What changes from one game to the next is when you act and what pays. Before your first hand, it helps to know how each format works, so you can pick the one that suits the way you like to play.
Online video poker means no opponent at the table
Each of these machines runs the same way. You set your stake, five cards appear, and you mark the ones you want to keep. The rest are discarded and replaced, once only. Your final hand is then checked against the paytable, which shows what each combination pays as a multiple of your stake.
Nobody plays against you in this format. No dealer, no opponent, no pot to share: just your five cards and a fixed table of payouts. That is what sets it apart from ordinary poker tables, where you face other people, and what makes it a game of its own among the other card games at Casino King.
The three other titles in the category use poker's rankings in a different way: your hand is compared with a dealer's, and the dealer must qualify with a minimum hand for the round to play out in full.
Hold or discard: the call you make on every deal
On a machine, everything comes down to one move: separating the cards you hold from the ones you discard. A pair already showing, four cards of one suit, a straight missing a single card: each situation asks you to keep some cards and take your chances on the others.
Replacements come from the rest of the deck, never from the cards you have just discarded. Luck decides which cards arrive; your choices decide which hands are still possible. Holding a pair of queens guarantees at least that pair at the end; throwing everything away to chase a straight means accepting you may end up with nothing.
To know what each hand is worth, you only need the order of poker hands, from one pair to the royal flush, and a quick look at what the machine pays for each of them.
Three video poker machines and their paytables
GameArt's Video Poker is a Jacks or Better game, and the name gives the rule away: the smallest paying hand is a pair of jacks. A pair of tens or lower pays nothing, which matters when you choose what to hold. Stakes start at €0.10.
Joker Poker, from Amusnet, adds a joker to the standard 52-card deck. It can stand in for any other card to complete a combination, which puts some hands within easier reach; the paytable reflects this. Stakes here also start at €0.10, with a top win of 950 times the stake.
From the same studio, 4 of a kind Bonus Poker puts four of a kind in the spotlight: as the name suggests, four cards of the same rank earn bonus payouts. You can play from €0.20, with a top win of 800 times the stake. On both Amusnet games, you can gamble a win to try to double it; the option is entirely up to you, and the win can be collected as it stands.
Caribbean and Triple Edge: a dealer's hand to beat
GameArt's Caribbean Stud Poker and BetSoft's Caribbean Poker are played with five cards. You place an opening bet, look at your hand, then decide whether to call with a further bet or fold. At Caribbean Poker, the qualifying rule is printed on the felt: the dealer needs ace-king or better.
Triple Edge Poker, also from BetSoft, deals only three cards. With so few cards the hand rankings shift, and a straight beats a flush. As the felt shows, a queen-high hand or better qualifies the dealer. Caribbean Stud Poker starts at €0.10, while Caribbean Poker and Triple Edge Poker start at €1.
Which online video poker games suit you best?
If the format is new to you, GameArt's Video Poker is the easiest to follow: a familiar rule, a paytable with no surprises and a low stake. Joker Poker suits players who enjoy watching a joker rescue a hand, while 4 of a kind Bonus Poker appeals to anyone happy to hold three matching cards and wait for the fourth.
Would you rather have someone across the table, even a virtual dealer? The Caribbean tables give you a hand to beat and a real choice once you have seen your cards. Triple Edge Poker applies the same idea to just three cards, with its own order of hands.
Either way, the minimum stake varies from game to game. Checking it before you start saves you from sitting down at a €1 table when you meant to play at €0.10.
Playing video poker for real money at Casino King
All six games open from the category grid, on the account you already use for everything else at Casino King, the online casino licensed in Belgium. Each game's rules and full paytable are available in its help screen: that is where you check the smallest paying hand, the size of the bonuses and what happens when the dealer fails to qualify.
One thing is worth settling before you play: the option to double a win on the two Amusnet games. It can grow a small win, but it can also wipe it out in a single click. Deciding in advance whether you will use it, and setting a budget for the session, saves you making that call in the moment. The self-exclusion and deposit limits on your account are there to set those boundaries.
Real-money play starts once you join Casino King and fund your account. Once your bank account has been verified, cashing out is just as quick, with withdrawals paid out in seconds, evenings and weekends included.
Video poker questions answered
It depends on the game. At GameArt's Video Poker, a Jacks or Better game, your hand needs at least a pair of jacks. For Joker Poker and for 4 of a kind Bonus Poker, the paytable on screen shows the first combination that pays.
No. Replacement cards come from those not yet dealt. A card you have thrown away will not reappear in the same hand.
No, it is optional. On the Amusnet games that offer it, you can collect the win straight away. If you do gamble it, you either double the win or lose it.
Video Poker, Joker Poker and Caribbean Stud Poker start at €0.10, 4 of a kind Bonus Poker at €0.20, and Caribbean Poker and Triple Edge Poker at €1. The maximum stake varies from game to game and is shown in each one.
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