Unlike most casino games, video poker outcomes are heavily influenced by a player's skill and understanding of the game. The element of luck certainly factors into video poker, but a skilled player can actually end up beating the House if they play the game correctly. In fact, there are plenty of people out there who make a good living by playing video poker. Of course it takes lots of practice to make it to this point and there's no better way to get this practice than by playing free video poker at an online casino.
Free Video Poker StrategyEven if a person is just playing video poker for fun, they can still use strategy for it. And if a person ever plans on playing the game for real money then they will definitely want to practice strategy in free video poker. The number one strategy a player should focus on is trying to hit big money hands like the royal flush and the straight flush. The royal flush provides the best payout in real money and free video poker games while straight flushes also provide a nice return.
To accomplish this, you need to sacrifice smaller hands in order to go for the bigger ones. For example, a pair of jacks could earn you back the original wager, but it's not worth keeping if one of the jacks prevents you from a royal flush chance. A good rule of thumb is to get rid of anything below a flush if you're at least three cards to a royal flush. On the other hand, you will need to hit plenty of flushes and straights along the way to minimize losses while going for the jackpot. And you should never break up a four of a kind or straight flush since these are very valuable hands.
Video Poker DifferencesThere are various types of free video poker machines out there and each one will present players with a different set of rules. The two major video poker machine categories are Deuces Wild and Jacks or Better. The differences between the two machines are that Jacks or Better machines make payouts for a pair of jacks (or better) while Deuces Wild machines require people to have a three of a kind. But Deuces Wild also allows a person to use any 2 in their hand to make a better hand. Both machines are very fun to play on and will help people become much better video poker players.
