How to Play Multi-hand Video Poker Machines

When you first sit down at a video poker machine, online or offline, you’ll first choose the number of hands that you want to play. At the bottom of the screen, the numbers will be displayed for you to choose, usually in these increments: 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100. Once you’ve selected the numbers of hands you’d like to play at one time, you’ll place your bet. Due to the fact that these multi-hand video poker machines offer more than one hand at a time, the denomination can range from as little as a penny to a dollar a bet – sometimes more depending on the casino and the machine. Once you have selected your bet denomination, you’ll need to click deal. Alternatively, if you are playing the maximum bet, which is recommended in order to get the highest advertised payout percentage, then you’ll simply click bet max – this is usually five credits per hand.

Once you have pressed the Deal or Bet Max button, you will have five cards showcased in front of you on the screen. All hands that you are playing will be with these same five cards. You will choose the ones you want to keep and then discard the ones you don’t want – your actions will be automatically copied to the rest of the hands. The Deal button is next in order to receive your new cards.

The replacement cards are completely random and will be drawn for each paid hand. Since you can’t show 100 hands on the screen at once (well, you could, but you wouldn’t be able to see them!), the machine will highlight the winning hands and show the amount won and the accumulated credit total. A color-coded bar will be at the bottom of each winning hand informing you of the number of coins won and the type of hand it was.

Multi-hand Video Poker Machine Odds

Believe it or not, the odds are the same for multi-hand video poker as they are for single-hand video poker. You may be winning or losing more but the odds aren’t changing just because you are playing 50 hands instead of one. Therefore, any strategies you are familiar with and have implemented on single-game video poker machines, you can bring them with you to the multi-hand video poker machines. Just remember to shop around for the best payout percentage – and remember, you don’t get the advertised payout percentage unless you bet the maximum amount of coins.

Are Multi-hand Video Poker Machines Better?

What players need to keep in mind is that the house edge is obviously raised when you are playing a large amount of hands. Sure, you are going to probably win more when you have good hands, but you are also going to deplete your bankroll rather quickly as a result of your bad hands, which hands that money right on over to the casino.

Multi-hand video poker will allow you to play a significant amount of more hands per hour but it might just work against you. Make sure you have the bankroll for multi-hand video poker because it will take a larger bankroll than a single-hand video poker machine. Keep in mind that while you may be betting a few pennies, if you are playing 100 hands, you are betting a lot more than that.

Shop Around for Best Payout

When deciding to play online video poker, the first thing that you should do is take the time to do a little bit of research and shopping around in order to find the best overall payout percentage. Sometimes one online casino will have a higher percentage payout than others on the exact same game. For example, if you find a Jacks or Better video poker machine that pays out at 92% at one online casino, regardless of how reputable and popular that casino, if the same game pays out at 97% elsewhere at another online casino, then the latter is obviously the better choice.

Establish a Bankroll

Prior to playing any video poker variation online or offline, you should always establish a bankroll, a well-adopted bankroll at that. In other words, don’t use money that you need for your household utilities, car payment or mortgage payment. In addition, you want to ensure that you have a large enough bankroll that is going to give you the chance to actually win. If you only have a few dollars to spare then you likely aren’t going to win anything and if you do, it’s unlikely to be a large sum.

Always Play the Maximum Bet

When you are searching for the highest percentage payout and see that this machine has a 98% advertised payout then in order to acquire that high payout percentage, you are going to need to play the maximum number of coins. While the machines or the casinos don’t come right out and tell you this, it is true. If you don’t play the maximum bet then you aren’t able to qualify for the jackpot, which means you aren’t eligible to win the highest payout percentage. If at all possible, you should always, always play the maximum bet offered at a video poker machine.

Keep Four Cards

If you have four cards and are just one short from hitting a huge hand then keep those four cards and discard the single card. When doing this, hope for the best. You aren’t going to succeed every time but every once in a while, you’ll hit the card that you need to make that hand, such as a straight flush, and you won’t be able to keep from jumping up and down ecstatically.

Keep Pairs

While a pair often is going to give you much of a payout, if any at all, it is more likely that you’ll land another card of the same number or another pair. Hold a pair if you get it and hope to get two pair, three of a kind or even better. If you follow this strategy and keep the pair, don’t keep the kicker as it will only decrease your overall odds of achieving the best hand possible.

Discard Kickers, Draw Five

While kickers have value in regular poker (or at least a little bit), they don’t have much in video poker. Therefore, don’t hold onto the kickers and discard the other four cards. Simple discard that kicker card and draw five brand new cards. You’ll have better odds this way of acquiring a hand that can payout – even if it isn’t huge.

The above-mentioned are the most basic and general video poker strategies known to man. They are not going to help you win every single time but they will increase your overall odds in the game. These points are best pointed towards beginners as professionals likely have more advanced strategies and approaches that they take towards the game. This is something to keep in mind as once you get the hang of the game, you’ll need to do some research and learn some more advanced techniques, tips and strategies for video poker.

Well when it comes to getting the maximum out of these situations then there are clear definable things that you can do and need to do to maximise your profit. The first step is to find out what the correct basic strategy is with the type of video poker that you are playing. There will be differences from machine to machine or from game to game and this is similar in many ways to blackjack.

In fact the process of playing video poker is very similar in many ways to playing basic strategy in blackjack. In that game then it isn’t possible for basic strategy to get you an edge and it usually isn’t in video poker. So the next and probably more vital step it to maximise your bottom line by getting as much additional financial help as you can. This means getting sign up bonuses and loyalty bonuses and you may just find that you are playing even with the house and the possibility of being +EV exists.

Video Poker Mistake #6 – Loss of Focus

This is a common mistake by many that play any type of casino or poker game, not just video poker.  In order to succeed at any form of game, you need to maintain complete focus on the game, what you are doing and what you plan to achieve.  In live casinos, many men get distracted by the pretty women walking around in clothes that would fit the girls that work at Hooters (not that many mind this, obviously) offering drinks, be it alcoholic drinks or carbonated beverages.  All the shouts and screams also distract many players if they are near a Craps table.  Some even get distracted by the person sitting beside them or the loudspeaker.

Regardless of the reason that people lose focus, it is simply not something that you want to happen to you.  Don’t let the temptation pull you in because that is just what the casinos are hoping for.  They hope that you will lose your focus because when you lose your focus, you are off your game.  And, when you are off your game, you lose more money, which means the casino makes more money off of you.

Video Poker Mistake #7 – Playing Too Slow

This sort of goes hand-in-hand with video poker mistake #6 because if you lose your focus or put your attention elsewhere besides the game, you are going to play slower.  When you play slower, you don’t make near as much money.  For instance, say you generally make x amount of dollars over the course of 500 hands, which takes you x amount of time.  Well, if you don’t play those 500 hands in the same amount time then you aren’t going to make as much money. The faster you can play those hands, without losing focus and your overall strategy, then the more money you can make in a given setting. But, remember, don’t let your accuracy slip just because you are trying to play faster in order to make more profit.

Video Poker Mistake #8 – Playing Too Fast

Yes, I did just talk about how playing too slow is a mistake in video poker but playing too fast is as well.  I touched on that a little bit above, but letting your accuracy slip just so you stand to make more money while playing isn’t the right way to go.  By playing too quickly, you’ll lose your focus and your accuracy will slip. You will make some minor mistakes that aren’t that big of a deal, but it’s those major mistakes that will really get to you. You’ll end up throwing away perfect starting hands that could have gotten you a huge payout and this is nowhere to be when playing video poker.

Video Poker Mistake #9 – Playing Too Many Hands

When playing video poker, just as with video poker, you need to be fully aware and knowledgeable of premium starting hands.  If you don’t have a premium starting hand, which is a hand that will actually get you somewhere within the game or is something to begin with, then most likely, your best option is to fold rather than continue the hand risking the loss of money.  More often than not, beginners will play more hands than what they should.  With that said, in order to not play more hands than you should, you need to learn to be patient.  Let the right cards come to you and when they do, play them and play them hard. The profit that you’ll gain in the long run will be worth the wait.

Video Poker Mistake #10 – Playing Too Long

Just as you can play too fast or too slow, you can also play for too long. Many will play for hours on end and after a while, your mentality will start slipping away, which means you’ll lose focus and again, your accuracy will slip.  You’ll let go of premium starting hands, hold the wrong card and get rid of the right card and a number of other things. Your brain is fried because you’ve been playing for too long and you can’t control what you do any longer.  If you are still playing because you have lost money and you are trying to recover it, stop.  All you are doing is hurting yourself and you are going to continue to do so because with the state of mind that you are in, you are not going to win that money back. Hang it up now, relax, get some rest and start in on the video poker journey another day.

Video Poker Mistake #1 – Not Playing the Maximum Number of Coins

With any casino game, including video poker, you need to play the maximum number of coins in order for you to have the highest chances of winning and to win the highest possible amount should you win a hand. For example, what if you were to start playing, not playing the maximum number of coins, and you strike gold – the Royal Flush. You’ve just won the Jackpot.  Oh, wait, no you didn’t! You didn’t because you weren’t playing the maximum allowed coins. By playing the maximum of coins each time, you increase how much you win should you win the hand.

Video Poker Mistake #2 – Playing Out of Your Price Range

This one sort of goes hand-in-hand with mistake #1.  Most people don’t play the maximum number of coins per hand simply due to the fact that they are playing on a machine that is out of their budget.  If this is the case, you can only afford to bet one rather than the maximum.  If you are on a machine that has a lower denomination, you can afford to bet the maximum number of coins.

Video Poker Mistake #3 – Using Incorrect or No Strategy

Many people that play video poker don’t take the time to learn proper video poker strategy.  Some will learn strategy that won’t help with their game while others won’t have any strategy in play at all.  This significantly reduces your chances of winning because you don’t know the right way to play a specific hand combination so every single time you make a mistake by holding on to the wrong card or letting go of the wrong card, your winning profits dramatically decrease.  Be sure to learn video poker strategy as this will give you the prospected hand combinations, odds and much, much more!

Video Poker Mistake #4 – Following Hunches

Just as in regular live or online poker, you cannot follow your hunches, or gut feelings.  These will get you nowhere because poker is a game of skill and luck, not hunches.  Video poker requires the use of strategy and you must have knowledge of the game and have developed skill for the game in order to succeed and gain significant profits. When you start taking account for you hunches and gut feelings, all that’s going to happen is you are going to tilt the favor directly into the house’s hands, which is just what they want you to do.

Video Poker Strategy #5 – Not Practicing

If you want to get started in video poker but are new to the game then it’s always best to practice first.  There are plenty of sites online that allow you to play with fake, free money so that you can learn how the game works, utilize your strategy and see just how well you can perform at the game.  More often than not, beginners will just jump right into the game not knowing at all what they are doing and instead of maximizing their gains, they end up losing out on profit that could have been made.  Practice first, play later.  It may take some time to practice and learn the game, but you’ll be thankful in the long run.

Just as with any other casino game, there are a ton of tips and strategies that you can utilize to increase your chances of winning.  The strategies that you set forth will depend on the particular type of video poker that you are playing because there are a number of different variants.  Some variants of video poker include Jacks or Better and Jokers Wild.

In order to help improve you’re A-game at video poker, take into consideration these few tips.

Take Time to Practice

As with any game, you can’t fully learn all aspects of the game until you have taken the time to practice.  You can’t just expect to dive right in and start winning with no practice whatsoever.  If you are just starting out, try to find an online casino that offers free play of Jacks or Better, the most basic version of video poker. Take a few hands to practice and get the hand of the game.  Remember, practice really does make perfect.

Maintain Winning Cards

More often than not, players will end up throwing away good cards and drawing a new one.  Let’s say you got a full house but you think you could make more out of it – why do this?  Honestly?  You shouldn’t.  Keep your full house.  Full houses beat several hands and is actually more profitable than you may think.

Same thing goes with a flush.  Don’t ever get rid of any of your cards if you have flush in order to get something better…the only time you should do this is if you have the chance to make a Royal Flush.

Don’t ever get rid of a winning hand if you have one.  If you have two pairs, don’t get rid of cards to try to accomplish a straight or a flush.  Keep what you have because if you don’t, you’ll increase the edge the house has over you resulting in a decrease in your chances of winning.

Play the Maximum Amount of Coins/Bets

Don’t play with the minimum one coin per hand, play the maximum bet.  This way if you do win the hand, your overall winnings will be increased.  This is especially true with the Royal Flush.  Apart from getting a larger percentage of payout by playing the maximum number of coins, you will also have a chance at the progressive jackpot that most video poker machines have.  You won’t have a chance to win the progressive jackpot if you play less than the maximum amount of bets so be sure to increase your chances of winning money by playing the maximum bet.

Consider Your Bankroll

When it comes to any casino or poker game, your bankroll plays a huge role in the machine that you play.  There are penny machines, nickel machines, quarter machine, dollars machines, etc.  If you only say have $100 to play with then you can’t sit down at a $1 machine because your money will be gone in no time.  This is no way to get started in video poker.  Start out small and work your way up as your bankroll increases.

Remember as well that you should only play with money that you can honestly and realistically afford to lose otherwise you’ll find yourself in all heaps of trouble!  In addition, once your bankroll is gone, don’t go get more.  Call it quits until another time.

First and foremost, the primary key to success at video poker lies in selecting the right game. While a number of different game options exist for players the one that has the greatest likelihood of paying out if done correctly is also one of the oldest and most common forms – Jacks or Better. In this game the rules are simple and straight-forward enough to allow casual play while at the same time allowing for specific strategies to be developed and implemented for any combination of hands.

Once you have located a machine – or ideally, a number of machines – that offer Jacks or Better the second step is selecting one with the highest payout possible for each hand. As in video poker, you will be playing against the machine rather than another player any small advantage you can get on the payout ratios is well worth your while. Even something as simple as a difference of 8:1 instead of 9:1 on a Flush could mean the difference between long-term success or failure when playing your rounds. Thankfully most casinos offering video poker machines offer a wide selection of these machines in a single area, so sourcing out the best one and sticking to it is generally a relatively easy and painless process.

After you have selected the right machine, the next step is simple: best the maximum amount possible, and always go for the best hand possible. Since video poker is a game of odds that pays out proportionally larger hands as you receive a better deal it is in your best interest to always try and go for the highest hand possible in order to receive the highest payout possible each round. Further, the “jackpot” payment for a Royal Flush that offers the greatest return on investment is only available for the highest bet possible, so while betting smaller amounts may seem attractive at first due to the fact that it will allow you to continue playing for a longer time on a limited bankroll in terms of actual payout ratios this is a bad move to make as in the long run it will only limit your overall winnings.

Finally, don’t be afraid to give up a weak “guaranteed win” (such as a pair of Jacks) if you feel you have a good shot at getting a better hand – such as a Straight, Flush or Straight Flush. These pay out extremely higher amounts than any weak hand will ever offer and are a better move in the long-run for many reasons.

Slots

The top game of choice to be found at any online casino, slots offer players a quick, easy and fun gambling experience that can potentially pay off greatly from time to time. On top of that, the automated nature of slots means that players are never pressured into an action by their peers and can enjoy their time at the machine as much as they would like without needing to worry about affecting those around them.

Video Poker

Similar to slots in the sense that it is computer-controlled and 100% automated, video poker is one machine-based game that if the right strategy is used in the right game can result in the player actually having over a 100% return on investment over time – something that is virtually unheard of in any gambling establishment.

Craps

One of the major iconic games of the casino world, craps has remained a favorite gambling game for players around the world for over 100 years. Before craps even came about dice games used for gambling date back thousands of years, meaning the modern day craps is but a continuation of a long-standing tradition of gamblers dating back as far as ancient Rome.

Roulette

Along with craps roulette has long been one of the most popular gambling games found in modern-day casinos the world over. Originally designed and first used roughly 200 years ago in France it has been a major attractor for both casual and serious gamblers alike ever since its birth due to its simplicity, excitement and reliance more upon luck than anything else for determining the outcome of a spin – making it an excellent option for many aspiring gamblers to being their career on.

Blackjack

The number one card game the world over, blackjack is another one of the few games available in casinos that can offer skilled players the chance at actually earning more than they lose against the House in the long run – something that is an elusive dream for most gamblers due to the fact that virtually all games found in gambling establishments will never let this occur even on the best of days. Simple, easy to learn and easy to enjoy, blackjack has grown to become not just one classic form either but a multitude of different games in the form of various styles that allow slight variations on the rules to help keep people interested and offer additional ways to win that standard blackjack games may not offer (such as Spanish 21, where decks contain no 10s and players may wager on one of their cards matching the dealer’s face-up card for a big win).

As with anything else, it does take time to learn proper strategy.  Moreover, it takes practice to put to use correctly.  You need to learn how to properly handle each hand that comes you way as there is a large range of hands. 

If you are a beginner, you will find some tips below that will help you get started and learn the ropes.  Aside from this information, be sure to learn as much as you can about each of the hands that can come up in Jacks or Better video poker and memorize these hands.

To begin, keep any hand that has a payout unless you could have a royal flush in play.  The reason for this is simply because the royal flush is a very high paying hand and is well worth the surrender of the smaller payout.

Now, let’s say you are dealt a hand that does not have a listed payout.  If you have four cards to either a straight flush or a flush, you should hold.  You should hold three cards to a hand of a royal flush or a straight flush as well as any consecutive four card straight.  If you have two high cards that are of the same suit or are unsuited, they should be held. If you are dealt a Jack Queen, and King of different suits then hold as well as hold a suited Jack, Queen, King, and Ten.  You should hold any pair of low cards, which pertains to a pair of tens or a lower pair, as well as any single high card.

If you don’t see any of the above non-payout scale hands in the game, then you should honestly just draw five brand new cards and see what you get.

The above tips may not seem like much, but they are targeted towards a beginner in Jacks or Better video poker and will enhance the game odds in your favor allowing your current bankroll to last a little bit longer, which means that you will have higher chances of winning the jackpot with a royal flush.

I have been doing some research lately on this very fascinating casino activity and I managed to get hold of a copy of “The Ultimate Video Poker Pocket Book” by Chris Newman and as a poker player, I actually found myself getting engrossed in the book.

Although having said that, all gambling books hold my interest…..that’s just the way I am. I would strongly recommend that anyone who plays Video Poker on bwin get themselves a copy of this book.

There is also another book out that I have been trying to get hold of and that is Martin Jensen’s book on the same subject. I first came across Martin Jensen when I read his book on roulette some years ago and I was surprised at the quality of it even though much of the stuff I already knew.

But he does usually write good books so The Big Book of Slots and Video Poker may be a very good read. If you desire to always play the perfect strategy but you are not sure where to start then you could do far worse than purchase these books.

Video Poker strategy can be learned just like blackjack basic strategy so even if you have never played poker before in your life, you can easily learn the rules and then be a very good player in a very short space of time.

The thing is that with video poker, you can have the strategy tables handy at the side of your monitor when you play online and that is a fantastic thing to have at your disposal if you don’t know much about the games and this makes this a fascinating casino game to try.