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Online Video Poker is increasing in popularity among seasoned USA online casino gamblers who wish to have more control over their gambling odds, more than they normally would have at a video slot machine.

A traditional video poker table can be a very stressful place to play, and that’s believed to be another reason for the increase in popularity of online video poker, apart from the natural progression of online gambling, of course.

The house edge over a long run on video poker is around 3%, comparable with modern video slots, but with an added bit of flexibility owed to the skill factor involved. Practice and learning can positively affect video poker players much more than on slot machines, to a similar effect as on table games, making video poker a fine compromise between the automation of slots and the fully player influenced functioning of online table games.

Practice takes time and can be costly as you’ve got to pay for your bets so here are some tips to aid in your video poker training. You can then hone your video poker strategy at an online casino that offers practice play, so that you can play the video poker for free.

There are many variations of online video poker, but most casinos offer the same basic games. They may look different, but they have the same bones. They’re all basically 5 card draw poker, with different pay tables and different features. The most common are:

Jacks or Better

Deuces Wild

Double Bonus

Double Double Bonus

Joker Poker

Aces and Faces

You’ll also find a few progressive jackpot video poker games out there - these are good options so long as the jackpot total is greater than the Royal Flush payout for a similar cost, non-progressive game.

Most of these game types come in multi hand video poker variations, as well, where you can play up to 100 hands at a time. When playing video poker multi hand you’ll have a screen flooded with hands, and one main hand where you choose the cards that you’d like to keep. The hands are all the same at the start. When you choose your cards and move to draw, the cards that you’ve held will be held across all the multi hands, and the discarded cards will be redrawn. Each hand could then finish with a different combination, with multiple wins. You make a bet per hand, like a bet per line on a slot machine, and each hand is calculated individually at the end, with all the wins added up. It’s very easy to play this type of video poker even though it may look rather intimidating at first.

If you’re starting out as an online gambler, or just new to online video poker, the best bet for you is to start with Jacks or Better. This is the classic of video pokers. You get a 5 card deck and a straightforward paytable. A pair of Jacks or higher will get you your money back, 2 pairs of anything will get you double your bet and so forth.

The variations in this game only come in with the Full House and Flush payouts. This is where casinos can manipulate the game in order to better their odds. What you need to do is look out for what we call a 9/6 game. This means that the payout for a Full House will be shown as 9 times your bet and that of a Flush will be 6 times your bet. Many casinos run these games as 8/5, and this massively decreases your winning percentage.

As you’ve gained experience at this variation of video poker you may feel the need to venture off into other variations of the online casino game, or may just find it entertaining and profitable enough to continue at it.

If you’re playing to meet wagering or playthrough requirements on a free casino bonus then you’ll want to play online video poker, and keep your odds low. Don’t throw away a paying pair in hopes of hitting a royal flush, for example. The payout of the royal flush will likely be higher than your maximum cash out on the bonus, anyway, making the risk unnecessary. Take heed of the online casino’s terms and conditions before you get started on your journey to meeting the wagering requirements because most online casinos count Video Poker wagers as half that of online slots games.

Online casinos almost always have a match bonus on offer, claim the casino bonuses. Playing video poker conservatively can get you close to or even surpassing a 100% payout ratio. Claiming the bonus, meeting the wager requirements and cashing in on the profits is a no brainer.

Online video slots generally offer higher jackpots than video poker games, and you could become an instant millionaire with your first bet on a slot machine. Online video poker takes a bit more time and patience, playing the long game and building up your cash balance gradually is the way you’ll make money playing video poker. It’s more rewarding for it, having known that you’ve put in the time and effort to win the big bucks.