A good grasp of strategy is especially important when playing video poker because it's one of the few skill-based casino games. The decisions you make while playing video poker will directly affect the hands you get and ultimately how often you win. Likewise making the wrong decisions while playing video poker can result in unnecessary losses. To avoid these losses, we recommend that all new video poker players learn the game rules, starting with our basic strategy advice.
Mobile Video Poker Strategy
A lot of people are under the impression that mechanical games like video poker are unbeatable. This misconception couldn't be further from the truth. Because video poker machines can't think or reason and aren't biased like live opponents, if you understand the way they work it's not hard to take advantage of their fixed odds. That said, coming out on top of a video poker session requires great patience and consistency.
The royal flush is the best combination and ultimately your goal when playing the two most popular video poker machines: Jacks or Better 9-6 and Deuces Wild 9-5. These are the games we're going to target in our video poker strategies. Let’s start with the Jacks or Better game.
The Jacks or Better paytable starts with a pair of jacks or better (hence the name). This hand will earn you even money on your original bet. Any pair below jacks is pretty much worthless unless you're looking for a three or four of a kind. Chasing three and four of a kinds by keeping low pairs is not a smart strategy; ultimately you're better dumping any low pairs.
Remember that the ultimate goal is to get a royal flush. That means any time a player holds four cards to a royal flush they should discard the one that doesn’t fit. It sounds obvious...unless that fifth card gives you a made hand like a straight or a flush. What then? While it's hard to pass on those bigger payouts, you should still break them up as the biggest jackpot only comes with a royal flush. The lone exception to this rule is a made straight flush; that payout is just too big to pass on.
Your strategy will change a little when playing Deuces Wild 9-5, but your pursuit of the royal flush continues. Remember that deuces are wild for every other card, regardless of suit, so no matter what you have in your hand you should never discard a 2. Also, pay close attention to Deuces Wild paytables. When you play Deuces Wild, your lowest paying hand is now a three of a kind. Whereas in Jacks or Better you will pursue the royal flush so long as you have four cards toward it, in Deuces Wild if you have two 2s and any other card toward a royal flush, that is what you will draw toward since the 2s will fill in where needed.
No matter what video poker game you're playing, a simple way to maximize your payouts is to play maximum credits. After all, this is the only way you can get the jackpot.
