by Mark Pilarski

Video poker is based on the classic game Five Card Stud, which challenges players to compose the best possible five-card hand. The player is dealt five cards with the option of discarding any or all of them for replacement with newly dealt cards. Although video poker and Five Card Stud are kissing cousins, good video poker players don’t necessarily make for good poker players, and vice versa.

There are many important differences, Gary, between video poker and its table game relative. For starters, video poker payoffs are based on a scale, paying players for hands as low as a pair of tens or Jacks all the way up to a Royal Flush.

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Video Poker machines are much more liberal than slots, with paybacks ranging from 96% to over 100%, while slots range from 85% to 97% in comparable coin denominations.

With Video Poker, when you add comps and other slot club benefits, it’s not hard to break even or better, thus, your chances of winning at video poker are far greater. Best of all, Janice, you can easily determine the most liberal video poker machines just by eyeballing their paytables.

With slots, the paybacks are based on the generosity of the casino; and, as a breed, they are not necessarily known for their philanthropy.

-By Mark Pilarski 

Dear Mark: I'm hoping you can settle an on going discussion (argument) my wife and I have. When playing a video poker machine that pays even money for both a high pair and any two pair, she will keep both pair and draw one card. Her reasoning is she is looking to draw a full house. I maintain that if at least one pair is high, you should keep only one high pair and draw three cards increasing your chances of catching three of a kind or possibly an even better hand. You already got your money back and a three-card draw gives you a better chance of improving your hand than a one-card full house draw. Of course, we will both keep two low pair or any two pair when playing a machine that pays 2:1 for two pair. We have nothing riding on this except a smug "I told you so!" and a strategy change for one of us. Ron E.

Unfortunately, Ron, your question is missing some imperative meat-and-potato information, in particular, the rest of the paytable. So the answer is shall we say “circumspect.” I know how painful it is to have this one word whispered into one’s ear.

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Dear Mark: I recently saw an advertisement from a casino that said their slot and video poker machines are the loosest. How do they determine what loose is? Stan F.

What you saw, Stan is advertising gobbledygook; moreover, no one can truly give you a quantitative answer as to what "loose" really means, especially when it comes to video poker machines.

For slots, "loose" can mean one of two things, "more payouts" or “higher paybacks.” Now add this kicker, Stan: a slot machine’s payback is not necessarily related to the number of payouts.

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Dear Mark: Last week you told Jenny that if she played less than the full amount in video poker, she is losing money. Is there ever a time when a player should play less than the maximum? Jan E.

What I told Jenny was that playing short would cost her approximately 1.5% of her payback. Although generally recommended, that didn’t imply that everyone should always play maximum coins. But for those well versed in expert strategy and playing a denomination that they can afford, yes, it’s the only way to go.

Technorati Tags: video poker, gambling tips, casino tips, online gambling

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Dear Mark: Do you recommend playing on just one video poker machine or moving and playing on others, especially if a machine I am currently playing on is not paying off? Once when I moved, the next player who came and sat in the seat I had previously occupied immediately hit MY royal flush. Also, suppose I get lucky and do hit a royal flush. Should I stay on the same machine or move since the chances of hitting another one are nil? Frank G.

I’ll get to your answer momentarily, Frank, but first let’s blow reveille: You should always play on video poker machines with the best paytables, period!

As to your question, it really doesn’t make a difference. There's no way to determine when a machine will hit a royal flush. Yes, people like to see "hot" and "cold" streaks in video poker machines; but that is simply a characteristic of combining wishful thinking with machine randomness.

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The Questions: Aren't slot machines programmed to pay off a particular percentage of money bet?do the casinos program a video poker machine in a way that limits good hands? If as you claim the Don’t Pass is a slightly better bet than the Pass line, how come so few people bet on it? After the point was established, I made (by mistake) a second Pass line bet. The seven rolled before the point and I lost both wagers. Is this fair, even if the dealer realized what I was doing?

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Dear Mark,
I'm about to make my first trip to Las Vegas. Can you give me your favorite King Midas tip that will turn my trip into gold? Jerome S.

Why King Midas, Jerome? When I think of King Midas my thoughts turn toward greed. In Ovid's Greek tale, Midas was so greedy he wanted everything he touched to turn to gold. To his delight, his wish came true, and he proceeded to gild everything in sight. But like a rapacious player who wants to win every hand, his fate was tragic in the end. He killed his own beloved daughter with his magical touch.

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In video poker, only 21% of the hands dealt are winning hands of Jacks or better and 79% are downright dogs. Herein lies the difference between the winning and losing player: what you do with those 79% of the hands that need to be groomed into winning greyhounds. The best way to give yourself the greatest chance of victory at video is to read, absorb, embrace and pledge allegiance to these playing tips.

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