Best Canadian Video Poker Casinos

How we rate the best video poker sites

Video poker is one of the most amazing types of poker played on a machine. You can be sure: we patiently select and estimate those online video poker casinos which have the best site’s reputation, safety and modern banking practices. Only casinos with outstanding ratings in each category enter our list of recommended places to play.

Video Poker Rules

While spending time in the casino, you will definitely encounter a very tempting and captivating game of video poker. Although it is occasionally confused with slot machines, in practice they are completely different things. Not only does video poker offer one of the lowest house edges, but there is also the option to make your own decisions, allowing you to partially take control of the action. 

Nevertheless, in order for these decisions to benefit you, it is extremely important to be aware of the video poker rules. This is precisely what we should start with. 

Video Poker Rules Overview

It should be noted that video poker also has certain varieties with its own characteristics, but their basis remains invariable:

• The hand is played according to standard table poker hands.
• At the beginning of the game, the player receives five starting cards.
• Then two options are available to keep or discard some or all of your cards.
• In case of discarding your selected cards, they are automatically replaced in the process of one random draw.
• The main task is to collect the strongest possible poker hand from the cards provided. The higher your combination by rank, the bigger prize you get in the final.

The Process of Playing Video Poker

The way the game is played depends on its type. Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Joker’s Wild are the most prominent types of video poker, so let’s take the first one as an example to see how everything works point by point.

In Jacks or Better, the minimum hand to receive a payout is a pair of jacks, and all lower pairings do not pay. If you are lucky enough to get a stronger hand, you will be the lucky winner of a prize, the value of which is calculated according to the payout table.

The payout table for Jacks or Better is presented as follows:

• Royal Flush – 250x (with bonuses 4000x and more at the maximum credits bet)
• Straight flush – 50x
• Four of a kind – 25x
• Full house – from 6x to 9x
• Flush – 5x or 6x
• Street – 4x
• Three identical cards – 3x
• Two pairs – 2x
• Pair of jacks or better – 1x

Payouts may vary in other types of video poker, but not very significantly. By roughly understanding the value of combinations, it will be much easier for you to join the gameplay. So before you start your gaming adventure, learn the video poker rules as best you can. 

How to Play Video Poker

Video poker is a fairly widespread variation of poker with five cards and clearly set bets. It is easy to get experience of this game either in online casinos or on gaming devices similar to slot machines in land-based establishments. Actually, when it comes to the process, many newbies would like to learn how to play video poker. And here we come to the rescue by providing you with all the essential information, which is set out below.

Guide to Playing Video Poker

At the beginning of something new, you often want the whole path to be divided into specific stages. That is why we offer a step-by-step overview of playing video poker for fun:

• Top up your balance in the video poker slot machine;
• Determine and place your bet;
• Draw a combination to form a starting hand of five cards;
• Discard up to 5 cards that prevent you from making a great hand;
• You can get new cards from the so-called “virtual deck”;
• If you win, you are awarded according to the payout table.

How to Win at Video Poker 

One of the ever-popular questions concerns how to become a video poker winner and get the much coveted prize. There are many tips, but not all of them are really effective. Having dealt with all the available options, we bring to your attention 2 methods that really have proven improvements:

1. Play only those types of video poker where there is the highest percentage of RTP (return to player). This indicator shows the percentage of the total amount of bets that the casino returns in the form of winnings. The higher this indicator, the higher your chances of winning. 
2. Calculate each hand mathematically. To do this, you need to study and analyze the payout table in detail, as well as identify the probability of making a certain combination. 

Besides, after learning the basic rules of video poker, pay attention to the different types of this game: Jacks or better, Deuces wild, Bonus poker, Double bonus. All of them have their own special distinct points that can potentially yield you benefits and good rewards.

Finally, as you can see, it’s very simple to play video poker as it doesn’t require a lot of your time or effort. Learn the rules, choose the type and see how it works. Fantastic emotions are guaranteed, and with luck on your shoulder, the winnings will also be yours. 

Video poker tips and strategy

We should also realize the differences between video poker shown in the films or on TV and video poker in real life. Video poker is played against a casino, and it is more like slot machines than table poker. However, both types of poker use strategy, and it is definitely worth learning. So, let’s discuss some useful tips and strategies for playing video poker.

First of all, we will pass to the pay table where you can see the points that you will earn if your selected cards match a certain type of poker hand. Its principle is following: the higher the rank of the cards that are in your hand, the higher the score.

Secondly, let’s discuss the hold cards. After the cards have been dealt, you can choose whether to replace all or some of your cards. Simply click the “Hold” button above each card you want to keep in your hand. The rest will be redrawn. Once you’ve decided which cards to keep, click the “Select” button to see your final card selection and see if you’ve achieved a big success!

There are the basics of the game, after learning it you can take your game to a new level by practicing more advanced strategies. Look for the most profitable game in every possible situation by studying the video poker strategy tables for the game you are playing. Your bankroll will be built in a very nice way.

Video Poker Odds

It turned out that video poker is less popular than, for instance, slots, and many gambling enthusiasts consider it absolutely unjustified. The fact is that video poker offers more favorable conditions for the game, often higher payouts and the best video poker odds. Today we’ll explore how realistic it is to win in video poker and how to achieve it without any extra effort. 

Video Poker Betting Odds

The first thing that should be clarified about this game is that the process is completely random thanks to RNG (Random Number Generator). It is this mechanism that ensures honesty and no predictability of the result. 

Needless to say, when talking about video poker odds, it is impossible to ignore the odds and probabilities they offer. This indicator is mandatory to take into account, because this is how you can numerically understand how likely a particular combination is to fall out. 

In basic 52-card video poker, the odds are the following:

Initial Deal Odds

Hitting a royal flush – 1 in 649,740

Straight flush – 1 to 72,193

Quad – 1 to 4,165

Full house – 1 to 694 hands

Flush –  509 to 1

Straight – 255 to 1

Three of a kind – 47 to 1

Two pairs – 21 to 1

Pair J,Q,K or A – 7.69 to 1

Any pair (from two to ten) –  2.37 to 1.

The Draw

The odds can vary significantly depending on which cards the player decides to keep and which to discard. Let’s say, in a situation where a player has 4 cards for a royal flush and only 1 card is missing, the odds are 47 to 1. The probability that you will be able to form a four of a kind is 24 to 1, and a full house is 16 to 1. Each move in the game can change the flow of the game quite radically, so it is impossible to determine a stable indicator of chances here, because there are too many options. 

Return to Player 

What should you pay attention to when choosing a video poker machine or online game? Undoubtedly, the payout percentage, also called Return to Player (RTP). This concept describes the percentage of the money wagered during the game that is returned to the players as winnings. As an illustrative example, let’s analyze RTP Jacks or the Better video poker game – 99.54%. This means that after spending $100, the player receives $99.54 as a prize. Therefore, the return to the player should be sought as high as possible. 

Counting in the opposite direction, we can easily determine the advantage of the house – in the case of Jacks or the Better, this figure is 0.46%, which is considered a quite low indicator. 

To put it in a nutshell, if your goal is to win as fast as possible, then you should look for those types of video poker that offer a high RTP percentage and, on the contrary, a low casino advantage ratio. Also equally important is a detailed analysis of the payout table, which will allow you to understand what amount will be available to you with a specific combination collected. 

Popular video poker varieties

Video poker games are distinguished in a variety of types, styles, with different pay tables and game features. Each game has its own rules and payout structure, and some even have special jackpots.

Jacks or Better

It’s a complex thing but we will dive into the world of video poker games. And our first stop is Jacks or Better. Obviously, it’s one of the best-known and most common variations which is often chosen by new players because of relatively low risk. The lowest paid hand here is a pair of Jacks, and the name of the game comes from this combination. It’s a low risk game, it means you will win or lose less than in other games. But it’s possible to have the biggest payout when you make the maximum bets and you manage to collect the flush royale.

Double Bonus

The next types are Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus Poker which are more dynamic versions of Jacks of Better. Here you should know the following things: the lowest winning hand is a pair of Jacks with a payout of 1 to 1, two pairs are also paid 1 to 1 instead of 2 to 1, as in Jacks or Better, the double bonus has big fluctuations since small hands pay less and large hands pay more compared to Jacks or Better.

Deuces Wild

The last but not least type is Deuces Wild. It’s an even more exciting type of video poker because it has wild cards. The fascinating part is that all four twos serve as Wild Cards. It can be used by the player to complete a winning hand by replacing the dealt cards with a Deuce. In this type big hands occur more often, but payouts are smaller because of jokers. Here you can also deal with progressive jackpots which turn a small portion of each bet into a special prize that increases until it is won. Progressive jackpot slots will give you less frequent wins, but potentially big wins if you seize luck. A progressive jackpot can be attached to any of the above named styles of video poker.