That's good news for casinos, who are raking in the profits from these machines, but it is not necessarily good news for most players who seem at a loss to know how to win. You see there is a snake in this new machine Eden, every bit as cunning as the snake that brought down Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In fact, the sheer variety of machines that you can play is simultaneously the charm and the danger of video poker.
Unlike slot machines, a knowledgeable player can get an edge on certain video poker machines or cut the house edge to a bare minimum on others. That sounds good in theory but it's much tougher to do in practice. The first problem appears when trying to figure which machines are which. Is the Jacks-or-Better draw poker machine over here the same as the Jacks-or-Better draw poker machine over there? Maybe. Maybe not.
How can you tell? You have to read the face of the machine. Certain payouts inform us that the machine is a full-pay, close-to-full-pay, or negative payback and by how much. For example, on the archetypal Jacks-or-Better draw poker machine, players know to look for machines that pay 4,000 or more coins on the royal flush when playing full coin, while paying 9 coins on the full house, and 6 coins on the flush on the single coin line. These machines are traditionally classified as "full-pay" 9/6 machines (even though the casino will have a slight edge on them).
However, you could find yourself looking at a machine that looks exactly like a "full-pay" Jacks-or-Better but not notice that the full-house line has been changed from 9 coins to 8 coins and, perhaps, the flush line has been altered and is now paying only 5 and not 6 coins. Suddenly a game that was almost even between the player and the casino will be giving the casino a nice big edge.
The second problem comes in when trying to figure out how to play this or that machine. Beatable machines are only beatable if you know the right strategies to employ. If you don't, you could be giving the casinos hefty edges over you on machines that are labeled "full-pay." Now here's the snake: just about every machine has its own distinct strategy to employ to get the best return. Make no mistake about this: video poker is a game where skill in the long run prevails over luck. But how is it possible to know every machine and every strategy for every machine? For most of us it isn't possible. Unless we have a memory like a computer, there's just too much to know.
The world of online poker has drawn those who are compelled by the online poker competition and the ...
Betfair announced in a Wednesday press release that it has opened its online client to the Russian p...
A new Reality television series is being introduced by the Emmy award winning American talk show hos...
Online poker rooms are employing new tactics to differentiate their sites from others and to individ...
The growing competition of online gambling adds growing pressure to online casinos to search, test a...
Titan Poker is pleased to announce, that with that with the help of the World's leading Poker Forum,...
TexasHoldem.com is the best destination for avid poker players. The online poker site has a complete...
Titan Poker new team is joined by the top twelve skilled players from, Europe and Canada who will re...
GamblingPlanet.org denies that the online gambling industry was experiencing hard times, despite iPo...
Smashing the Guinness world record for the largest online poker tournament is the world's largest on...
In the future there will be only five major online poker sites due to industry, according to Jim Rya...
Today's online poker offers a competitive environment whereby sites have to constantly come up with ...
Phil Hellmuth and Cereus- the new software platforms for online Absolute Poker and UltimateBet.com...
Lucky Ace Poker's Rake Race has been extended until January 31t. The idea is to accumulate as much r...
Online Poker News - news
from the world of
Online Poker RSS Feed.
The OPN directory is currently in development and will be available soon. If you are interested in adding a link, just click on the “Add Link” button. Thanks for your patience.
EXLUSIVE coupon for new players!!! get 150% Bonus up to $500 using the coupon code "LOGIC500", PLUS ...
100% match bonus at Titan Poker absolutely FREE!!! Deposit up to $500 now at Titan poker and you wil...
Had enough practice? Are you ready for Real money action? LuckyAcePoker.com will help get you on th...
Recommended Poker Books
You do not need prior permission to link to any of the pages on this site. Limited copyright is granted for you to use and/or republish any of the articles on this site for any legitimate media purpose as long as you reference OPN as the source, and include a link referring the reader to the OPN site.