When you play video poker you have the opportunity to combine the skill and strategy of a traditional poker game with the convenience of a machine that allows you to play at any time and from any location, at the betting level of your choice.
Online poker is, basically, digitalized poker where the strategies, payouts and overall experience are similar to a traditional poker game but the basic goal of the game is, as with live poker, to create the best possible poker hand from the cards that have been dealt.
The main difference between traditional live poker and online casino Las Vegas video poker is that, in video poker, you aren’t playing against other players so you don’t need to bluff or otherwise try to build a better hand than that of anyone else.
There are more variations of video poker than you’ll find in a brick-and-mortar casino room which means that you have more choices of how you want to play. Every variation has its own rules and paytable so, depending on the variation that you choose, you’ll experience different challenges and different opportunities for winning.
Most importantly, when you play online, you can play budget games, high-stakes games or games where the betting level is anywhere in between, giving you full control over your bets.
All of the variations of video poker offer an exciting blend of strategy and luck which is what makes it so popular among casino enthusiasts. Convenience, variety, and potential for rewards blend to ensure poker enthusiasts a high-quality poker adventure of fun, excitement and real money prizes.
Two of the most popular video poker variations are Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild but the Grande Vegas online casino features other kinds as well so that you can play according to your gaming preferences. Check out your options!
Jacks or Better
Jacks or Better is one of the simplest Video Poker variations. Simply, if your hand includes Jacks of better cards, you have the start of a winning hand. Beyond that first Jacks or better combination, you keep aiming to achieve the strongest possible hand but in this version of the game, you’ll receive an extra point for every pair of Jacks or better that you have in your hand.
To play, place your bet and collect five cards. Decide which cards you want to keep and discard the rest as you figure out how to build the strongest possible hand. Hand values are similar to any other poker variation with one pair (of Jacks or better) being the lowest possible hand and a Royal Flush being the highest.
The most important tip for playing Jacks or Better is, as with other poker variations, to fold early if you don’t think that you have a realistic chance of achieving a good hand, instead of staying in the game and adding more wagers onto your opening bet.
Deuces Wild
A lot of poker players like to play Deuces Wild because, in fact, anything can happen when a card that shows up one time in 52 becomes a wild card.
To play, make your first bet and then press “Deal”. You’ll receive five cards and can then choose which cards to hold and which cards to discard. Press “Deal” again and you’ll be able to receive new cards from the reshuffled deck in place of those cards that you discarded. Obviously, you should hold any deuce or any pair. Since you are playing with one 52-card deck you won’t receive multiple cards of the same suit or denomination.
The hand rankings in Deuces Wild Poker differ slightly from a regular poker hand because the deuces act as a Wild, substituting for whichever card you need to create a stronger hand. Every game has two rounds and in each round you can hold some cards and substitute some cards. After the second “showdown” round, there are no further cards dealt and your hand will be evaluated
There are two rounds of each game of deuces wild. In both rounds you can choose to hold some cards after which new cards are dealt for those you did not hold. The second round is also called “showdown” round after which no further cards will be dealt.
The strength of your hand will then be decided on and you will receive winnings accordingly. Hand rankings are similar to a traditional poker game but the deuce can complete pairs, three-of-a-kind hands, straights, flushes, full houses and all other combinations.
Joker Poker
In Joker Poker, the game is played with a traditional 52-card deck plus a joker card. The joker is wild and substitutes for any other card to create a poker hand. When you play Joker Poker you can play several hands at once.
The game is played with 5 cards and you discard any cards that you don’t want to keep and replace them. A joker will substitute for any other card to help you build a stronger hand. There’s a specific poker strategy for Joker Poker so if that’s the game that you want to play, check out the Joker Poker strategy before you start playing.
Playing your favorite poker variation at Grande Vegas allows you to apply all casino bonuses to your game so you can play more real money poker for more time for free!
