Now, the truth is that winning at online poker can be quite challenging, especially if you're at a table with of good opponents. Of course, should you put your effort and dedication into it, it’s not going to take you a long time before you learn how to dominate poker tables and make a significant amount of money. But now there's another way to get a head start at the poker tables and have fun at the same time: playing video poker online.
What's The Connection Between Poker and Video Poker?
Video poker is a fairly recent game that amalgamates online slots and poker games in that you get the quick wins, super graphics and fun of online video slots, but the cards and hand rankings of real poker games. Its essentially playing the first few stages of a standard poker game: the blind bet, the flop, the second bet and then straight to the showdown. But instead of playing against real-life opponents who play according to advanced strategies and psychologies, you are playing against the casino's computer.
All the pressure of the mind games, the speed with which you make your strategical decisions and the skill level of your opponents is taken away in video poker games. You are purely playing the very basics of online poker, and that's why so many players can adapt comparable poker strategies to win video poker games more often.
Video Poker Hand Rankings And Pay Tables
The first thing you should learn when playing video poker online is the hand rankings and what each one pays out. Much like online poker games, the hand rankings in video poker are mostly the same but can vary slightly from game to game. For example, in Deuces Wild Video Poker games, the 2 cards have a higher ranking than in other video poker games. Or in Jacks or Better, the hand rankings are also different.
Luckily, in almost every video poker game, the hand rankings and the payout rates are front and centre on the screen while you play. So it's easy to familiarize yourself with the game's hand rankings. And by and large, the video poker hand rankings are mostly the same as in every other poker game. This means that you are also familiarizing yourself with standard poker hand rankings at the same time.
Play Your Hand Range To Win Video Poker Games
So why all the emphasis on video poker hand rankings in an article about winning video poker strategies? Because playing your hand well is the basis of the best video poker strategies. And knowing when to bet higher or fold is as simple as knowing your hand range.
In any kind of poker game, as with most other real money casino games, how you play the cards (or dice, or spin) you are dealt at the start can determine if you win or lose. In video poker and other poker games, your draw cards can be divided into three categories:
1. Monster / Made Hands: When you're dealt the best cards in the flop, it's called a 'Monster Hand.' A Monster Hand is a card combination that has super winning potential, like 2 Aces, or a King and a Queen of Spades. With these combinations, you know from the start that you are more likely to win the game and can place your bets accordingly.
2. Middling Hands: This is a card combination that you might need to consider more closely if you want to play or fold. You should take a look at the hand you're betting against and if it's already obviously better than yours, you should fold and save your time and money. If it's not, you should play on, but bet conservatively. In poker games, it's said that more games are lost than won: ie. more people lose poker games by misjudging their hand's potential than are won. And statistically speaking, the majority of poker games, and video poker games are won with a pair that with any other combination. The reason is simple: too many people are trying to go for a long shot 'Royal Flush' or 'Straight,' when a simple pair or three of a kind is much easier to achieve. 
3. Weak Hands To Fold: These are the card combinations you know are unlikely to procure a win. In a regular online poker game, you may choose to use these bad cards to bluff or to intimidate other players if you're a super aggressive player. But when you're playing online video poker, you're not going to get the same playthrough as in a poker game and you're not playing against a real opponent so psychological strategies won't work. In video poker, if you get a really bad hand, it's really best to simply fold and move on.
When To Play Or Fold-In Online Video Poker Games
In video poker, you need to place your bets according to the strength of your hand. What are the odds of you winning this round? The more you play, the easier it will be to determine from the flop which cards are likely to help you win, which could go either way and which cards are a waste of your energy. And this is where video poker helps people become better poker players as well: because learning when to play and when to fold is one of the most time consuming and expensive basics of any good poker player's game.
In addition, you always should have an eye on the payout percentage of the games that the different casinos pay out:
