Forget the other hands – fact is: If you don’t get a Royal Flush you will lose on video poker in the long term. Period.
So How do you Increase Your Chances of Hitting the Royal Flush?
Many video poker players ignore the following advice when they play, but it’s the only way to beat a video poker machine. Here are five simple tips to win at video poker.
1. Play the Machines with the Best Payouts
The payouts for all video poker machines are the same except for the payout on the flush, full house or royal flush.
This means playing only the highest paying machines and avoiding the lower ones.
Here is a typical comparison of payouts on a jacks-or-better machine.
Machine Payback Machine Payback with Strategy
9 for a full house 6 for a flush 99.5%
8 for a full house 5 for a flush 97.4%
7 for a full house 5 for a flush 96.3%
6 for a full house 5 for a flush 95.2%
This means that a player, on the 9 / 6 machine, will be winning more for the same hands than other players will.
A 9 / 6 will generally hit the royal flush once for each 40,000 hands.
The 8 / 5 odds are once for each 45,000 hands etc.
You therefore need to play 9 / 6 machines.
2. You Need to Play Maximum Coins.
If you bet five coins, all winning hands are paid out by a factor of five, except for the royal flush. This is a bonus amount designed as an incentive to play five coins.
Any player who plays less than maximum coins will contribute to a Royal Flush that will be won by another player. Make sure your not one of these losers!
3. Play Progressives
It is already obvious that you need to play maximum coins, but you also need to look at the size of the jackpots on several machines and then play the one with the biggest jackpot.
The best video poker games are 9 / 6 machines with BIG jackpots, and they can never be too big!
4. You Need to Play for a Long Time
A player, on the 9 / 6 machine, has odds to 1:40,000 to get a Royal Flush, or equivalent to about 100 hours of play.
You need to keep feeding the machine until you win it, it’s as simple as that.
You will therefore need to finance your play from your own pocket, or by collecting money from the intermediate hands that you do win.
5. You Need to Play With a Strategy.
In video poker, your odds are improved if you play with a strategy – and it’s easy to learn.
The strategy will vary depending on the exact game.
The game you should play should be jacks-or-better and of course; it should be a machine with 9 / 6 payout.
