Unlike standard casino slots where outcomes rely entirely on chance, video poker bridges the gap between pure luck and mathematical strategy. Because video poker uses a certified 52-card deck with fixed combination probabilities, every decision you make - from holding a low pair to breaking a flush draw - directly impacts your long-term payout percentage. Grande Vegas players can read the Grande Vegas Casino guide to learn how to play with optimal strategy and achieve some of the highest Return-to-Player (RTP) figures in the entire casino.
Specific poker variations, played with Grande Vegas online casino Basic Poker Strategy, can get you to a 99.5% RTP and virtually eliminate the house edge. Read on to learn more about the most effective real money video poker strategy. Learn more about how even subtle decision mistakes on held cards can quickly erode your expected value which hand over a significant statistical advantage back to the house.
By mastering the math behind hand selection and paytable evaluation, finding full-pay machines and eliminating costly holding errors you'll protect your bankroll and have the resources to achieve the highest possible poker results.
Basic Poker Strategy
Poker strategy is built on the idea that if a poker player makes mathematically sound decisions s/he will gain a long-term statistical advantage. While psychological elements like reading opponents and bluffing are important in live poker competitions, those elements are absent when you're playing video poker.
In video poker, it's all about the math - you need to be sure that all of your plays give you the positional advantage, are based on disciplined decision-making, are calculated according to the odds and combine with aggressive betting.
Advanced players move on to a more complicated Basic Poker Strategy but even if you're a beginner, you can use Basic Strategy to your advantage. Poker advisors suggest that beginning poker players stick to the main rules of poker strategy, including:
- Never break a winning hand EXCEPT for 4 to a Royal Flush. If you hold a completed Flush or Straight, keep all 5 cards. The only exception is if holding 4 of those cards gives you 4 to a Royal Flush.
- Never hold a high card with a Low Pair. The high card decreases your odds of drawing Three of a Kind or Full House.
- Never hold 4 cards to an Inside Straight. Discard all cards unless you hold a High Card ($J, Q, K, A$).
- A pair of 2s is mathematically more valuable to hold than a single Ace or King because it is already a guaranteed base for Three of a Kind, Full House, or Four of a Kind.
Full-Pay Vs. Short-Pay Poker Pay Tables
In video poker, the physical deck and probabilities never change, but the casino controls its house edge by modifying the paytable payouts for specific hands, notably the Full House and Flush. If you understand the distinction between a full-pay table and a short-pay table you'll have mastered an important factor in determining your expected return.
A full-pay paytable offers the highest theoretical Return-to-Player (RTP) established for a given game variant (i.e. 99.54% for Jacks or Better). Knowledgeable players look for full paytable poker games.
Short pay tables deliver reduced payouts on frequently occurring hands by 1 or 2 credits per coin wagered. This increases the house edge significantly over time without altering the visual appearance of the gameplay.
You might think that dropping a payout from 6 to 5 on a Flush is insignificant because Flushes do not occur in every hand. However, flushes do occur approximately 1.1% of the time and Full Houses occur roughly 1.15% of the time so together, they make up over 2.25% of all final hands. That means that 5 full credits are not paid out every time the hand hits. Statistically, a 8/5 short-pay machine drains your bankroll nearly six times faster than a 9/6 full-pay machine.
In addition to Jacks or Better, full pay paytables at the Grande Vegas online casino include Deuces Wild Poker (99.73% – 100.76% RTP), Double Bonus Poker (100.17% RTP) and Double Double Bonus Poker (95.98% RTP). The maximum RTPs can be reached only by playing with exact Basic Poker Strategy.
Double Bonus Poker
When you play Double Bonus Poker your goal is to achieve a winning poker hand according to standard poker rules. There are special payouts for different types of four-of-a-kind hands including for four 2s, 3s, 4s or Aces. Four 5s through Kings double the payout. There is a Double or Nothing bonus round that you can enter to double your winnings where you choose a card that is higher than the dealer's card. Cards are ranked according to standard rankings from 2 to Ace.
Jacks or Better Poker
Jacks or Better poker challenges you to achieve a winning poker hand using the traditional 5-card draw rules with one crucial distinction - the lowest winning combination that yields a payout is a pair of Jacks or higher. The Grande Vegas Jacks or Better variation features the popular Double or Nothing bonus round where you choose a card and if that card is higher than the dealer's card, you double your winning payout.
Double Double Bonus Poker
If the Double Bonus Poker payouts weren't high enough, you can try Double Double Bonus Poker where the double payouts are doubled! In this game, there are special payouts for various four-of-a-kind hands and you can even double that in the Double or Nothing round, where you choose a card – if that card is higher than the dealer's hand, your entire payout doubles.