Optimal Video Poker Strategy Guide Australia
Kerry Nathanson | June 11, 2021 | Updated on: April 23rd, 2024
A video poker strategy is essential if you want to play your best game. All serious players have a game plan when they visit their favourite casino sites in Australia. However, there are so many video poker strategies on the internet. It’s challenging to know which one works and which doesn’t.
We have written this guide to help you find the best video poker strategy. We have also included premier video poker casinos with top bonuses. So, read further and learn how to win at video poker.
Best Video Poker Casino Australia 2024
Video Poker Strategy Basics
You may wonder why video poker needs a strategy because it’s a game of luck. While this may be true, video poker is not all luck. The cards you receive have to form a hand that will ultimately win the game.
You need to know how to choose the cards strategically to create the best hand. We will explain all the fundamentals because they are key to becoming a video poker pro.
Video Poker Bet Size
If you are playing a classic game of video poker, you will normally choose to bet between 1 and 5 coins for every hand.
Many players that aren’t high rollers may think that betting a single coin for a hand is a good idea – it isn’t. When you bet one coin for a hand, you disadvantage yourself because you won’t get to win the maximum payout.
When you get a royal flush, you will win the maximum payout for the hand only if you wager the 5 max coin bet. Here is an illustration of the maximum payout for each coin you wager:
The royal flush is only 2% of the overall payout for a video poker game.As you can see, the payout increases as the number of wagered coins increases. As a result, many expert video poker players opt to bet 5 coins for each hand. However, you don’t always have to wager the maximum coin bet because you won’t always get a royal flush when you play.
Choosing Video Poker Games
One of the easiest things you can do for yourself to ensure that you have a successful video poker game is to choose the right one. There is no use in putting so much work into finding a strategy if you play a game that doesn’t have a large payout.
So, when you’re choosing a video poker game, make sure that you have looked at the following aspects:
- What is the payout of the game?
- How accessible is the game?
- What is the volatility of the game?
Video Poker Strategies: Variants
Video poker is slightly different because each variant has its own way of gameplay. When you play video poker online, you may encounter some scenarios. Here are some strategy tips on how to deal with them.
Jacks or Better
- If you have a hand that includes a four to a straight or a flush, keep all four.
- When you have a hand that includes a 3 to a Royal flush, then keep those cards.
- If you get a pair of cards of any value, you can keep them, but you will need to draw three new cards.
- You can hold when you get three cards to a straight flush.
- When you don’t have any of the cards mentioned above, you can hold any Jacks or any card better than Jacks.
Deuces Wild
- If you get four Deuces, you need to keep them because that is the best hand in video poker.
- When you get three Deuces, you can hold your entire hand to create a Royal flush or a five-of-a-kind; otherwise, you need to discard some cards.
- If you don’t get any deuces, you need to keep any card of any value and get a payout from it.
- When you get three cards to a Royal flush, keep those cards.
- If you get a pair and don’t get any of the cards mentioned above, you need to hold that pair.
Double Bonus
- When you get three cards to a flush, then you need to keep those cards.
- If you get any four cards to a flush, then you need to keep those cards.
- When a single high card comes – keep it.
- If you get a pair of cards, keep those cards even if they are valued low.
- Discard the whole hand when you don’t get pairs.
Joker Poker
- Keep the three cards if they are three of a kind.
- Don’t discard cards that are higher than three of a kind.
- Keep cards that will give you a payout, especially if there are four of them.
- A Joker and three cards that have a high payout are good. You need to keep those cards.
- Make sure that you are always wagering the maximum coin bet possible.
Video Poker Strategy Tips
Video poker tips can elevate your gameplay to another level and increase your bankroll. So, we asked our experts for tips that helped them win the video poker jackpot.
- Know your pay tables.
In video poker, no two hands will be the same, so learning the paytable will help you immensely. However, when you play online, you don’t have to memorize the table because it’s displayed on the screen for your benefit.
- Always play the maximum coins.
When playing online video poker, it is always a good idea to play with the maximum coins. That way, when you hit the Royal flush, you will get the maximum payout.
- Choose Low is Pairs Over a single High Card.
When you get a pair, hold on to it even though the cards are valued low. Sometimes, it is better to have low-scoring cards than risk losing everything.
- Break up a Straight or a Flush
If you have a chance of getting a Royal flush, we advise breaking up the straight or the flush. However, if you don’t have that chance, keep what you have.
Online Video Poker Odds
Many players always feel like the Royal Flush is within their grasp. However, they don’t take into account the odds of this happening. The table below shows how likely it is to receive each hand when you play online video poker.
| Hand | Odds |
| Royal Flush (machine-generated) | 1in 650,000 |
| Royal Flush (player-created) | 1 in 40000 |
| Four Aces with a kicker | 1 in 16236 |
| Straight Flush | 1 in 9150 |
| 2s and 4s with a kicker | 1 in 6984 |
| Four Aces | 1 in 5761 |
| Four Deuces | 1in 4909 |
| 2s to 4s | 1 in 2601 |
| Four of a kind | 1 in 423 |
| Full House | 1 in 90 |
| Flush | 1 in 85 |
| Straight | 1 in 80 |
Video Poker Strategy Basics: How to Choose the Right Casino
You need to make sure that you choose the right video poker casino for you. Many experienced players make sure that they play at the best casino to maximize their winning potential. If you don’t know how to find the best online casino, don’t worry, we have criteria that will help you.
High Payout Percentages
When you choose a casino, you need to look up the payout percentages. The higher it is, the better your payout will be. When you see a percentage, this will tell you what the casino pays out on average. For example, if you see a 95% payout, you will get AU$95 back.
Casino Bonus Offers
Bonuses are a great way to extend your bankroll, but not all bonuses are created equal. If you want to claim a bonus, you need to do the necessary research, including reading up on the terms and conditions that come with the bonus offer.
A bonus welcome offer may not be suitable for you. So, you may want to wait for the promotions that may come up while you’re playing your video poker game.
Before you join a casino, it’s always a good idea to read about the playthrough requirement of a certain bonus. However, if you don’t have the time to do all that research, don’t worry. We have all the information you need concerning video poker bonuses.
Safety and Security
When you are gambling online, you should always think about your safety. So that means that you should look at the digital safety protocols that the casino uses before you sign up.
What’s more, the games that you play, like video poker, should be audited by a third party. This will give you peace of mind that the games are fair and the results are random. You should not sign up at any casino that does not have these measures in place.
A casino site that also offers more security like firewalls, safe payment options, frequent security checks, are a bonus. When you find such a casino, you should sign up because you will be playing at the best. Luckily, we have suggested the safest video poker casinos that you will find online.