Not only is poker one of the most popular card games of all time but it’s also a very popular form of gambling. It’s certainly one that we enjoy and we’ve produced this poker guide to help make sure that you do too. With information and advice provided by experienced players, we’re confident it’s one of the most useful poker resources around.
This guide can be beneficial for both beginners and experienced players. It includes information on the most basic aspects of the game, advanced strategy advice, and just about everything in between. We’ll teach you how to play and we can help you become a more profitable player, if that’s your goal. We’ll also help you find the very best poker sites if you’re interested in playing online.
We obviously can’t promise that we’ll turn you into the best poker player in the world, but what we will do is give you all the tools you need to enjoy the game and be successful at it. On this page we’ve explained everything our guide has to offer, organized in such a way so that you can easily find what you’re looking for.
The main objective of the American casino guide is to outline the pros and cons of playing the most popular casino games, but your final decision should be determined by your personal preferences. Apart from profitable, gambling should also be an entertaining activity, so don’t play a game you are not keen on just because of the low risk. Deuces Wild is just one of the many versions of Video Poker and therefore it is difficult to give a standard strategy for a general version. We have compiled a strategy for some of the most popular versions.
Beginner’s Guide To PokerIn our beginner’s guide to poker, you’ll find a collection of articles covering everything you need to know to enjoy this game.
The Appeal of Poker
Betting Structures Simple Poker Tips
Cash Games and Tournaments
Poker Etiquette Common Poker Mistakes Playing Poker OnlineThis section explains everything you need to know about playing online poker, including how it differs from playing live and how to get started.
Online vs Live Poker
Choosing Where To Play Poker Bonuses & Rewards Learn Video Poker Strategy
Online Poker Myths
Joining a Poker Site Online Poker Software Poker Strategy
Our poker strategy section is an incredibly useful resource for anyone wishing to improve their poker playing skills. It contains a ton of articles covering a comprehensive range of strategies from the simplest right up to the most advanced concepts. Learning these strategies is essential if you want to become a winner. The following are just a few examples.
Bankroll Management
Handling Tilt Short Stack Strategy Hand Selection Game Selection Tag Playing Style Lag Playing Style Multi-Tabling
In addition to the above sections, our poker guide also includes a very useful glossary and a beneficial FAQ. The glossary contains detailed definitions for the wide variety of terms and phrases used in poker, along with explanations of the many acronyms and abbreviations you’ll come across. There’s a list of commonly used slang terms for specific hands too. The FAQ answers a number of commonly asked questions relating to poker in general and to online poker specifically.
Poker FAQ
Poker Glossary
We don’t stop there either, as our guide has even more features that will benefit you. You’ll find recommendations of the best places to play online, rules on the different variations of poker. and information on the major live tournaments and tours taking place around the world. There’s also some advice on taking the step from playing for fun to playing to win and a deeper look at what it takes to play poker professionally. Please read on to find out more information.
Is Poker the Game for You?
If you’re reading this, then you obviously have at least some interest in playing poker. You might be wondering if poker is really the game for you. There’s no need to worry if you do have these concerns, as it’s very common for people to have doubts about starting to play poker. It’s a form of gambling after all and that means it comes with the risk of losing money.
One of the first pieces of advice we’ll offer you is to only begin playing poker if you’re comfortable with the risks involved. You don’t need a lot of money to get started, as you can play for very low stakes, but you should only play with money you can afford to lose. As long as you abide to that concept, there’s really no other reason why you shouldn’t try poker. It’s an extremely popular game and there’s always a chance you might really enjoy it.
About This Guide
A great deal of time and effort has gone into putting this guide together, with contributions from experienced poker players who know what they’re talking about. The purpose of this guide is simple; we want to make sure that we give you all the information and advice you could possibly need to have a great experience playing poker. That’s why we’ve done our very best to make it as comprehensive as we can.
If you’re a complete beginner who has never played before, we’ll help you get started. If you’re an experienced player looking to take their game to the next level, we can help with that too. We’ve also got you covered if you’re simply looking for the best places to play online. In essence, this guide is for anyone that has an interest in playing poker.
Why Poker Is so Popular
Poker is very entertaining, providing plenty of fun and excitement to those who play. There’s also a social aspect to the game, as a poker table is often filled with players enjoying each other’s company.
Poker can be a difficult game to master, but the basic rules are quite simple for the most part. It doesn’t take a long time to learn the rules and to get started playing.
You’re unlikely to ever get bored playing poker. It’s played in a wide range of variants and formats, so there’s always something different you can play if you prefer a change.
Unlike casino games, there’s no house edge in poker. If you can learn how to play better than your opponents, then it’s possible to be a consistent winner.
Getting Started
If you do decide to try poker, please take the time to go through our beginner’s guide. We mentioned this near the top of this page and it’s especially a great resource for new players. You should check out our poker games section too, as this includes the rules for a variety of different poker variants that you may be interested in. We’d recommend starting with Texas Hold’em, as this is the most widely played and probably the easiest to learn.
Poker Game Guides
Omaha
7 Card Stud Mixed Poker Games Playing Poker Online
Our poker guide contains plenty of information that’s specifically applicable to online poker. If you’ve never played the game on the internet before, then please take a look at our section on playing poker online that we mentioned earlier. This serves as a great introduction to what playing online is all about and we have included some additional advice on choosing where to play and how to sign up for your convenience as well.
If you’re simply looking for somewhere to join right now, then we suggest using one of our top ranked sites. These all come highly recommended by us and you can rest assured that they are very reputable and offer a high quality experience all around.
Our Top Ranked Poker Sites
Free flying horse games. by Dan Paymar
In this article we will look at how to use a video poker software training program to determine possible strategy changes when playing a game with a large progressive jackpot.
The most common type of video poker machine with a progressive jackpot will only offer a single meter on the royal flush and it is typically shared among a bank of machines with the same game. Here we will be discussing such a situation.
The two most important questions about video poker progressive jackpots are:
1. How high does the meter have to be to make it attractive to you?
2. What is the best strategy to use?
All of the mathematical calculations that follow were created using Optimum Video Poker (OpVP) software. This is a video poker training program that teaches you how to play your hands correctly for any video poker game. It also has many extra features such as printing out strategy charts, ability to analyze any hand to determine the best play, and when it comes to bankroll considerations a special feature it offers is to calculate the cost of a royal for progressive jackpot evaluations.
When using the software, the “Cost of a Royal” calculation in Optimum Video Poker assumes perfect play for the payoff schedule currently shown in the game window.
That is, if you play every hand for the highest possible Expected Value (EV), the Cost of a Royal (CoR) is the expected average loss per royal cycle. (Note: The term “cycle,” which is typically shown in a game analysis as “One in _ Hands,” is simply a statistician’s term for the reciprocal of the probability of a royal in any one play. A machine is never “due” to hit a royal no matter how many hands have been played. The probability of a royal on the next play is always as shown in the game analysis.)
The game most frequently played for a progressive royal flush is five-coin $1 8/5 Jacks or Better, so we’ll use that game as an example.
A standard $4,000 royal flush without a progressive jackpot
With only a $4,000 royal, the Cost of a Royal computes to $9,456, suggesting that we should not play the game until the royal meter exceeds that amount. That calculation, however, assumes that we are following the strategy for the current game; that is, with a $4,000 royal.
But wouldn’t it make sense to adjust our strategy for the higher royal? Of course it would, but if we enter $9,456 as the royal payoff and analyze the game, the Cost of a Royal then computes to $8,669 (rounding to the nearest dollar).
If you now change the royal payoff to $8,669, a game analysis shows 99.9996% expected return (ER). Repeat that one more time, and we find that a royal payoff of $8,670 yields an ER of 100.002%.
What I have just described is an iterative procedure to calculate something that can’t be calculated directly. In this case, it took only three iterations, but some situations require more. The important thing to remember is that the software performs these calculations for you!
Optimum Video Poker version 5.1 sample game screen
We have now found the break-even point for this game, so we know how high the meter must be to make the game at least marginally attractive, but there is an even more important aspect to this.
It may seem unintuitive, but it turns out that a strategy developed for the break-even royal payoff will yield the lowest cost of a royal regardless of the actual royal payoff. A few serious players always play the break-even strategy no matter how high the meter eventually gets.
But do you want to just break even? Most of us want to play for a profit, so let’s see how we can calculate an optimum play number.
Slot game apps. Suppose we decide we won’t play until the progressive meter rises enough to give us a two percent advantage.
To make this adjustment, all you have to do is select the basic 8/5 Jacks or Better game, then select “Progressive Royal” from the Analysis menu, and click the Start button. If the game has already been analyzed for break-even, the meter breaks will be shown immediately; otherwise, it will go through the iterative procedure described above. In this example it will show a royal payoff of $11,905 for 102.01429% payback.
Video poker software can calculate the payback percentage for any game
Now all that is needed is an accurate strategy for this game with a royal meter at that payoff, and of course Optimum Video Poker will do that, too.
Select “Strategy” in the Special menu, click the “Generate Strategy” button, and in less than one minute it will generate a basic (no penalties) strategy chart.
Evaluating that chart shows that it is within about 0.04% of the Expected Return for perfect play. Select “Improve Basic Strategy”, and the chart is improved to 0.01758% off of perfect. At 800 hands per hour that’s a deficiency of only 70 cents on $4,000 in action.
Video Poker Strategy
If that is not good enough for you, you can click “Penalty Consideration” and select which penalties you wish to consider, but even applying all five possible penalties improves this by only 0.00026%.
Most players will be giving a higher advantage to the casinos through reduced speed and occasional playing errors by using these additional penalty considerations, which is why I rarely bother with them.
Dan Paymar was a video poker expert with a background in computer programming who passed away on July 17, 2020. He had written several books on video poker, including Video Poker – Optimum Play. For 14 years he edited and published his own newsletter, the Video Poker Times. Dan was also the developer of “Optimum Video Poker”, an analysis and training program for Macintosh and Windows computers.
Try an online casino for FREE! Use any of our great No Deposit Bonus Codes. No credit card needed, just sign up and start playing!
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |