Video Poker
Game Guide

Video Poker Games, technically slot machines, are categorized as strategy games at gamerisms. This glossary describes most of the VP versions available online and off.

Video Poker or VP strategy games require knowledge of paytable schedules to determine the more profitable versions to play and optimum strategy for each hand.

Video Poker Paytables

The first rule is for players to learn about paytables that will establish the best versions to play.

All VP payoffs are listed on the payout schedule at each machine. Paytables display how many coins are returned when you hit a certain hand playing 1 single coin or any number of coins to the max. of 5.

Example: for Jacks or Better, locate the 1 coin payouts listed on the far left side.Scan down to the full house and flush. How many coins are paid for each under 1 coin? The best version pays 9 coins for a full house and 6 coins for a flush and is a 9/6, ‘full-pay' Jacks or Better game. Any lesser paytable is considered a ‘short-pay' and the overall return is reduced.

Secondly, enthusiastic players should learn optimum strategy for each hand of a particular VP version in order to receive maximum overall payback.

Newer Video Poker Games

IGT has always been the king of video poker titles and these 4 game reviews prove it.
These are newer VP versions added to the IGT line-up. Game Title, features and reviews follow:

7 Card Stud Poker=10 Hand
Multi-Hand Features

10 chances to make the best hand with the same seven player-chosen cards. There is a near miss Royal Flush award of 20X the bet and a refund if no win is possible with the 10 original cards

Ultimate 4 of a Kind Bonus Poker
Single-Hand Features

For a 4-of-a-kind or quad hand, there is a buy-a-pay bonus that rewards those wins. With the bonus, 53 cards are presented face down - a standard deck plus one joker.

You are prompted to select 1, 2 or 3 cards, depending on the rank of the initiating 4-of-a-kind. A dealt 4-of-a-kind awards one additional pick. You win the total number of credits accumulated through all picks unless the joker is revealed, in which case the total bonus win jumps to 3,996 credits, ending the bonus.

Mid Play Poker
Single-Hand Features

This VP version gives the option to wager on up to three additional hands on the draw. Players target desired Mid Play combination by holding appropriate cards to match. A total of up to four possible winning combinations=one additional credit. Wager up to 20 credits on side bet.

Random Rewards
Single-Hand Features

Buy-a-pay bonus feature: wager one extra credit per hand to qualify. Bonus feature awards higher random jackpot amounts for flush through straight flush categories. Random jackpot amounts change with every hand.

Video Poker Glossary

Video Poker Games Glossary A - B

Aces with a Kicker: bonus credits are awarded for quad aces with a specific fifth card.

Aces and Faces VP: bonus credits for Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks.

All American VP: straight flush pays 1000 coins for this version.

Basic VP: single payline VP game using one 52-card deck. Unlike progressives, basic VP has a constant top jackpot payout. Example=4000 coins for royal flush.

Bet Max: to bet the max coins, usually 5, for each play/spin at these strategy games. The best payouts occur when the maximum bet is wagered. If you want to receive full value for your VP play, this is the best strategy.

Bet 1 Button: pressed when betting less than max coin. Press 1 for 1 coin, 2 for 2 coin, etc.

Boat: jargon for a full house. Example=3 Kings, 2 Queens.

Bonus 4-of-a-kind: pays bonus credits for certain quads and/or certain quads with a specific fifth card. Example; Bonus poker=400 credits for 4 aces or Double Double Bonus Poker=2000 credits for 4 aces with a 2, 3 or 4 kicker.

Bonus Deluxe VP: any quad pays 400.

Bonus Deuces 9/4 VP: payout of 2000 for 4 deuces with an ace as the fifth card plus higher coin for five 3's, 4's and 5's.

Bonus Jacks+ VP: 2 pair pays 2, four aces pays 400.

VideoPoker Game Terms C

Catching Cards: deals/draws are going your way. A very good thing!

Complete Hand: term for straight, flush, full house, quad and/or straight flush combination.

Cowboys: jargon for Kings

Credits: paid for winning hands or an initial bet placed and displayed on the credit meter.

Cycle: mathematical possibility of receiving the top jackpot of a royal flush. Example=Royal occurs approx. every 40,000 hands for Jack+ 9/6 VP versions.

VideoPoker Game Terms D

Deal/Draw Button: press for replacement cards not held during play or to deal new hand.

Definition: VP games, except Deuces Wild, are referenced by the full house and flush payout for one coin. Example=9-6 Jack+ game pays 9-for-1 for full houses and 6-for-1 for flushes. Deuces Wild 9-5 refers to straight flush and 4-of-a-kind payouts.

Denomination: most VP slots offer several denominations options, from nickels to $25.

Deuces Wild Video Poker: 4 Deuces pays 1000 coins for this version.

Dirty Royal: jargon for royal with 1 or more Deuces, payout is lower.

Discard: cards tossed in search of a better hand.

Double Bonus VP: 10/7 versions pays 50 coins for a full house with max. coin in play.

Double Double Bonus VP: 4 aces with 2, 3 or 4 kicker pays 2000 coins.

Double Inside Straight Flush: three cards in the same suit with two gaps where two cards will complete a straight flush, example=7c, 9c, 10c, 3d, 4h.

Double Up: side bet option to double credits for a winning hand. You must draw a higher card than displayed to win.

VideoPoker Game Terms E

Expected Value or EV: average return expected with optimal strategy. Example=Jacks+ choice between 4 cards dealt for a possible straight and at the same time, 4 cards dealt for a possible flush. You would choose the 4 cards to a flush as the expected value is higher.

Expert Strategy: method of deciding which cards to hold and which to discard for each VP version considering the best chance of winning the hand.

VideoPoker Game Terms F - G

Fishhooks: jargon for Jacks

Flush (fl): five cards all the same suit-clubs, spades, hearts or diamonds.

Four of a kind or Quad: four cards of the same denomination. Example=4 aces.

Four Card Flush: four cards of the same suit in a VP hand, example=2c-8c-5c-Jc.

Four Card Inside Straight: four cards in any suit with one or two gaps. Example=6-8-9-10-Q.

Four Card Inside Straight Flush: four cards of the same suit with one gap wherein 1 card will complete a straight flush, example=7c, 8c, 10c, Jc, 3d.

Four Card Royal Flush: four cards in the same suit where one card will complete a royal flush, example=10c-Jc-Qc-Kc-7d.

Four Card Straight: four cards not in the same suit in consecutive order with both ends open. One card (6 or J) will complete a straight with 7c, 8s, 9h, 10d.

Four-Card Straight Flush: four cards in the same suit in consecutive order with both ends open. One card (6 or J) will complete a straight flush with 7c, 8c, 9c, 10c.

Full House (fh): hand containing three of a kind and a pair. Example=AAA-22.

Full-pay VP (fp): game that displays the best pay table. Example=Jacks+ 9/6.

Games/hour: 500/games/hour is an average for VP players.

VideoPoker Game Terms H - L

Hand: five cards as dealt or held constitute your hand.

High Card: refers to jack, queen, king or ace. Most VP games will return your bet for a pair of jacks or better.

Hold Button: pressed for each card you choose to hold for that particular hand.

Inside Straight: completed with one card only, example=Dealt 6, 7, 9, 10 where only the 8 can produce a winning hand. This is a good bet if completing a straight flush or royal.

Jacks or Better/Jacks+VP: 2 pair pays 2 coins or 10 coins when max. coin in play.

Joker Wild VP: 5 of a kind usually pay 1000 coins. The wild joker is required to complete this winning hand.

Kicker: fifth card held or dealt that pays additional credits with 4-of-a-kind. Example=2, 3, or 4 with four aces in Double Double bonus poker.

Kicker: holding an additional high card with a small pair. Not recommended.

Ladies: jargon for Queens

VideoPoker Game Terms M - O

Max Bet Button: pressed when you bet the maximum coins for a hand. Usually a 5-coin bet. If you choose not to play max. coin, you will not qualify for the larger jackpots.

Maximum Payout: if you bet 5 coins for each VP hand, all winning hands are paid out multiplied by a factor of five, except for the royal flush. Royals offer a higher payout of usually 4000 coins as a bonus reward for playing max coins.

Multiplay: VP slots where you can play 3, 5, 10 or up to 100 hands at one time.

9-6 or 8-5: definitions used to describe VP versions. Example=9/6 for Jacks+ is full pay while 8/5 Jacks+ describes a short/partial pay version of these strategy games.

Optimal Play: requires a combination of maximum coins in play plus strategy techniques utilized for that specific version with a full-pay VP table.

Outside Straight or Straight Flush: completed with two possible cards, example=dealt 6, 7, 8, 9 where a 10 or 5 will produce a winning hand.

Video Poker Strategy, Games Terms P

Pat Hand: winning hand is dealt with five initial cards. Whoopee, collect those credits.

Payback Percentages: % of how much a game will give back to the player in the long run given expert strategy. 9/6 Jacks+=99.5% game means that if you make expert plays, the most likely result is that you will get back $995 of every $1,000 you wager.

Payout: number of coins or credits paid for a winning hand expressed as ‘one-coin' payout. Multiply by 5 for total payout for max coin play. Example=Jacks+ full house=9 for 1 or 45 coins total.

Payout Table

posted at each VP machine. This table displays payouts for each winning hand to correspond with number of coins bet. Example=Jacks+ full house=9 for 1 coin, 18 for 2, 27 for 3, 36 for 4 and 45 for 5 max. coin bet.

Payout Table Exampleof Jacks+

Pair - Jacks or Better=returns the bet.
Two pair (2 pr)=pays 2-1
Three-of-a-kind (3/kind)=pays 3-1
Straight (st) (sequence, not same suit)=pays 4-1
Flush (fl) (non-sequential, same suit)=pays 6-1
Full house (fh) (3 of a kind and pair)=pays 9-1
Four-of-a-kind (quad)=pays 25-1
Straight flush (sf) (in seq., same suit)=pays 50-1
Royal flush (rf)=pays 250-1 - except with max. coins, pays 4000.

Penalty Card: term for card received on the initial deal that, if discarded, would decrease the odds of drawing flushes or straights. Example=keep king and queen of diamonds and discard the 2 of diamonds; the 2 is a penalty card because it is a potential piece of a diamond flush that is no longer available to you.

Pick ‘em Poker VP: pair of 9's or better=min. payout. Two cards are displayed along with 2 stacks of 3 cards with 1 card visible=total 4 cards displayed. Choose one stack of three cards to complete a 5-card hand.

Positive Expectation: VP game that returns 100%+ for optimum play over the long term. PE is also achieved when combined with cashback and/or comps.

Progressive Video Poker: offers growing jackpots dependent upon amount of monies played through the linked VP bank/carousel. When either jackpot wins, values are reset to minimums for each. Max coin play is mandatory here.

Video Poker Strategy, Games Terms Q - R

Quad: jargon for four-of-a-kind.

Rainbow: jargon for several cards of different suits.

Random: VP slots draw cards are selected at random from a single deck of 52 cards (53 for Jokers Wild). Each subsequent hand is shuffled utilizing 52 cards and dealt randomly.

Rank: in order from top poker hand down is royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair or jacks or better.

RNG/Random Number Generator: computer program for VP slots which sequences through a series of numbers that corresponds to the results of a single game.

Royal Flush: top payout for ace, king, queen, jack and ten of the same suit in any order with no wild cards. Whoopee!

Royal Flush Sequential: must be in order from left or right for those VP games offering a separate and much higher jackpot. AKQJT or TJQKA.

Royal Flush Wild: formed with wild card(s). Example=Joker royal and/or Deuces royal.

Video Poker Strategy, Games Terms S - T

Short/Partial Pay Tables: return fewer coins than a full-pay VP for certain hands. Example=8 coins for a full house rather than 9 coins for full-pay machine.

Straight (st): sequence of five cards not of the same suit. Example=4-5-6-7-8.

Straight Flush (sf): sequence of 5 cards of the same suit. Example=All clubs 4-5-6-7-8.

Strategy: learned technique/methods of playing individual hands determined by the VP paytable and version.

Video Poker Strategy Cards: hand-held printed card used to play individual hands of VP games. Recommended as wise video poker strategy.

Suit: four suits comprise a non-wild deck of 52 cards: clubs, spades, hearts and diamonds.

Super Aces VP/All Aces Online: four aces pays 2000. No kicker required. Super, indeed!

Super Double Bonus VP: Quad K, Q & J's pay 600, Aces=800.

Tens or Better VP (10+): pair of tens or better is the minimum payout for this game.

Three of a Kind (3/kind): hand with 3 cards of the same denomination. Example=AAA.

Trips: jargon for three-of-a-kind. Example=AAA.

Two Pairs (2pr): hand with two pairs. Example is AA22.

Video Poker Strategy, Games Terms V - Z

VP Tournament: promotional event where players vie for cash prizes by racking up the highest number of credits for play within a specific time.

VP: abbreviation for video poker.

Wild Card: used to complete a winning hand. Two popular VP versions are Deuces Wild=4 twos and Jokers Wild=1 wild, but there are other versions with up to 4 Jokers, although.playing 1 Joker Wild is the better video poker strategy.

Wild Royal: hand with a wild card(s) to form a royal flush. Example=Deuces or Joker.

Winning Hand: any hand where you receive credits. Example=pair of Jacks or three-of-a-kind in Deuces that return your bet.

X: symbol that designates a multiplier times payout amount for VP hands. Max. coin return is calculated at 5X single coin bet. Example: Jacks+ full house =9X5=45 coin win.

Video PokerGame Guide