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When playing video poker, players are dealt five initial cards. They then need to make a decision which cards they wish to hold and which they plan to discard. The discarded cards will be replaced and their final hand will be ranked. Because players need to make important decisions regarding the cards they are holding, they can affect the outcome of their game by following some basic video poker strategy guides. These tips are relevant for online video poker as well.
Know the Rules of the Game
You need to familiarize yourself with the different hand rankings when playing video poker as the cards that you choose to hold or discard will be directly related to these rankings. It is also imperative that you are familiar and comfortable with the variation of video poker than you are playing as slight changes in the aim of the game will change the cards you need to collect. Online casinos especially offer many different video poker casino games to choose from.
General Rules for Holding and Discarding Cards
Always hold a hand that contains a royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, three of a kind or a two pair.
If you are holding a three of kind, hold the three, but discard the remaining two cards as this will give you a chance to go for a four of a kind or a full house. In the same vain, if you hold a two pair, discard the fifth card for a chance at a full house.While we said above that you should hold a straight flush, you should break it up when you have the chance of getting a royal flush. For example, if you hold a Ten, Jack, Queen, King, 5 of Hearts, you should discard the 5 for the chance of drawing the Ace of Hearts. Even if you do not draw the Ace, you still may draw another Heart for a flush, another Ace for a straight or a pair of Jack or Better if you draw another Jack, Queen or King.
Hold on to a low pair instead of a single high card (such as Jack, Queen, King or Ace).Break up a pair of Jacks or better (Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces) if you have four cards to a royal flush or if you have four cards to a straight flush.
Do not break up a straight flush in the hopes of drawing a royal flush. In other words, if you hold a 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King of Hearts, do not discard the 9 in the hopes of drawing an Ace for a royal flush. Hold all five cards and rather take the payment for the straight flush.
If the initial hand that you hold shows no promise, do not be afraid of discarding all five cards and drawing an entirely new hand. You may end up with a better hand the second time around.
Know your Bankroll and Choose your Machine Accordingly
You should always play the maximum number of coins possible at a machine as this will give you the chance at bonus rounds. In order to do this, you must know your bankroll and choose a machine accordingly. If you only have $20 to play with, it is not a good idea to play at a $1 machine that will take $5 per hand. Your bankroll will last longer if you play at a quarter's machine. As your bankroll increases, do not be afraid to change machines so that you can place higher bets.
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