The Video Poker Dictionary
A dictionary of video poker terms,
terminology and lingo
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Aces and Eights Video Poker
A video poker game where four aces
or eights and four sevens receive a bonus payout. |
Aces and Faces Video Poker
A video poker game where four aces
or four face cards of the same rank receive a bonus payout. |
Aces with a Kicker
A term used on double double bonus video
poker games where four aces with a two (deuce), three
or four has a higher payout than four aces with any other
card. See also Kicker |
All American Video Poker
Has a higher payout for a Straight
Flush than regular Jacks or
Better Video Poker. |
Average Payback
Also called Expected Return, Expected Value or EV. For a given
hand, the average amount you win if you play that hand millions
of times. For example, if a Royal Flush pays $4,000 and one card is drawn to a Four Card Royal
Flush, your average payback is about $100. Average Payback
is very important as for any hand that you can play more than
one way, you should always use the play with the highest Average
Payback. |
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Bet Max
See Maximum Credits |
Bonus Deuces Wild Video Poker
A bonus video poker game where the deuces (dueces) are wild cards creating additional
bonus payouts from regular Deuces Wild
Video Poker such as four deuces and an ace, five three,
fours or fives and five sixes through kings. |
Bonus Video Poker
Many Video Poker machines have
larger payouts for bonus hands. A typical example is a larger
payout for Four Aces. Of course, there will be a smaller payout
for some smaller hands to compensate. A common example is
a smaller payout for two pairs. Double
Bonus Video Poker, Double Jackpot
Video Poker and Double
Double Bonus Video Poker and Double
Double Jackpot Video Poker are typical bonus video
poker games. |
Bonus Video Poker Deluxe
A Jacks or Better type game
featuring a higher payout for four of a kind. |
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Cash Out
Each Video Poker machine has a
Cash Out button that drops the accumulated credits into the
player's tray. |
Complete Hand
A hand that is defined by all five card available combinations.
A straight, flush, full house, four
of a kind, and a straight flush |
Comps
Short for Compensation, comps are rewards that a casino pays
you for playing. The casino tracks your play, usually with
a plastic member card, and rewards you accordingly, providing
you ask for your rewards. They include cash back, free meals,
and free rooms. In online casinos comp point are usually in
the form of additional cash value credits to your account. |
Credits
The Video Poker Machine keeps track
of the coins deposited and accumulated as winnings. These
are shown on the credit meter. For example, if you deposit
$10 in a 25 cent machine, you will receive 40 credits. |
Cycle
The mathematical probability of getting any paying hand over
a period of time. For example, a Royal
Flush in Jacks or Better 9/6 full pay should occur once every 40,390.55 hands.Remembering
that the games are random, it is possible to achieve no royals
in one cycle and two on the next. The Poisson Distribution
tells us that there is only a 63.2% probability of at least
one royal flush in one cycle, but
this is balanced by the chances of two or more royals in one
cycle. |
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Denomination
The denomination of each card in the deck is its number from
two (deuce) through ten, or is Jack, Queen, King or Ace. |
Deuces
Deuces are the two denomination in a deck of cards. Often
mispelled as dueces |
Deuces Deluxe Video Poker
features bonus payouts for four deuces (dueces), natural straight
flush, royal flush with a deuce,
five of a kind, wild straight flush and a wild four of a kind. |
Deuces Wild Video Poker
A Video Poker Game where deuces
(dueces) are wild cards,
a wild card being a card that can take the place of any other
denomination in the deck. Bonus payouts for four deuces, a
deuces royal and five of a kind (any four of a kind with a
deuce). See also Bonus Deuces Wild
Video Poker and dueces. |
Deuces and Jokers Wild Video Poker
A Video Poker Game where deuces (dueces) and jokers are wild
cards and typically the payout for 5 wild
cards is greater than that for a Royal
Flush. |
Discard Buttons
Under the display on the video poker
machine are five buttons, one for each card. You press
these buttons to indicate which cards you want to hold and
which you want to discard. |
Double Bonus Video Poker
Has bonus payouts typically for 4 aces, four deuces (dueces), threes or fours and four fives
through kings. See
paytable |
Double Double Bonus Video Poker
Has bonus payouts typically for 4 aces, four aces
with a deuce (dueces),
two, three or four kicker, four deuces (dueces), threes or fours with and ace
through four kicker, four deuces,
threes or fours and four fives through kings. |
Double Jackpot Video Poker
Has bonus payouts typically for 4 aces, four aces
with a king, queen or jack kicker, four
kings, queens or jacks with an ace, king, queen, jack kicker and four deuces through tens. |
Double Joker Video Poker
Bonus payouts for a wild
royal and five of a kind. |
Double Double Jackpot Video Poker
Has bonus payouts typically for 4 aces, four aces
with a king, queen or jack kicker, four
kings, queens or jacks with an ace, king, queen, jack kicker and four deuces (dueces) through tens.
The same bonus payout hands as for Double Jackpot but with
variations in the payouts for the bonus hands. |
Draw
In video poker the draw is a set
of replacement cards for those cards not held from the deal
hand. |
Double Up
Some video poker games give the option to double up the bet
on a winning hand. The object is to draw a higher value card
against the machine to double your winnings. |
Dueces
A common mispelling of deuces |
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Edge
The advantage in a game based on mathematical expectation.
The house edge means the house has the advantage. The player's
edge means that the player has the advantage, such as in a
100%+ payout video poker machine.
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Expected Return
The average amount of money paid back on a particular play
for a particular bet. The Expected Return (ER) is the Expected
Value of a play multiplied by the amount bet. Most commercially
available video poker analysis programs, when analyzing a
hand, give the ER of each possible play. |
Expected Value
The statistically projected average per unit bet payback of
a particular play. Another way of looking at the EV is the
average of all possible outcomes for a particular play or
game. |
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Flush
A hand containing any five cards in the same suit like 5 spades,
5 diamonds.
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Flat Top
A video poker machine that does
not have a Progressive Jackpot.
So the Jackpot amount remains the same.
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Four of a Kind
A hand containing four cards of the same denomination like
7-7-7-7_K. The fifth is irrelevant.
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Full House
Three of a kind plus a pair like 10-10-10-K-K. |
Full Pay
The best payout schedule offered for a particular game. For
example, 9/6 Jacks or Better as opposed to 8/6 Jacks or Better,
and any game with a full pay schedule plus a progressive jackpot.
A video poker machine where the
Maximum Average Payback is near 100%. For example, a Full
Pay Jacks or Better machine has a Maximum Average Payback
of about 99.5%, and a Full Pay Deuces Wild machine has a maximum
average payback of about 100.7% |
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Garbage Hand
A bad hand which will let you win nothing. A garbage hand
if dealt, should be discarded. |
Gut Shot
Another term for an Inside Straight |
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Hand
The five cards, whether dealt or held is considered to be
your hand.
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High Card
A Jack, Queen, King or Ace. If you are playing Tens or Better
Video Poker, then the 10 is also a high card. Wild or joker
cards can also be considered high cards. |
Hold
The cards you nominate to keep in any given hand.
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Hopper
The internal tray that holds the video
poker machine coins. The hopper electronically counts
coins to be paid and releases them into the player's tray.
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House
The establishment running the game. |
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Inside Straight
Four cards to a straight where the one card you need to complete
the straight is in the middle of the run. For instance, with
a 4c-5h-7d-8c you would need a six of any suit to complete
the straight. |
Inside Straight Flush
The same as an inside straight except that the cards must all be of the same suit. |
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Jackpot
A special bonus paid when you hit the highest hand on a video
poker machine such as a Royal Flush or a Progressive
Jackpot |
Jacks or Better
Jacks or better is the original video
poker game, with a Pair of Jacks as the minimum winning
hand. The Full Pay version of Jacks or Better pays 9 credits
for a Full House and 6 credits for
a Flush on a single coin bet (9/6). Jacks or Better has a
Maximum Average Payback of about 99.5% |
Joker Poker
A Video Poker Game where the Joker
is a wild card. Mostly these have the minimum payout for Kings
or Better. |
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Kicker
Term for a card used in the Double Double Bonus video
poker games. For example, in Double
Double Bonus a kicker is considered an ace, duece, three
or four and in Double Double
Jackpot a kicker is considered a Jack, Queen, King or
Ace. |
Kings or Better
A pair of kings as the minimum winning hand. |
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Long Run
The point where the machine's total appearance of number values
is what probability theory predicts. For a player the long
run is to play often enough that probability would even the
outcomes. |
Loose Deuces Video Poker
A deuces wild game with bonus payouts
for four deuces, (dueces) royal flush with a deuce and five of
a kind. |
Louisiana Double Video Poker
A basic Jacks or Better video
poker game with an additional 53RD card known as the double
card. If this is held in a winning hand the payout for that
hand is doubled. |
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Maximum Average Payback
For a given Video Poker Machine Pay Table, the amount of payback per dollar bet if you play
millions of hands on that machine, providing that you play
every hand with correct strategy (perfect
play). It can be expressed as an amount per dollar bet
or as a percentage (of each dollar bet).
For most machines, this number varies between 92 cents per
dollar bet (92% payback) and $1.01 per dollar bet (101% payback). |
Maximum Credits
Each Video Poker Machine has a
Play Maximum Credits or Bet Max button. This is the button
you push to deal a new hand and bet the maximum amount of
credits allowable. If you don't play maximum credits, you
don't qualify for the big jackpots.
On most video poker machines, the
maximum credits you can play is five. Always play maximum
credits. |
Multi Play
Machines that allow up to ten hands of video poker at once. |
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Net Losses
The amount lost after the wager is deducted from the payout. |
Net Winnings
The amount won after the wager is deducted from the payout. |
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Odds
The likelihood that an event will happen. |
Outrun
To beat. Example: "This machine outran my hand." |
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Pat Hand
A hand where all five initially dealt cards are a winning
hand, such as a dealt Straight or
a Flush. It is necessary to keep all
five cards as no other card can improve your winning hand. |
Payback
The long term expected return of a video
poker game being played. Usually expressed as a percent,
but sometimes expressed as the Expected
Value (EV) of the game. You can expect to make money on
a game only if it's long term payback is over 100% (EV greater
than one). |
Pay Off
The number of coins or credits paid for a particular winning
hand. Often expresses on a "per coin" basis. For
example, a Full House in standard
full pay Jacks or Better with
five coins bet pays 45 coins, but this is usually expressed
as 9 for 1. |
Payout (Payoff) Schedule
Each video poker machine's complete
payoff schedule is posted on the glass front or on the screen.
This is usually in the form of a table that shows the number
of coins paid for each possible final hand for each possible
number of coins bet. |
Payout (Payoff) Table
The numbers are the number of credits that you get if you
draw that hand. For example, if you are playing five coins
in a quarter machine with this Payout Table, you win 4000
quarters or $1,000.00 if you get a Royal
Flush. Usually you get more credits for your money by
playing the Maximum Credits. |
Payout (Payoff)
The actual dropping of coins by a machine. The actual payout
occurs only when cashing out. In the
case of a coinless machine, it is the printing of a cash voucher.
In the case of a jackpot, it is usually a hand pay.
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Perfect Play
Making every play for the absolute highest Expected
Value. Perfect Play is the only way to achieve the maximum
payouts on a video poker machine over a period of time by playing each hand mathematically
correct and betting maximum. |
Pick'em Video Poker
You are dealt 2 single cards and 2 decks of 3 cards...only
4 cards are visible. Your job is to pick one of the 2 stacked
piles and your strategy relies on comparing the visible cards
to what maybe contained in the 2 sets of hidden cards. |
Progressive Jackpot
This is a Jackpot, usually for a Royal
Flush that grows as players play. Several machines are
linked together so that each bet at any of them increases
the jackpot. When a player gets the Jackpot the Progressive Jackpot is
reset to a starting value, typically $1,000 for a 25 cent
machine with five coins played. Important: You can't win the
Progressive Jackpot unless you bet Maximum
Credits. |
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Quads
Four of a kind like 6-6-6-6-5. |
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Rag
A card that does not fit into your hand in any useful way.
Totally useless. |
Random
It is required by law that a Video
Poker Machine must draw cards at random from a single
deck. This means that no card is more likely to be drawn than
any other. |
Random Number Generator
An algorithm or a program used to generate a series of random
numbers. Online video poker uses
random number generation.
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Rank
The numerical value of a card (as opposed to its suit).
Example: "King," "nine". |
Royal Flush
A hand containing and Ten, Jack, Queen, King, Ace in the same
suit, in any order. The highest hand in video
poker using no wild cards. |
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Secondary Payoff
In many cases we are drawing with the hopes of making a particular
big payoff, but much of the EV of the play comes from smaller
payoffs when we miss the big one. For example, you might draw
two cards to a Royal Flush but end up with a high pair, two
pair, three of a kind, a straight or a flush, all of which we would call
secondary payoffs. |
Sequential Royal Flush
A Royal Flush in order, either
left to right or right to left like 10h Jh Qh Kh Ah. Some Video Poker Machines have a separate
large Jackpot for one of these. You
will get a Sequential Royal Flush once in about 2.5 million
hands. |
Sevens Wild Video Poker
Sevens are the wild cards in this game
and bonus payouts are for four sevens, royal flush with a seven and five of
a kind. |
Short Run
A limited amount of time when probability theory will be marked
by streaks or fluctuations. |
Spill
When you win a hand that would put you over 1,000 credits,
most video poker machines don't
add to your credits. Instead they start spilling quarters
into the hopper to pay off that hand. |
Straight
Five cards not in the same suit in an unbroken sequence like
3h 5s 6s 4h 7h. |
Straight Flush
Five cards in the same suit in an unbroken sequence like 4h-5h-6h-7h-8h. |
Strategy
A pattern or method for playing the hands. The strategy is
determined by the video poker game
type and the paytables for that particular game. |
Strategy Card
A Strategy Card is a Strategy Table printed on a card. It's
a good idea to have a strategy card with you while playing. |
Strategy Table
A Strategy Table is a list of the hands you might be dealt
in decreasing order of Average Payback. If you can play a
hand in two or more different ways, then you pick the highest
in the strategy table - the one with the highest Average Payback. |
Suit
In a poker deck, each card that is not a wild card is in one
of the four suits: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts or Spades. |
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Three of a Kind
A hand containing three cards of the same denomination like
10-10-10-4-5. |
Tens or Better Video
Poker
A game where tens or better cards are the minimum paying
hand. |
Tilt
To play wildly or recklessly. A player is said to be "on
tilt" if he is not playing his best, playing too many
hands, trying wild bluffs, raising with bad hands, etc. |
Triple Play
Some machines allow you to play 3 hands of video poker at
the same time and these are referred to as triple play machines.
see also multi play |
Trips
Three of a kind like 10-10-10-4-5. |
Two to a, Three to a, Four to a
Refers to the number of cards you have in your hand that make
up at least a part of a potentially winning hand. For example,
if you have Ah, Kh, Qh, Jh, 5c, you have four of the cards
needed to make a royal flush, or four
to a royal flush. |
Two Pairs
A hand containing any two pairs of cards like JJKK2. |
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Underdog
A person or hand who is not mathematically favored to win
a pot. For instance, if you flop four cards to your flush,
you are not quite a 2:1 underdog to make your flush by the
river (that is, you will make your flush about one in three times). |
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Video Poker Machine
The use of a video display to simulate the real game of poker,
bearing in mind one is playing a machine and not real players.
There are literally hundreds of models of Video Poker Machine.
Broadly, these may be categorized into the types: Jacks
or Better, Bonus Poker - bigger
payoffs for certain hands, Wild Card Games like Deuces
Wild and Joker Poker. By law, the Payoff Table listing
the payout for each winning hand must be posted on each machine.
Also by law, each machine must operate by drawing randomly
from one deck of cards. |
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Wild or Wild Card
A card that may be used to substitute for any other card in
the deck, such as a deuce in Deuces
Wild Video Poker. |
Wild Royal
A wild card to make a royal flush. |
Winning Hand
A winning hand is one that you get paid for. For most video
poker games the lowest winning hand is a Pair of Jacks.
In Deuces Wild Video Poker, it's
Three of a Kind. |
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Zilch or Zip
Nothing. A dealt hand with no cards worth holding (i.e., you
should redraw all five cards) or a final hand with no payoff.
Also called a garbage hand. |
