Video Poker Best video poker for beginner

What would be the best video poker to try for a beginner? I have played with some of the trainers for both double double bonus and job. But I've never played for real money. I seem to make the most correct moves on ddb. It seems to make more sense to me. But I'm not sure what would be best. Also what is the better game for a decent pay?? I probably won't be playing hours on end. Just want to try it out

 

Jacks or Better has the simplest strategy and lower variability. Expected return depends on paytables. Vpfree2 usually has up-to-date paytable listings.

My first VP was Deuces Wild, which, at the right ("full pay") machines, commonly found at Station casinos, has an expected positive return for perfect strategy or even for Wizard's simple strategy.

 

I think most people start on JOB, and it seems like a lot of people settle on Bonus Poker.

The degenerates amongst us move on (like crack addicts) to DDB and some even try a little TDB.

I personally have settled on Bonus Deluxe as a middle ground in variance between JOB and DDB. The excitement of high payouts on quads, without the variability of the huge premium quad payouts from DDB.

The big problem currently is Vegas strip paytables have made almost all the games unplayable.

In the final analysis, I think choice of game depends on your goals. Higher variance yields larger risk of ruin. One compromise which makes sense is to play a lower variance game like JOB at higher stakes, and reserve your DDB play for lower stakes.

A erroneous strategy that I still enjoy implementing is trying to always end my session early if I have a big win. If you consider your entire life one long "session" then this strategy is worthless except for minimizing play.

 

"Jacks or Better" is the one to start off with since it is the easiest to learn, has the least amount of "whats the correct play" steps to remember and has the lowest variance of the video poker games.

The other key here is: if you know the basic strategy for Jacks or Better it is easier to learn the other games since they are all pretty similar to the one for Jacks or Better with just a few changes to take in to account their paytable and which are the best pays.

Since you say you won't be playing for hours on end and just want to try it out that reinforces that as the one you should try: with the "bonus" poker games it really depends on you hitting the four of a kind hands to get those big payouts... since you are new to the game you can expect to be playing slower than the average player and that means your expectation is probably going to be to see a four of a kind about once every hour to hour and a half. So if you were going to be playing for maybe an hour to test it out you could easily go the whole session without seeing a single four of a kind.

 

JOB spin poker is the one that got me hooked. While it is hard to find good paytables with this game, I find it hard to really enjoy just playing any old machine anymore.

 

Another vote for JOB. I only play a little VP, but it is the easiest game to start out at

 

DDB for me. JOB and BP seem a little slow with no big payoffs. Of course, the variance isnt nearly as high as high on JOB and BP. I am curious about Bonus Deluxe since Beejay and his crew are hooked on it. I will give it a try SB weekend. Where are the best BD pay tables? Do they also have it in progressive or 3/5 play?

 

DDB for me too. There is nothing like hitting 4 aces with the kicker for a rush. I know you give up 2-1 on two pair, but getting 125 coins when you hit 4 aces really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

This was with my free $5 slot play at the Vegas Club from the ACG coupon.

You can't do that on a JOB.

 

Downtown has best boner deluxe paytables.

there are some really shitty paytables on the strip for BD.

I found it on a few progressives where they let you pick your game, but not surprisingly they were some of the worst paytables.

basically boner deluxe pays 400 for any quad, so all of the quads become like a premium no kicker on DDB. I like that. You give up the 2,000 for aces, kicker and the 800s. to me the extra kick on run of mill quads is exciting enough to make that worth it. I play it on $2 and like those $800 hits. It also helps me avoid the w2's from the $1,600 hits on $2 DDB.

note: for 2012 I ended up +$9,500 without hitting a royal or aces/kicker, which is pretty surprising, playing primarily boner deluxe. obviously hit more than my share of quads, but still the variance reduction showed thru to have that result without the big hands.

 

I'm mainly a blackjack player, but with the new tier credit bonuses for Total Rewards, I'm considering playing some video poker with the hopes of getting 2,500 credits in a day and thus hitting Platinum with the 5,000 bonus. My local casino is Horseshoe Southern Indiana, and according to vpFree they have a "Super Aces" game that supposedly has a 99.94% payback. Is anyone familiar with this game, and if so, does this payback percentage sound accurate?

Thanks....

 

Some great advice here from expereinced players and I will share a few thoughts as well. Strategy for JOB is not TOO different from that for DDB so you should be able to adjust if you are nailing the DDB strategy.

If you are playing for short periods with a limited bankroll you need to sweat the volatility of the game you choose - and DDB is one of the most volatile. A good paytable will give you a great long-term overall return - but in the short run unless you are getting regular four of a kinds and higher payouts your bankroll won't be refilled by the more frequent lower payouts. In a brief period you can hit big or see a big drain. Lower volatility games like JOB won't give you the thrill of hitting for 2000 units with a kicker - and may seem like more of a grind - but you may get more duration out of your bankroll.

Unlike BeeJay, I am still a DDB crack addict but like to play longer duration sessions (1 to 2 hours or more) at $1.00 and occasionally $5.00 if I am feeling hot. I kick down to quarters and $0.50 when I can't buy a win. I just hit on four 2's with a kicker on a cruise last weekend for 800, despite crappy paytables (sucked me dry otherwise). The hit was exciting and made my trip.

Rather than walk away after a big win, I pretend I am starting over and cash out the win, throw the receipt in my wallet, and load up the machine again from my bankroll. The receipt gets cashed out later and is not part of the day's bankroll any longer (I violated that on my cruise in a bad chasing session... damn).

Paytables matter a ton - and I saw that on the cruise with 7/5 DDB. I normally like to see 9/6, 8/6 or 8/5 games - but 7/5 gives you something less than a 95% payout which is getting into slot machine territory. Why not just go and play Wheel of Fortune at that point?

If you get comfortable in a groove with real money on JOB, try a little DDB during a longer session and a higher bankroll to see if you appreciate the differences in that game.

Most of all have fun and enjoy playing the game. My goal is to make money - but also to enjoy playing the game in the process...

JZB