Online Video Poker Bonuses & Rankings | Best Video Poker Casinos
We've compiled a list of the best video poker casinos on the web. So far we haven't found a better casino than Bovada for US players, and Bodog for the rest of the world. They provide the largest selection of games with top pay tables, they give out the best deposit bonus, and they offer the highest return game overall - Joker Poker - with a possible payout of 100.046%. That's right, that means for every perfectly played hand on this video poker machine, you have the edge over the house, albeit a small one at 0.046%. This in combination with a great bonus offer means you have a real profit making opportunity! There are other great casinos and bonus offers as well, so check out our casino rankings below which take into account the size and quality of the bonus offers and the profitability of each video poker pay table.
Why Video Poker?
Video poker is one of the few games in the casino where the players can have an edge over the house. Employing optimal strategy and playing the right game with the right pay table, players can cancel out the house edge and in many cases turn the tables to beat the house! The payout percentages in video poker games is highly variable from game to game and from casino to casino, so be sure to carefully check out the data we have collected to find out what games you should be playing at which casino.
What is Video Poker?
Video poker is essentially based on 5-Card-Draw, where players are dealt 5 cards, and decide which cards to hold and which cards to discard and swap in hopes of improving their hand. The most classic video poker game is Jacks or Better, where the lowest winning hand is a pair of Jacks. The payouts increase as you progress up the list of winning hands, from Two Pair to Royal Flush. The rank of hands is the same as in straight up poker, so the stronger your hand, the bigger the payout.
Now the fun twist to video poker is in the plethora of variations that have been invented over the years. There are the Wild games like Deuces Wild or Joker Poker, and games that pay out different amounts for the different ranks of Four-of-a-Kind like Bonus Poker and its siblings Double Bonus Poker and Double Double Bonus Poker. It's not always easy to figure out from looking at the pay tables which games are the most profitable, but we've done the statistical analysis to give you a comprehensive listing of the best paying games. We also have a separate page for Video Poker Jackpots that discusses video poker games with massive progressive jackpots. Below is a picture of a standard Jacks or Better game found on Party Gaming:
Optimal Video Poker Strategy
Our Video Poker Trainer and our Video Poker Strategy article teach you to make the most profitable decisions in video poker. Should you hold your pair of Jacks over your four to a Flush? Should you break a made Flush and go for a Royal? The Trainer can deal with all of these situations and instruct you to make the mathematically correct choice.
Part of correct strategy often involves simple steps like betting the right number of coins. Below is a pay table for Jacks or Better at Bovada Casino, which returns 99.5439% with perfect strategy:
Looking at the table, the only difference between betting one credit and five credits is the pay out on a Royal Flush. Most amateurs make the mistake of playing a $5 machine betting one credit instead of a $1 machine betting 5 credits. If all else is equal, when you are fortunate enough to hit the royal flush you will make a lot more betting 5 credits at the $1 machine.
Basic strategy involves what cards to draw after the first deal. Typically the better the pay out, the more likely you should chase your draw. If you are dealt 4 spades and one heart with a small pair, your best bet will be to chase the flush and discard the heart. Those who have played poker for some time will recognize simple math situations and should be able to act accordingly. You will have a 1 in 5 chance to draw to a flush, slightly worse for a straight. This means if you are dealt a high pair with four to a flush, it can be profitable to draw to the flush, but it would not be so to draw to the straight. In that case you should definitely hold the high pair (guaranteeing a pay out) and draw to two pair, three of a kind, full house, or four of a kind. In fact, it is normally more correct to hold your high pair than draw to a flush, because even though both actions will show a profit, over the long run holding the high pair will pay off more.