Main Principle of Video Poker Strategy

First of all, for the faultless game you have to learn how to play all the combinations

There are two possibilities for every of 5 cards: keep or drop. So, the whole number of the variations is 2*2*2*2*2=32. From these 32 variants you need to choose the one, which, at an average, brings you the maximum prize. Moreover, it should be noted, that this variant depends on the payment of the combination, as in different tables, the payment of the same combination may be varied! So every combination is characterized by its prize – the expected prize of the best exchange.

How many different combinations can be dropped in the video poker game?

When the deck contains no jokers, the first card is chosen from 52 cards, the second one from 51, the third from 50 and so on. So the number of the combinations is 52*51*50*49*48 = 311 875 200! But if you take into account the fact, that the order of the appearance of the cards is not important (that is 10,J,Q,K,A is the same as A,K,Q,J,10), this number can be reduced in 120 times, and so we get 2 598 960 combinations.

Also the succession of the appearance of the cards, whether it is 2,3,8,A,10 of hearts or 2,3,8,A,10 of spades is not important for us. And this condition allows us to cut down the number to 134 459. So to calculate the expected prize you need to find the average winning from all the 134 459 combinations. All the best variants of exchanging the cards of these combinations are grouped in the rules of exchange; therefore, it is possible to create the optimal strategy of the playing, which is characterized by its expected winning result.

Let’s now review the variations of video poker in details. All the given calculation below was made by the program Video Poker Calculator. Using this program you can receive the detailed information and also count the main rates for other games which are not indicated on this list.