In no particular order, here’re our top tips on how to get the most cash out of a VP machine!
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- Look for the best payouts for a full-house and a flush. For instance you might see a Jacks or Better 9/6 machine and a Jacks or Better 8/5 machine. The first number shows the payout for Full House, the second number shows the payout for a Flush. The 9/6 machine is better.
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- Look out for these machines – they offer the best potential payout over time:
- full-pay Deuces Wild – 100.8%
- 10/7 Double Bonus – 100.2%
- 9/6 Jacks or Better – 99.5%.
- Look out for these machines – they offer the best potential payout over time:
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- Don’t play any games that don’t at least return your bet for a pair of jacks or better.
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- Look at the Royal Flush payout. Aim for those that pay out at least 4,000 coins for a Royal Flush when the maximum 5 coins are wagered.
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- Decide whether your main priority is a big jackpot or better lower level payouts. In general games with really huge jackpots, or additional mini-jackpots (eg for 4 deuces on a deuces wild machine) mean that the payouts on the lesser hands are significantly reduced. There has to be a trade-off somewhere. It’s up to you to decide where your priorities lie.
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- Always play the maximum coins. This entitles you to the big jackpot payout if you land a Royal Flush.
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- If the denominations on a machine are too high for you to play the maximum coins, move to a machine where they are lower.
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- Learn the ranking of poker hands. The higher the ranking, the higher the payout. See the video poker hand rankings here!
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- Play the right card strategy. You have to play the correct strategy for the game to make the most of the payout schedule. Easier said than done? Luckily we’ve got all the strategies here for you!!
Bear in mind that these strategies will not guarantee you a win, but they will maximise your chances.
- Play the right card strategy. You have to play the correct strategy for the game to make the most of the payout schedule. Easier said than done? Luckily we’ve got all the strategies here for you!!
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- Never discard a winning hand. Some games may help you by telling you when you have a winning hand from the deal.
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- Take your time and evaluate your hand carefully. Combinations like pairs and 3-of-a-kind are easy to spot, but be careful with straights and straight flushes as these winning hands may not be so easy to spot. Remember that a run is still a run even if the cards appear in a different order.
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- Double check you’ve got the right cards held before you click ‘deal’ again. By clicking a second time on the ‘Hold’ button you cancel out your selection. It’s easy to do this accidentally. Also, take care to hold all of your cards if you get a pat hand on the first deal. Don’t get carried away with the excitement and jump straight at the ‘play’ button. It happens!
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- Practise on free-play games. Get used to whatever game you are going to play first. We’ve got a selection of FREE video poker games here that you can play.
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- Specialise in one type of machine Learn one game at a time really well. Become an expert in the best strategies for your chosen game before moving on to try a different one.
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- Start with Jacks or Better games It’s the easiest, so learn to play this one first before tackling any of the others. You will probably move on to joker wild next because of the high payback rates.
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- Keep at it You might need to play an awful lot of games before you win really big. Learning to play quickly will help. You’ll speed up as you get more familiar with the basic strategy.
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- It’s not worth playing any ‘second chance’ draw you are offered. Don’t bother with second chance machines.
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- Get out of your live poker habits – there is no point in holding kickers, bluffing or hiding cards from a machine! For instance, many live poker players have a habit of holding ‘kickers’ as part of their game. A kicker is usually a high valued card such as an ace that is held rather than discarded even if holding it does not improve the hand. In video poker such a strategy is actually counterproductive and reduces the chances of improving your hand in the second draw. Don’t do it.
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- Make sure you’ve got enough of a bankroll if you want to play for a big one Statistically you’ll need to play around 40,000 games to hit a jackpot. This means that on a 25c machine you’d need a bank roll of at least $1000. This would give you around 60% chance of success.
- Play at a casino with a good ‘comps’ program. These are money-back bonuses for wagers placed. The cash you get back via this will supplement your bankroll.