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Video Poker is very attractive for the new players because the rules of this game are very simple, and any player that played Poker will most likely be able to make sense of these. On the other hand, strategies that were created for other types of Poker, for example, Texas Hold’em, Omaha and so on, are useless in Video Poker. In this game a different strategy is required: the one based on analysis of the probability to win, and so you would need to have some knowledge of certain statistics.
Basic strategy in video poker: cards to swap
The principle of Video Poker is very easy: the player is dealt 5 cards and he has to select which ones to keep, which ones to swap, and after swapping the outcome of the game is determined. To win the game, it’s necessary to assemble a Poker combination using swaps. The basic strategy for Video Poker is based on figuring which cards are best to swap and which are best to keep.
First of all, find out the mathematical probabilities, which the swaps are based on in Video Poker. The probability of receiving any card or assembling a combination after a swap is described below:
| Royal flash on dealing | 1 / 650,000 |
| Royal flash after swap | 1 / 40,000 |
| Quads (four cards of the same rank) | 1 / 423 |
| Four aces | 1 / 5,761 |
| Four aces and an elder kicker | 1 / 16,236 |
| Four twos | 1 / 4,909 |
| Full-house | 1 / 90 |
| Flash | 1 / 85 |
| Street | 1 / 80 |
| Street-flash | 1 / 9,150 |
Of course, the smaller the chances to receive a strong hand, the higher the win for assembling it in Video Poker. Whether to try and assemble a good combination or try and win minimum amounts of twos and threes is the main decision, which is entirely up to the player and which depends on his personality and game style.
The chances to assemble a strong hand in Poker after the swap are roughly as follows:
| Improvement of starting hand with a pair | Probability |
| One pair into two pairs | 1 / 6 |
| One pair into the set | 1 / 9 |
| Pair into full-house | 1 / 12 |
| Pair-into quads | 1 / 360 |
| Improving starting hand with set | |
| Set into full-house | 1 / 16 |
| Set into quads | 1 / 24 |
| Finishing draw-flash | |
| Finishing draw hand with flash missing 1 card | 1 / 5 |
| Finishing draw hand with flash missing 2 cards | 1 / 24 |
| Finishing draw-street | |
| Finishing two-sided street-draw missing 1 card | 1 / 6 |
| Finishing two-sided street-draw missing 2 cards | 1 / 23 |
| Finishing gutshot (street-draw with no middle card | 1 / 12 |
Which cards to swap in video poker?
The rules here are based on certain mathematical probabilities and are quite simple to remember:
- Always keep the strong combination: flash-royal, street-flash, quads, full-house, set and two pairs;
- If you have two pairs, swap the firth card to get a full-house;
- If you have two pairs, swap the firth card, for getting full-house;
- Break a street or a flash only when you have a draw-hand with four cards from royal flash. For example, if you have an ace, a king, a queen, a jack and a nine, all of the same suit, swap the nine: in this case you have a chance of getting a ten and assembling a royal flash. In case of this swap, there’re good chances of getting a lot of winning combinations: flash, street with ten of any suit, a pair of elder cards;
- Always keep a pair in the starting hand;
- Never try to assemble gutshot, a street with no middle card, and go for it only in case when your street draw includes at least three elder cards. Going for two-sided street is more profitable, because the probability to get a necessary card during the swap is twice as high. So if you have a gutshot of four, five, seven and eight, all you need is a single card – a six. If you have two-sided street-draw with four, five, six and seven, both a three and an eight would complete the combination, so the probability is twice as high.
Doubling strategy in video poker
Some slot machines give an option to double the bets after a winning hand. In other words, if you assembled a certain winning combination, you can double the bets after the win, doubling the prize. If you do select to double, you would have to play a bonus round, where you are dealt five extra cards, one of which would be open, and four closed. You need to select one of the closed cards. If it is higher than the open card, you will double your prize, if it is below, you will lose your winnings. If you win the extra round, you can keep on doubling.
Of course, the longer the chain of consecutive doublings, the smaller the odds to win each follows bonus round. Before thinking about doubling, consider the mathematical probabilities of winning a round in the series of doubles:
- First doubling: probability to win is approximately 50%;
- Second: 25%;
- Third: 12.5%;
- Fourth: 6.25%
As the bonus round is essentially a ’guess a card’ game, and it’s impossible to work out any probabilities, the only strategy for doubling in Video Poker is to remember the probability in a series of consecutive doubles. As a rule, it’s recommended to double for the first time and to stop in case of a win.
