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Freevideopoker.com is a click-and-play poker video website where users don?t have to install or download any software. There are nineteen different variations of Video Poker available, and if you win at least 100 credits, you can enter the FreeSlots Monthly Sweepstakes to win five $500 prizes and ten $250 prizes.

Intercasino.com video poker games are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week and include All American, Double Bonus, Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, Joker Poker, Tens or Better, Super Jackpot 25c, Super Jackpot $1, as well as Single-Play, Triple-Play, Five-Play and Ten-Play options. You can play for fun or for real with the download or no download version.

Cyberbingo.com offers video poker games that are all flash-based, so that means no download hassles. You need to get a registered username name before playing the video poker games that include All American, Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, Double Joker, Deuces and Jokers, to name a few.

Casino.com offers web-based, online video poker, based on Shockwave Flash. The latest version, Shockwave 6.5+, works best for the game. You can play without registering a username but, if you want your game score to be recorded on the high score list, you need to log in.

Other hands are simply there to fund your bankroll; it?s the royal flush that is the key to winning at video poker longer term.

So, how do you maximize your chances of hitting the royal flush and winning at video poker longer term? Read on and find out…

Get The Best Payouts

The payouts for all video poker machines are the same the only difference between them all is the amount they payout for the flush, full house or royal flush.

This means playing only the highest paying machines and avoiding the lower ones.

Here is a comparison of payouts on the most popular video poker machine jacks-or-better machine.

Payback Payback Strategy

9 for a full house 6 for a flush 99.5%

8 for a full house 5 for a flush 97.4%

7 for a full house 5 for a flush 96.3%

6 for a full house 5 for a flush 95.2%

A player, on a 9 / 6 machine, will be winning more for the same hands than other players using other machines with lower paybacks.

A 9 / 6 machine will hit the royal flush once approximately every 40,000 hands.

The 8 / 5 odds are once for each 45,000 hands and so on.

You therefore need to play 9 / 6 machines as this gives you the highest odds of hitting the royal flush and winning at video poker.

Play Maximum Coins.

When you bet five coins, all winning hands are paid out by a factor of five, except the royal flush.

This payout is a bonus designed as an incentive to play five coins and you need it you need to play maximum coins otherwise you simply won’t end up winning and video poker.

Any player who plays less than maximum coins will contribute to a Royal Flush that will be won by another player and help them win make sure you play full coins.

Play Progressives

You can also play progressives to increase your paybacks.

Look at the size of the jackpots on several machines and then play the one with the biggest jackpot, if you are after a jackpot you may as well play for the biggest one!

Look at the longer term

A player, on the 9 / 6 machine, has odds to 1:40,000 to get a Royal Flush, which is about 100 hours of play at a comfortable speed.

You need to keep playing the machine until you win the big payouts.

The smaller payouts simply help you reduce the losses on your initial bankroll

Winning at video poker means that you cant just play for an hour or two.

You need to play for a long time and you should judge your success over hundreds of hours rather than just one or two.

Your Strategy.

In video poker, your odds are improved if you play with strategy, the exact strategy varies depending on the game, however we would recommend you play jacks or better.

Jacks or better is the game that gives you the best odds of success and whichever game you play make sure it?s a 9 / 6 payout.

Wining at video poker is all about maximizing the odds in your favor as much as possible, by using strategy, playing the machines with the best payouts, in pursuit of the hand that can make you win the royal flush.

Video poker is simple and fun, but winning at video poker is even more fun!

A Short History of Poker

No one is quite sure where poker originated, although a similar game, known as nas, has been played in Iran for thousands of years. It may have been introduced in the U.S. by Persian sailors making port in New Orleans back in the 1820s. The earliest references to poker in America are from the memoirs of an English actor who played in that city in 1829. From there, the game spread northward aboard the famous Mississippi riverboats, and eastward and westward along the Ohio, Cumberland and Missouri.

Not surprisingly, video poker is perhaps one of the earliest “computer games,” and its development was parallel and contemporaneous with that of the personal computer in the 1970s. Online video poker is a direct descendant of those early (and relatively primitive) electronic games. Video poker went online at the beginning of the Internet Age in the early 1990′s, and was actually played between real people in real time over Internet Relay Chat (IRC) networks.

Today, online video poker is perhaps one of the most popular of all online casino games. Since 2003, the number of video poker players in virtual, online card rooms has grown exponentially.

How Does It Compare to the “Real Thing”?

Aside from the fact that you can play alone using your personal, private Internet connection, the video poker casino game as it is played online is no different than playing in an actual casino or card room. Just like “real” poker, online video poker has a dealer – in this case, a “virtual” one – who hands you your initial hand. You can then discard and receive new cards, ante, raise and call the same way.

Will I Be Ripped Off?

If you’re worried that online video poker is “rigged,” you should know that video poker is the most honest of all online casino games. One of the reason is that the major online video poker sites are publicly-traded companies, and therefore subject to many S.E.C. regulations, and are accountable to shareholders. Such a company that attempts to “rig” a video poker casino game and is discovered may find itself heavily fined and its corporate officers facing felony charges.

Online video poker is one of the best established, well-regulated and user-friendly forms of Internet gaming, providing the same excitement and pleasure of real casino games – and best of all, you don’t need to worry about maintaining a “poker face.”

Online casinos offer exactly the same video poker games as land based casinos.
There are many variations of video poker games. Aces & Faces Video Poker, All American, Deuces & Joker, Deuces Wild, Double Bonus, Double Joker, Five Hands and many other kinds of Video poker available online. Some of them offer wild cards, other offer Joker wild cards, some have both kinds.
The software delivers smooth, fast and uninterrupted play, the quality of game graphics is unbelievably high, as well as the sound quality which altogether provide exciting gaming experience for a player.
Master your video poker strategy for free at online casinos. The right strategy, long enough experience and proper skills will help you to increase your winning odds and earnings in a video poker game.

As mentioned above online video poker training tools interface are similar to any normal online video poker screen, you have a hand of five cards at the bottom of the screen, the statistics of the game at the top of the cards and maybe a chart or some other device at the right hand side of the screen. Depending on which of the myriad of online poker training software you are using you will find that the display on the right hand side of the screen has something else. This is usually where the video poker training software tool displays its specific task – Such as showing a green tick or a red x telling you if you have made a correct decision or not, or sometimes a chart which shows how you are progressing in your video poker training program.

Don’t worry these training tools are very easy to use! Simply start playing as if you were actually sitting in front of a regular online video poker machine, and let the online video poker training tools do its stuff. It will give pointers like when you are betting too high with a low hand, or folding too soon and before you know it you will get the hang of it. Once you have finished your play and have kept what cards you wanted as soon as you hit the deal button again the program will notify you if you have made a winning choice and if not it will let you know where you went wrong, plus it will also give you tips on the best strategies for each hand played. This may sound too good to be true doesn’t it, but believe me these online video poker training tools are out there, and they are a great way for newbies as well as seasoned online video poker players alike, to keep their online video poker playing skills up to par.

Video poker can be played at online casinos as well as regular brick and mortar casinos. If you ever happen to visit a regular casino you will be able to easily identify these video poker machines by the display on the screen cards instead of your usual symbols. One thing that both video poker and real live poker have in common is that the game involves a hand of five cards, and the rules are basically the same. Because video poker games are computerized you will find that there is a wider variety of video poker games available than real live poker games.

Playing online video poker and playing real live poker are two entirely different experiences. In online video poker games the atmosphere is much more relaxed, you get to play from the comfort and privacy of your own home, with no one around just you and your computer, there is no one there to see you as you play your hands, and make your choices (good or bad) no dealers, no other players around to make you nervous, no one watching your every move. Plus you don’t have to worry about if you brought enough money along with you, because you have those credit cards handy just in case you need more cash.

Real live poker on the other hand is an entirely different kettle of fish. You are playing against other players, the dealer is the one shuffling the cards, the atmosphere is tense, all eyes are on you waiting to see what you next play would be. Heart pounding, hands shaking, mind racing frantically thinking about what would be your best choice. Now that is by far the biggest difference between video poker and real live poker, the thrill, the excitement, that you experience when play real live poker. Video poker cannot compare to this thrill, this adrenalin rush that you experience playing real live poker. Real live poker does not necessarily have to take place at a real live casino, as there are online casinos that offer real live video poker games and well as real live video poker tournaments. Have fun playing which ever type of poker suits your fancy.

Playing video poker is similar to playing draw poker on a slot machine. It enables you to enjoy the action of poker without having to face other players who may be more experienced and skilled than you are. In addition, in video poker, there are no dealers, no rakes, no bluffing, no cheating; it is all about you and your poker skills.

How to Play Video Poker:

There are several variations to video poker. Some of the video poker variations are played with standard 52 card decks while others are played with additional wild cards. All the variations are based on the traditional card game of poker. Therefore, a basic knowledge of poker hand ranking is necessary.

You start by choosing the coin value you wish to play and then pick the number of coins that you want to bet. Afterwards, you click on deal and five cards will appear on your screen. You can discard some or all of the cards and replace them with new ones. After pressing hold on the cards you wish to keep, you push the deal button and the machine replaces your discarded cards with new ones.

The outcome of the second draw determines whether you win or lose. Each video poker machine displays its payout table, which details the number of coins the machine pays for each five card poker hand. The payout table differs from one video poker variation to the other and so is the minimum hand that qualifies for a payout.

Video poker odds are the same as in regular card poker. A 52 card deck produces more than 2.5 million hand combination. Each video poker machine is set by a random number generator, which simulates the probabilities of drawing any of the poker hand combinations. While in regular card poker, the casino ensure its profits by collecting a rake, in video poker the casino ensure its profits by setting each machine pay table differently.

Video Poker Tips:

1) Learn the basics of draw poker before you start playing video poker at online casinos or at a casino nearby.

2) Know the machine payout of the table you have decided to play at by selecting the machine that offers the highest return.

3) Adjust your strategy to the specific video poker variation you intend to play.

4) Use a mathematical strategy to play the game correctly.

5) Do not keep cards that cannot be used to form a winning hand.

6) Hold on to any pair instead of keeping a high card.

7) Keep any pair rather than draw into a straight or a flush.

Practice playing online video poker in a play money mode.

Jack Reider plays poker and video poker regularly. He also writes about it and other topics for an online casino guide.

Fact is, it?s the only slot game where you win consistently and here we will look at video poker slots and how you can win.

How to play Video Poker Slots

Video Poker is a form of draw poker and has the same rules.
The only difference is that you are not playing against any other players, just the machine.

The classic five card deal.

After you are dealt your orignal 5 cards, you have the option to take up to five new cards if you wish.

You keep whatever cards you want by pressing the “hold” button for the individual card shown.

After you have decided what to keep and what to discard, you press the “deal” button, and the cards discarded are replaced.

At this point the game is over, and the result is determined by the outcome shown.
If you have won, how much you won, is then indicated on the paytable on the front of the machine.

The Real Meaning of the Pay Table

Video poker slots main advantage over other slot machines is that the return of the game can be calculated by reading the pay table on the front of the machine.
This needs some explanation.

Most video poker slot games use the combinations of hands that can be made from a single 52-card deck.
The number of combinations that can be made from the cards determines the payout. There are 2,598,960 possible hands from a 52-card deck.

The computer chip in a video poker slots program is set to simulate the probabilities of drawing any of these combinations.

However, as this is a fixed set of possibles, the casino operator always adjusts the pay table of the online machines to produce the house odds advantage in their favor.

But if you know how to read a pay table, you then can pick a machine with the best return and best odds of success.

As a rule, the payouts for all online video poker slots machines are the same except for the for a flush, a full house, or a royal flush.

For example a comparison of payouts on a ?Jacks-or-Better? video poker slot game

Payback Machine Payback with Strategy

9 for a full house 6 for a flush 99.5%

8 for a full house 5 for a flush 97.4%

7 for a full house 5 for a flush 96.3%

6 for a full house 5 for a flush 95.2%

Statistically a 9 / 6 will bring a royal flush once for each 40,000 hands. The 8 / 5 odds are once for each 45,000 hands etc ? So try and play 9 / 6 machines only.

How To Bet Rright. Play Max Coins

Betting the right way will help you win consistently by getting the odds in your favor.

By betting five coins, all winning hands are paid out by a factor of five, except for the royal flush. This is a sort of incentive to get you to put five coins in play.

You also have to know that by playing less than max coins, you will just be contributing to a royal flush prize that will be won by another player.

The only way to beat video poker slot machines is to make sure that you win the Royal Flush so you must play maximum coins

Strategy Play A Must

The odds in video poker slots are improved if you play with a strategy.

These strategies you can get free on the net and vary depending on the game you play. What you should do is play the machines with the best payouts and then follow the strategy for the given game.

Hasten Slowly!

What?s the rush? Playing online Video Poker Slots on a computer should not a hurried event, and certainly there is no more money for playing quicker.

Take your time, the machine is in no hurry when you play video poker slots so check that each hand is played correctly with optimal strategy and don?t make any errors.

You need to play for a long time

You can win at video poker slots but you need to play for a long time.

Don?t expect to win in just a few hours it can take hundreds but if you persevere and play with strategy you will end up expanding your bankroll and that?s what its all about.

The odds of winning in video poker games are much better than normal slot machines and in addition you get fantastic graphics, making it a very excting and enjoyable gaming experience.

If you love slots and want to tip the odds in your favor, try playing video poker and get the odds on your side.

The fun in poker can actually be transformed to a video streaming experience so you can take part in a lifelike action, and this has actually been going on for quite some time since the time when it was only available at casinos. Primarily, the advancements in technology are happening at a fast pace and people simply want Las Vegas fun right in front of them. A lot of casinos already have video poker as one of their major features and the payouts begin with jacks pair in a machine. Of course, it is influenced by the game operator, the expected returns, and the rarity of the cards dealt to you.

Playing for money and fun or both

Chances of progressive jackpots in some machines are not rare and you need to check out the stuff. But it would also trigger your gaming interest and automatically lead you to play more and use a larger number of coins. You can play video poker just for entertainment and fun to make money. And, if you want, you can combine both. You have to begin by playing your credit bets which could be one or more.

Unlike before when you needed to insert coins, today’s video poker machines need you to use tickets and coins have simply gone out of fashion. Keep or discard coins or you can also get them from the deck, where you can also take a card from.

At the end when a draw takes place, the video poker machine is going to check the hand, which when matches with the one of pay list hands, the payout is, then, computed. Experienced pros may identify the winning sequence quicklier and win more easily than any novice poker player.