Understanding card ranks and hand values is an essential part of a Video Poker Strategy Guide as it all comes down to what you’ve got in your hand. This should be studied as it is essentially what the entire game is based on. Here are the different hands and card ranks to be found in Video Poker;
Video Poker Guide – Card Values
Each deck of cards is made up of fifty two cards. There are four suits, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs, and each suit has thirteen cards. Each suit contains numerical cards that are ranked from two through to ten. In addition to the numerical card there is a Jack, a Queen and a King. These are referred to as Face Cards, Royal Cards or Ten Value Cards, depending on the game that you are playing. An Ace has to possible values and it can be counted either as one, or as eleven. Once again its value will depend on the game that you are playing and the situation that you are finding yourself in!
Hand Rankings
Now that you know the card values, see our Video Poker Guide below where we go into the different hand rankings. Keep this essential guide close by when you next play your game.
Royal Flush: A Royal Flush counts as the very best and the highest ranking hand in traditional Poker and Video Poker. The hand consists of the complete family of Royal Cards, all in the same suit, with a ten and an Ace in the same suit. For e.g.; ten of Hearts, Ace of Hearts, Jack of Hearts, Queen of Hearts, King of Hearts. Strike one of these and you strike it very lucky!
Straight Flush: To achieve a Straight Flush you need five cards in chronological order. Unlike a Royal Flush, a Straight Flush does not need to contain Royal Face cards and they only need to be in order and of the same suit. E.g. Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 all of five cards Hearts. Note that in this instance an Ace can be counted as one.
Four of a Kind: Here you need to have any four cards as long as they are of the same rank. E.g. Four 2’s, four Kings, four 8’s and so on. If both players are holding a four-of-a-kind hand then the hand with the highest ranking cards will win. These hands are also often referred to as “quads” or “4oak”
Five of a Kind: Five of a Kind is not available in all Video Poker games and is mainly available in games that have a wild card. Games that offer this combination include Deuces Wild, Bonus Deuces Wild Poker and Joker Poker.
Full House: A Full House is also often referred to as a Full Boat and is a hand that contains three cards of the same rank and 2 other cards of the same rank. E.g. 4 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds, 4 of Hearts and 8 of Hearts, 8 of Clubs.
Flush: A Flush is when the hand has five cards, all of the same suit. The cards do not need to be in order. E.g. 2, 4, 5, 9, Jack, all of Diamonds.
Straight: A straight is five successive cards that do not have to be of the same suit. E.g. Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Three of a kind: Three of a Kind is kind of self explanatory and is a hand that holds three cards of the same value and any other two cards. This is also often referred to Trips or Three Oak. E.g. 3, 3, 3 and 6, 7 of any suit.
Two pairs: This hand contains two cards of the same rank and another pair of cards from the same rank. All of the cards are of different suits and the fifth card is unrelated.
One pair: Two of the five cards are the same value. The cards must be Jacks or higher to be considered a valid One Pair. This is available in Jacks or Better Video Poker but some machine will not pay for a pair of any kind but will require two pair or three of a kind as their minimum winning hand (e.g. Deuces Wild).
High card: In Kings or Better only K and an A are considered as High Cards.
There are various Video Poker Strategies that can be implemented to improve your game. YourCasinoWorld.com put together an Online Video Poker Rules Guide that also teaches players How to Play Video Poker.
Understanding Online Video Poker and its rules is the key to playing the game to its maximum potential. Our Video Poker Strategy Guide along with the Rules guide will assist you with mastering this fantastic and rewarding game.