Double Up Feature
Optional features come and go in video poker, just as they do in many casino games. One that’s been with us for a couple of decades is the Double Up option on video poker games from International Game Technology.
video-poker
Playing for Straight Flushes in Video Poker
The late Lenny Frome, one of the first video poker analysts, was a friend of mine, and we often talked video poker. He was a really sharp guy who had a long career as an engineer in the aerospace industry before semi-retiring to Las Vegas. He was a good friend to video poker players, one of the first to give the public strategies for when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.
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Betting Less Than the Max at Video Poker
An old friend of mine is an occasional video poker player. He likes to play the game, but he doesn’t really like to risk money. In his lifetime, he’s drawn three royal flushes, one on a dollar game, and two on quarters. Every time, he’d wagered only one coin, meaning his jackpot was 250 coins instead of the 4,000 that comes with a five-coin wager.
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“9-6” Isn’t the Magic Number in Every Video Poker Game
The game that put video poker on the map in the 1980s was “Jacks or Better.” And as it gained in popularity, the word spread that the best games had “9-6” pay tables, meaning they paid 9-for-1 on full houses and 6-for-1 on flushes.
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Going For Straights in Video Poker
Have you ever listened in as a couple of video poker novices tried to figure out just what to do with a hand? I couldn’t help but overhear one evening when a woman playing Bonus Poker was dealt 5-6-7-9 and a Jack.
“What do you do here?” she asked the fellow accompanying her.
He looked at the hand, and looked at the pay table. “Look here,” he said. “You’d get five coins back if you draw another Jack, but you have four parts of a straight. Straights pay 20. You probably should go for the straight.”
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Holding Low Pairs in Video Poker
Payoffs in most video poker games start at a pair of Jacks, so many players underestimate the power of low pairs.
If you’re dealt a single Jack along with a low pair, such as two 5s, what are you going to do? It’s tempting to keep the single Jack and draw four cards, each with chance to bring a second Jack that’ll at least get you your money back.
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