Video Poker to play using these strategies and tips.

1. Play Smart

   Before you prepare for an extensive Video Poker session, make sure you have a bankroll in place. These are used by all professional players and help to keep their losses down.

   A bankroll is basically a budget that you reserve for your gambling. It should consist of an amount of money you can afford to lose and it should last you for a fixed period, such as a week or month.

   Sticking to such a strict schedule like this will prevent you from depositing more money when you’re losing. This angry response is known as “tilting” in the poker world and it’s always a recipe for disaster.

2. Understand Expected Value (EV)

   Poker players understand the expected value of every move they make and they use this to make smarter moves.

   For instance, there’s no point betting €100 to win €500 if your odds of doing so are 20/1. But if the bet is €10, you’re getting a 50/1 return on those 20/1 odds, making it a viable wager.

3. Choose Carefully

   The house edge in Video Poker games can differ quite considerably, and not always in the way you might think. For instance, you could be forgiven for thinking that a game that pays for any pair has a greater payout percentage than one that only pays for Jacks or higher. But this isn’t necessarily the case, as these odds are impacted more by the size of the payouts.

Before you rush off to play Video Poker, make sure you check with our latest bonuses and promotions.

Many of these can be used to play this beautifully simple game, and it also works in combination with our loyalty bonuses.

Be sure to browse our latest offers, read the Terms and Conditions, and collect what you can before you make your first deal.

Master the game of Video Poker by understanding the phrases and terms that are most commonly used, including:

• Ace-High: A weak hand that is defined only by having an Ace and does not contain a Pair or anything higher. In many games of Video Poker, an Ace-High hand is not enough to qualify and will trigger a loss.
• Action: The money wagered by a player. It includes all wagers, irrespective of whether the bet was a success.
• Bankroll: The money that a player reserves for gambling. A Bankroll is essential for staying safe and gambling responsibly. It should be created from an amount of money that can be comfortably gambled and will not impact a person’s ability to pay bills.
• Credit: Can refer to the money in a player’s account or the money given to them when they win a hand.
• Discard: The opposite of a “Hold”, in which the player Discards the card or cards that they do not want.
• Draw: In Video Poker, the Draw is the second stage of play and comes after the player has chosen to change or hold their cards.
• Drawing Hand: An initial hand that needs to improve to make a winning hand.
• Face Card: Kings, Queens, and Jacks are all Face Cards as they literally feature a face.
• Hold: Cards can be “held” to avoid being lost when the Draw is made. This move is reserved for cards that the player wants to keep.
• House Edge: The edge that the house has over the player, often displayed as a single or double-digit percentage.
• Jacks or Better: A variant of Video Poker where players need at least a Pair of Jacks for the hand to qualify.
• Joker: A wild card that can mimic any other card in the deck. Although it’s rarely used in games of traditional poker, the Joker does feature in some variants.
• Max Bet: The maximum bet that can be made during a single game. A “Max Bet” icon may appear and will set the maximum amount when clicked.
• Min Bet: The minimum possible bet allowed in a game of Video Poker. Although rarely activated via a single button (unlike the Max Bet), it can be set by reducing the stake as far as it will go.
• Multi-Hand: A game that deals multiple hands of cards to the player. Some Video Poker games have up to 100 hands.
• Pay Table: A table showing all of the possible payouts of a game of Video Poker, from the lowest hands needed to qualify to the biggest payout possible (which may or may not be a jackpot).
• Pay Hand: A hand that qualifies and, as a result, is declared a win.
• Progressive Jackpot: Some games of Video Poker award Progressive Jackpots to players who secure a Royal Flush, the best possible hand in the game.

At Casino.com IE, all Video Poker games are available on mobile devices.

Bring the skill, the beauty, and the style of this great game to your palm of your hand. Tap tactile icons, benefit from streamlined graphics and take your games of poker anywhere you go.

Many of these Video Poker games were created a few years ago and have been fine-tuned since. As a result, they work perfectly on all older devices as well as new ones, and compatibility issues are pretty much non-existent!

Need a push in the right direction? The following options can help:

• In-Game Help: All games of Video Poker at Casino.com IE, just like all of our Slot Games and table games, have built-in help files. Click the “Info” icon (three horizontal lines) to learn more about your chosen game.
• Customer Support: Can’t get the help you need in the game file? Our dedicated Customer Support team can help. Contact us via email, Live Chat, or phone. We can help with any account and game-related queries.

You can play a number of Video Poker classics at Casino.com IE. Whether you prefer playing one hand or 100 hands, and whether you opt for Jokers, Deuces, or Jacks or Better, we have a little something for everyone. Join today, make a deposit, and start dealing those cards!