When it comes to Video Poker, just like
regular poker games, you want to play
the proper strategy for the specific
game you have chosen to play. If you
read the article just before this one,
you already know some great tips for
selecting the right game for you. Now,
you will want to be able to play it
properly. In this article we will take a
look at some of the decisions you now
have facing you regarding proper
strategy for the game you want to play.
So, you have selected the Video Poker
machine or game you want to play, now
you need to know the expert strategy
that that comes along with it. Where do
the strategies come from? After all, its
just poker and only five cards, right?
How much difficulty can there be to
choosing some cards in order to get the
best hand? It isn’t quantum physics, but
there is a science to it that does
involve math.
Well for starters, you are dealt five
cards. For each of those five cards, you
have two choices you can make – keep the
card or fold it. This means that you
have and overall choice of 32 different
hold combinations. These range
from holding none of the cards to
holding all of the cards. Each
combination has its own payoff
potential. The proper play – always - is
to play the combination with the highest
paying expected return.
Unless you are some sort of psychic
player with the ability to tell what the
proper play is for any hand, than you
need to understand the best practices
and strategies for each Video Poker game
you want to play – that is if you want a
good chance to win some cash. Based on
math and probability, players must trust
that there is a proper way to play each
poker hand in Video Poker that will
result in the best possible winnings for
them over the long run. One thing is for
sure, if you don’t get the cards you
need, you will probably feel as though
there may have been some better way to
play your hand – but here isn’t.
When playing Video Poker, the
information given is even more clear and
precise than most other gambling
situations are. With this casino game,
there really isn’t any sort of ambiguity
– you know what five cards you see and
you know what potential they have with
the other cards in the card deck. The
card deck is random, but it is
completely honest. This fact allows
players to use probability to guide them
along the way. Also, to a certain
extent, the pay tables even let players
take control of their own playing
destiny. The pay table allows players to
learn and better understand what the
proper choices are for each and every
Video Poker hand that is dealt to them.
Just remember, it is extremely important
to play Video Poker games using the
proper strategy, especially if you care
about your bank roll and the fact that
it can disappear quickly if you don’t
use the proper strategy for the game you
want to play.
To play any Video Poker game expertly,
you can’t rely on intuition, you must
learn the proper strategies. You can’t
rely on your intuition to lead you to
make the right plays in Video Poker
unless your intuition is the proper
strategy. Common sense is great and it
can sometimes lead to correct poker
playing, but the right decision is not
always obvious. Meaning common sense may
not pick up the correct move when
needed. On individual hands of Video
Poker, you may make a successful move
by using your instinct or common sense,
but long term successful outcomes will
demand that you utilize a consistent
strategy.
So far, you understand that you need two
things to have a successful time playing
Video Poker – the proper ability to
comprehend the pay tables, and the
ability to learn the proper strategy
involved with the certain game you want
to play. The one thing that is at the
core of these two points is expected
return. Now, the concept of expected
return is basically another form of the
math based principle of expectation.
Expectation as far as gambling is
concerned, is the dollars and cents
result you can expect to get over the
long run when you utilize a certain
course of action.
The expected return is a way of
quantifying how proper a player’s
particular play is – it lets them
understand what their long term payback
will be when they play a poker hand a
certain way. The calculation of the
expected return (the correct play) is
entirely based on the specific payoffs
for winning hands.
It is also important that all players of
Video Poker understand that the pay
table and expected return are linked to
each other. Any change in the pay table
will affect the expected return.
Additionally, players must understand
that the best decision (very often) for
a hand will have an expected return that
is lower than their actual bet. However,
it is necessary that in these cases, the
player must be able to make the best
mistake or bad choice – the hold
combination that has the highest
expected return that will also minimize
their losses in the long run. Yes, we
realize that not everyone is a
mathematician or a robot – but an
understanding of expected return is the
very foundation for any player’s ability
to understand the game.
Here is a quick review in case we have
totally overwhelmed you:
-
There are 32 different ways to play any
5 card draw hand of poker.
-
The only real way to know the best
possible way is to calculate the
expected return for each of the 32
possibilities based on the game’s
specific pay table.
-
The proper play will be the one of these
32 possibilities that come with the
highest expected return.
-
Strategy recommendations mix the proper
expected return choices in as general a
way as possible - -this may sacrifice
some of the computer perfect exactness
for more manageable and game play that
will be more fun for the player.
This should help you better understand
the fascinating game of Video Poker.
This game requires skill and proper
sense to play it well. If you intend on
playing this game for real money, be
sure to get this understanding in your
head first. Check back for our next
article about Video Poker – total
return and volatility.
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