Unlike many other casino games where players must rely on pure chance, in video poker you can use skill to beat the house. With a low house edge, and the availability of a pay table, online video poker offers players a great opportunity to win real money.
On this page, you’ll find:
With so many real money casinos available to players, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the choice and you can end up choosing a site that doesn't offer a good, safe gambling experience.
Listed below are some of the worst blacklisted casinos online. Players are advised to avoid the following casinos:
| CASINO | RATING | Our Verdict | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
2.00 |
Blu Casino offers very little for video poker fans, as the odds of winning are very low. What’s more, payouts take a long time, and sometimes don’t even happen at all. |
|
 |
1.5 |
Captain Jack Casino has been the subject of many complaints, ranging from issues with the banking processes, through to questions about the fairness of the games. |
At CardsChat.com, we will only ever recommend the best of the best the online casinos that offer everything you need, plus a little bit more. This is why our online casino reviews are so popular with players of real money games.
We have a strict criteria to stick to when reviewing online casinos, to ensure that every review is always comprehensive and fair. The main aspects we look at when reviewing a site are detailed below.
Every casino we recommend uses SSL encryption and has a license from a top regulatory organization. We also expect tried and tested random number generators to be used.
Our top online casinos offer a variety of casino games, including a fantastic selection of video poker titles. Every video poker game should be available for real money play, as well as free play.
We always look out for sites that offer a great range of casino bonuses to all players. This includes a large welcome bonus, as well as various bonuses designed for existing players. All bonuses should be fair with reasonable wagering requirements.
Loyalty schemes should be offered by every good site, in order to reward those who play video poker and other games regularly. It’s also good to see a VIP scheme thrown in as well.
It’s vital that a site offers a varied selection of different deposit and withdrawal options. What’s more, transaction times should be fast and there should be no fees charged by the casino. Minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts should also be low.
To test how good the customer support is of online casinos, we’ll send messages via live chat, call them and send challenging emails, to ensure users are receiving quality customer service.
There are many different versions of video poker available at the top online casinos.
We’ve listed five of the very best below.
This is the most basic form of video poker. There are no wild cards or other quirky rules; instead you simply need to make a hand consisting of a pair of jacks or better. You’ll have one chance to swap your cards and the game is played with a standard deck of 52 cards.
Play nowPlayers need to only get a pair of tens or better in order to win a prize. There is a trade-off as the increased chances of winning are balanced by the game offering slightly lower odds. A standard deck of 52 cards is used and there is only one chance to swap cards.
Play nowIn this game, all twos (otherwise known as deuces) are classed as wild cards. This means that they can replace any other card to form a winning combination. Due to the wild cards, there’s more chance of getting a good hand, however you’ll have to get three of a kind or higher to win a prize.
Play nowThe title of this game comes from the fact that there are enhanced payouts for four of a kind hands, but only when they are made from aces or faces (jacks, queens and kings). As with the standard version of the game, the lowest hand eligible for a payout is a pair of jacks.
Play nowThis is a version of video poker with 53 cards - the extra card is a joker. The joker plays a simple role, it can substitute for any other card and help create a winning hand. To even the odds out a bit, you’ll have to get a pair of kings or higher in order to win a prize.
Play nowBased on Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker offers large payouts for four of a kind combinations. The full-pay version of Bonus Poker returns 99.2% and the game has multiple versions featuring different bonus payouts based on the ranking of the four of a kind.
Play nowThe biggest advantage of video poker is the low house edge compared to other casino games, and the possibility of finding video poker variations with a payout percentage of 100% or more.
You can find the best video poker games by looking at the pay out table. No other casino game has this feature, giving the player a distinct advantage before playing.
The pay table lists the payouts for every coin and hand combination on a specific machine.
In comparison to slots, where there’s no accurate way of determining a slot machine’s payback percentage, by reading video poker pay tables you can figure out hold percentage, return on investment, expected value and more.
Can’t decide between playing real money video poker games or free video poker games? Use our comparison table below to help you decide what’s best for you.
Choose how much money you want to bet.
You'll then be dealt five cards.
Decide which cards to keep and which cards to swap for new ones.
If you're unsure, the game will always suggest your best possible option.
Once cards have been swapped, you’ll have your final hand.
If you have a qualifying hand, you'll win a cash prize.
Learn how to play video poker in this comprehensive guide.
Freerolls allow you to play real money video poker games online for free. You can enter a game at no cost and keep any winnings.
Loyalty bonuses are given to players who regularly play online video poker at the same video poker sites. Often called a ‘VIP bonus’, loyalty bonuses can be quite large.
A deposit bonus is based on your first deposit at a video poker site. Normally set as a fixed percentage, most of the time you get 100% of your first deposit.
A no deposit bonus means you don’t need to deposit any of your own money to receive the offered bonus.
With a percentage bonus, the video poker site gives you a percentage of your deposit as additional bonus money to play with.
If you refer a friend to some video poker sites, you’ll both be given access to bonus codes or other exclusive promotions.
Some video poker sites will offer you extra bonuses if you make frequent deposits.
Also called a ‘new customer bonus’, a welcome bonus is awarded to new players directly after their first registration.
Read the bonus terms and conditions and make sure you understand the wagering requirements.
Wagering requirements mean the amount of money that you need to wager in the game before you can withdraw any winnings. For example, if you receive a 100% bonus on a deposit of $100 but the wagering requirements are 35 times, then you have to wager a total of $3,500 before you can claim any winnings.
If you cannot or do not want to use the maximum bonus, you can deposit a smaller amount and play with a smaller but still worthwhile bonus.
There is no direct answer to how to win at video poker, and certainly no guarantee that you’ll ever see a short-term or long-term profit.
However, there are some steps you can take to give yourself the best edge possible.
Unlike regular online poker and other casino games, video poker is played against a computer, rather than against a real life dealer or opponent.
As a result, the video poker strategy you choose can be relied upon without the need to make adjustments for human instinct, emotion or error.
For the same reason however, guessing or gambling without a strategy is something you want to totally avoid.
Here are four tips to winning at Video Poker:
Your first move should be choosing the right pay table. The house ‘edge’ on video poker is between 5% and 0.5% - so make sure you’re choosing the game with the lowest house edge possible. From there, an effective strategy can reduce the edge even further.
Play with maximum coins to make the most of your potential winnings. Jacks or Better Video Poker machines offer a top payout for a royal flush. So playing with maximum coins gives you the chance to get a bonus win when you hit a royal flush.
If you’re dealt a pair, even if its low scoring, keep it. Don’t run the risk of having nothing at the showdown because you discarded a low pair to chase a potentially better hand. Choose low pairs over a single hand card every time.
If you have a big chance of getting a royal flush (the jackpot), break up a straight or flush and go for it. However, if you’re still a few cards away, stick with what you’ve got and hope for the best.
Find the video poker site that suits you
Click through to the video poker site and register as a new player
Provide details such as name, address and age
Avail of the offered bonus code
Confirm your account via email.
Your account is now open and your bonus is normally applied instantly. So, get playing!
Video poker is very similar to five-card poker, with two main differences. Firstly, you only play against the computer, and secondly, you can’t lose more than your initial bet.
The object of the game is to make the best poker hand possible out of the five cards you are dealt. You can discard one or more cards in exchange for others if you wish.
The machine will then pay out for the value of the hand, which is posted on the pay table.
We’ve reviewed many of the world’s top online video poker casinos, offering our opinion on everything from the bonuses through to the selection of games. Just look through our shortlist further up this page to see the video poker sites we recommend.
There are two main differences between video poker and slots. Firstly, video poker is a game of skill, whereas slots is purely a game of luck. Secondly, all video poker games will show you their pay tables – meaning you know exactly what the RTP value is.
You’ll find that every online casino we recommend gives you the chance to play free video poker, (most will require you to create an account before you can do so.) We would recommend playing for free to get your bearings, and then move on to real money games once you’ve learned the rules.
It means two things. Firstly, it’s the name of the original version of video poker. It also means that the lowest hand leading to a cash payout is a pair of jacks or higher. The majority of video poker games have the jacks or better rule, but some will have a higher threshold for prizes, so check the rules before you play.
When playing video poker, there’s no need to worry about strategy too much. This is because the game will give you suggestions, and these suggestions always match the best possible decision you can make from a statistical point of view. So, follow the suggestions to give yourself the best chance of winning.
Yes, you certainly can. In fact, some versions of video poker have RTPs of over 100%, meaning that perfect play over a prolonged period should lead to a profit. The most that can be won in a single hand is often in excess of 4,000:1, meaning you could win thousands from a single $1 bet!
When you play at one of our recommended casinos you can be sure that the games aren’t rigged. This is because our recommended sites have strong oversight from a respected regulatory body and all games will use a random number generator that has been confirmed as fair by an independent organization.
