A beginner looking at the video poker games on offer at any online casino will encounter a large number of variants. He will then face the daunting task of choosing a game appropriate for a novice player. This article provides some tips that would help him make a suitable choice.
In most online casinos the video poker games are first divided into two broad categories, which are single hand games and multi-hand games. In multi-hand games a large number of hands, ranging from 4 to 100, are played simultaneously. This increases the pace significantly and also makes the play more interesting. However the wagers required increase substantially. For example in 100 hand game the wager would be 100 times that of a single hand game. Since new players would presumably not be perfect in executing video poker strategy they should avoid multi-hand games to start with. Once they have perfected their play on single hand games they can move to multi-hand video poker games.
Even in single hand games players would face over a dozen variants of video poker and would have to choose one from them. In this context it is important to note that Jacks or Better is the basic video poker game. Other variants introduce additional elements to make the game more interesting by providing variety. This is done by introducing wild cards in games like Deuces Wild or splitting normal winning combinations as in Aces and Faces. The average payout ratio for all these variants is the same and therefore this factor is taken out of the equation while making a choice. It makes sense to start with Jacks or Better for two reasons. The first is that because there are no frills the play is simpler. The second reason is that the strategy is easier to learn. Once players are proficient at this game they can start playing the other variants.
There is another choice that players may face. All online gaming software providers offer video poker games and all offer single hand Jacks or Better. The question arises whether the game offered by one software provider is better than that offered by another. As far as the rules and payouts are concerned that games are identical, at least in the case of the major software providers. However there are differences in the features that are offered. Here the beginner must know which features serve his needs best. Video poker is not an audio oriented game and therefore sound customization features are not that important. Nor are game speeds very important for new players. Some online gaming software providers offer detailed statistical analysis, which may be difficult for new players to comprehend and use. However there is one feature offered by some online gaming software providers that is very useful to new players. In this feature those dealt cards which make up paying combination are automatically marked as 'Hold'. This enables the new player to immediately discern that he has a winning hand. It is an unforgivable mistake in video poker games to break dealt winning hands. By doing so, the average payout ratio can fall drastically. Therefore this feature prevents new players from making this serious error. Hence new players should go for those online gaming software providers that offer this feature.
New players should not feel discouraged at making the simpler choices. They should realize that they are staking hard earned money, which they should not fritter away by making choices that they are not prepared for.
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Jacks or Better is undoubtedly the best variation of video poker for a beginner as the rules are so simple and easy to understand. If you're a newbie to video poker you could most definitely check out and start with Jacks or Better. The other good thing to do until you get the hang of which cards to hold vs. which to discard based on the odds of the game you should make use of the "Auto-Hold" feature that most online casinos offer within their video poker games.