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Before you start spinning the reels, find out the payout percentage of the selected slot machine — don't play anything that has the RTP below 95 percent. If you are a high roller, go for the high volatile games and chase the main jackpot. Slots are a huge part of Pennsylvania gambling. There are more of them and they generate more revenue than any other casino game in the state. That holds true for both Pennsylvania's land-based and online casinos, which offer hundreds of slot titles. From classic reel slot machines to progressive jackpot slots, modern video slots with a range of diverse and lucrative bonus games to your. Automated jackpot payout machines. (a) A slot machine licensee may utilize an automated jackpot payout machine that has been tested and approved by the Board under § 461a.4 (relating to submission for testing and approval). Slot machine license issuance bond requirement. Slot machine license term and renewal. Change in ownership or control of slot machine license and multiple slot machine license prohibition. Employee status report. Notice of employee misconduct and offenses and employee resignations. Pennsylvania law requires slot machine payouts to be at least 85 percent, or 85 cents on the dollar. 'Regulatory wise, they are in compliance with the law,' Mr.

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Some people might want to know how to find the payout percentage on a slot machine. Sadly, it's not something that's printed on most games — at least not here in the United States.

This post is for them.

Understanding this topic involves some rudimentary understanding of probability as it relates to casino gambling. You'll need to understand three separate concepts thoroughly:

  1. Payback percentage
  2. House edge
  3. Return to player

This post explains each of those in enough detail that even a beginner should understand what they mean.

Some Basic Facts Related to Probability, the House Edge, Payback Percentage, and Return to Player

Probability is the branch of mathematics that deals with how likely an event is to happen. If you want to measure how likely you are to win a jackpot on a slot machine, probability is the way to figure that out.

But the word also refers directly to that likelihood.

In other words, if I say the probability of getting heads when I flip a coin is 50%, I'm not talking about that branch of mathematics. I'm talking about the actual statistical likelihood of that event.

You should understand a few things about probability in general.

Probability is always a number between 0 and 1. An event with a probability of 0 will never happen, and an event with a probability of 1 will always happen. The closer to 1 the probability is, the more likely the event is to happen.

Probability can be expressed multiple ways. It can be expressed as a fraction, a decimal, a percentage, or as odds. The probability of getting heads on a coin flip can be expressed as 1/2, 0.5, 50%, or 1 to 1.

An event's probability is the number of ways it can happen divided by the total number of possible outcomes. When you're discussing a coin toss, you have two possible outcomes. Only one of those is heads. That makes the probability 1/2.

The probability that an event will occur added to the probability that an event won't occur always equals 1. Therefore, if you know the probability that something will happen, you also automatically know the probability that it won't happen, and vice versa.

The house edge is a statistical measure of how much the house expects to win (on average, over the long run) from every bet you make on a game. The house edge is a theoretical number that accounts for the probability of winning versus the probability of losing AND the payout if you win.

All casino games carry a house edge. In the short run, it doesn't matter much, but in the long run, it's the most important thing.

If I say a game has a house edge of 4%, this means that over time, you should average a loss of $4 for every $100 you bet on the game. This is a long run statistical average, though. In the short run, you're unlikely to see results that mirror the house edge.

The return to player and the payback percentage are the same thing. Some writers use one to refer to the statistical expectation and the other to refer to the actual results, but most writers use these terms interchangeably.

The payback percentage added to the house edge always equals 100%. The payback percentage is the amount of each bet that you get back, and the house edge is the amount of each bet that the casino wins. Again, these numbers are on average over the long run.

A game with a 4% house edge has a 96% payback percentage.

In the United States, slot machine payback percentages are impossible to calculate and not posted on gambling machines. To calculate the house edge or the payback percentage for a casino game, you need two pieces of data:

  1. The probability of winning
  2. The amount of money you'll win (the payoff)

Slot machines include their payouts on their pay tables, but they don't include the probability of achieving any of the winning outcomes.

In some countries, the payback percentage is posted on the machines, but not in the United States.

To make things even worse for a slot machine player, the random number generator program can be set differently even if the slot machine is identical to the one next to it. You could be playing The Big Lebowski slots at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma, and your buddy could be playing the identical machine right next to you.

The payback percentage on his machine might be 94%, and the payback percentage on your machine might only be 88%.

The difference comes from how the probabilities are weighted for each symbol. On one game, the bars might show up 1/4 of the time, but on the next, they might only come up 1/8 of the time.

This has an obvious effect on the payback percentage.

The payback percentage would be easy to calculate if you knew the probabilities. The payback percentage is just the total expected value of all the possible outcomes on the machine.

Let's assume you have 1000 possible reel combinations. Let's also assume that if you got each of those in order, from 1 to 1000, you'd win 900 coins.

The payback percentage for that game would be 90%.

You'd put 1000 coins in, and you'd have 900 coins left after a statistically perfect sampling of 1000 spins.

If you knew the payback percentage and house edge for a slot machine game, you could predict your theoretical cost of playing that game per hour in the long run. You'd only need to multiply the numbers of bets you made per hour by the size of those bets. Then you'd multiply that by the house edge to get your predicted loss.

Most slots players make 600 spins per hour. Let's assume you're playing on a dollar machine and betting three coins on every spin, or $3 per spin. You're putting $1,800 per hour into action.

If the slot machine had a 90% payback percentage, you'd lose $180 per hour on that machine. You'd have $1,800 at the start of the hour and $1,620 at the end of the hour — assuming you saw statistically predicted results.

In the real world, though, where you'd be seeing short-term results, you'd see some hours where you won and some hours where you lost. If you played long enough, the Law of Large Numbers would ensure that you'd eventually see the statistically predicted results.

This is how the casinos make their money. In the short run, you'll win some of the time. That will keep you playing.

But in the long run, the math will ensure that the casino will win a net profit.

How You Could Calculate a Payback Percentage Based on Actual Results

Of course, you have some data that you can directly observe when you're playing slot machines.

But tracking this data and calculating the payback percentage on a specific session can add to your enjoyment of any slot machine game. It can make you more mindful because you'll be paying more attention to what's happening.

Here's how to do it.

Start by tracking how many spins you're making per hour. This is easy to do, but it takes more effort than you might think. It might help to get one of those clicky things people use to count stuff with. You will probably also need a stopwatch of some kind. I just use the timer function on my phone.

Make a note (mental is fine) of how much you're betting per spin. It helps to bet the same amount.

Also note how much money you started with so that you can calculate how much you've won or lost. The slot machine will convert your money into credits. The easiest thing to do is to keep up with how many credits you had at the beginning of the session and again at the end of the session.

Now, let's do the math using a hypothetical 45-minute session.

I made 300 spins in 45 minutes. I was betting $3 per spin, and I started with $600.

After my playing session, I had $500 left. At times I was up, and at times I was down.

But my net loss was $100. (My starting bankroll was $600, and I finished with $500.)

Over 300 spins, that means I lost an average per spin of 33 cents. $100 in losses divided by 300 spins is 33.33 cents per spin.

How much was I betting per spin?

Since I was playing a $1 machine, and my max bet was three coins, I was risking $3 per spin.

33 cents is 11% of $3, which means my actual loss was 11%. The machine paid back 89% for the session.

Does this mean that the payback percentage for the machine is 89%?

Probably not.

In the scheme of things, 450 spins is a small sample size. To have any confidence in your statistics, you really need to have at least 5,000 spins under your belt.

Even then, depending on how volatile the game is, your actual results might be wildly different from the mathematically expected payback percentage.

Here's another example that will prove that point.

My friend Leo went to the Winstar last weekend and played the $5 slots. He started with $3,000, and when he left, he had $4,800, which means he had an $1,800 profit for the day.

He played for seven hours.

I've watched Leo play. He's slow, but not much slower than average. He makes about 500 spins per hour.

This means that he made about 3,500 spins.

$1,800 in winnings divided by 3,500 spins is an average win of 51 cents per spin.

Since he was betting $5 per spin, his return was 10.3%.

His actual return for the trip on that slot machine was 110.3%.

I have friends who design slot machines for a living — more than one, in fact. They'll be happy to tell anyone who asks that the algorithm is never set up to have a payback percentage of more than 100%.

What About the Casinos That Advertise a Specific Payback Percentage?

Some casinos advertise a specific payback percentage. This is almost always stated as an 'up to' number.

Courses en ligne geant casino marseille sur. So you might see an ad for a casino that says, 'Payback percentages up to 98%!'

They're almost certainly telling the truth, too. They probably have one slot machine in their casino that has a payback percentage of 98%. Of course, it isn't labeled, so you don't know which one it is.

And in the short run, which is what you're going to be playing in as an individual gambler, there's not much difference between a 98% payback percentage and a 92% payback percentage. You could walk away a winner or a loser at either setting.

Also, keep in mind that the games aren't designed to tighten up after a win and loosen up after a lot of losing spins. That's not how it works at all.

The machines are designed to allow you to win a certain specific percentage of the time because of the probability. Then there's an average amount that you'll win based on the payout for the specific combination of symbols that you hit.

But every spin of the reels on a slot machine is an independent event. You can hit a jackpot on a spin, and your probability of hitting the jackpot on the next spin hasn't changed at all.

What About the Denominations and Location Reports I See Advertised on the Internet?

You'll find websites like Strictly Slots and American Casino Guide which post payback percentages for specific denominations and specific casinos. These are AVERAGES.

These averages have little bearing on the machine that you're sitting in front of.

For example,
you might be looking at a casino that reports an average payback percentage of 94% on its dollar slot machines. That casino might have half their machines paying off at 90% and the other half paying off at 98%.

And you won't be able to differentiate between the two because the hit ratio might be the same from one of those machines to another.

What Do Hit Ratio and Volatility Have to Do With It?

The hit ratio is the percentage of time that you can expect to hit a winning combination on a slot machine. Something like 30% isn't unusual, but it can vary 10% or more in either direction. The casinos want you to a hit a winning combination often enough that you won't lose interest in playing the game.

But hit ratio is only part of the equation. The average size of the prize amounts is also important. Volatility takes this into account. A game that hits less often but has higher average prize amounts might have the same payback percentage as a game that hits more often but with lower payouts.

Either way, in the short run, it will be all but impossible to discover this number, too.

If you wanted to, you could track how many spins resulted in wins for you and calculate the percentage, but you're facing the same obstacle you are with the overall payback percentage of the machine.

You just don't know what it's programmed to accomplish in the long run.

Online Slot Machines

Some online casinos post the payback percentages for their slot machine games. I think this information is of limited use, but I also think it's fairer to the gambler than not providing them with that information.

After all, table games are transparent. You can calculate the house edge for any casino table game there is because they all use random number generators with known quantities — cards, dice, and wheels.

There's been a push to label food, both at the grocery store and at restaurants, with nutritional information that includes caloric amounts.

Requiring casinos to provide similar information about their gambling machines only makes sense.

We'll see if it ever happens, though.

Conclusion

You can't find the payout percentage on a slot machine — at least not in the United States.
I've heard that you can get this information on slot machines in Europe, but I've never seen an actual photograph of this kind of labeling.
You can, though, have some fun calculating actual payback percentages in the short run. This at least gives you something to keep track of while you're playing slots, which is honestly one of the more mindless activities in the casino.

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Video poker is a staple offering of most casinos. The machines that host the game usually share floor space with the slot machine banks.

As a result, they often occupy the role of palate cleanser for slot machine players. Instead of merely riding the whims of fate, a video poker player can exert some level of control over his or her destiny.

The video poker scene in live casinos throughout Pennsylvania is alive and well. The landscape will only broaden as established casino brands throughout the state offer online casinos with video poker games.

Best casinos with video poker in PA

Casino
Features
On Sign Up
100% Deposit Match up to $1,000
On Sign Up. T&Cs Apply
100% Deposit Match up to $1,500
100% Match on First Deposit
World Renowned Casino

Are video poker games legal in PA?

Yes. Video poker games are legal at all of Pennsylvania's casinos.

The state authorized them by virtue of the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act of 2004. The law provided for the licensure and regulation of casinos and racetrack-casinos in the Keystone State.

Accordingly, all 12 casinos in Pennsylvania have many rows of video poker machines. However, private citizens and businesses are not permitted to operate video poker machines.

In fact, there was a massive bust against some private video poker usage last year. Anthony Zennerallegedly raked in millions for operating a ring of unlicensed video poker machines.

So, video poker is fine – as long as it's in the casinos.

How to play video poker for free in Pennsylvania

Great, Pennsylvania residents can play video poker. But, what if you've never played before?

No worries. There are several options for Pennsylvania inhabitants to practice playing video poker for free before they begin wagering their money.

First and foremost, Pennsylvanians can use Chumba Casino to practice their video poker. Now, to be clear, there is only one Chumba video poker game, Jacks or Better.

There are many more variants of video poker available. However, the Chumba version has a very important feature that should make it your first stop.

Payout

Namely, Chumba Casino's Jacks or Better provides a percentage calculator for the chances that your draw will improve to any winning hands. This feature will allow you to try different strategies and approaches to video poker.

Once you feel comfortable, then you can try out the variety of games available on either Parx Casino Online or SugarHouse Casino4Fun.

Both sites offer roughly 15 variants of video poker for play absolutely free. You will simply need to register in order to log in and take part.

Make sure to try out each variant so that you can see which style of video poker you prefer. Everyone has their favorites, and these sites are a great way to discover yours.

Moving to real money video poker

Once you feel comfortable with all the different types of video poker, you may want to give the real money version a try. If so, both of these aforementioned sites are more than happy to help you transition over to the real money side.

Now, you will have to register all over again for a real money account.

Hollywood Online Casino does offer online video poker though. Unlike Parx, which only offers Jacks or Better, Hollywood offers the entire IGT Game King suite of nine different varieties, including Deuces Wild and Double Double Bonus Poker.

So, Pennsylvanians can choose between Hollywood, Parx, and Chumba. For now.

Every online casino will have several options for depositing cash onto them. Any one of the following methods may be available on your site of choice:

  • ACH/E-check
  • Visa/MasterCard
  • Bank transfer
  • PayNearMe (via 7-Eleven)
  • PayPal/Skrill
  • Wire transfer
  • Cash in-person at the casino cage

Make sure to check the promotional offers at the site before you hit 'submit.' Many casinos will have opportunities to enhance your deposit amount.

Video poker apps

There are Android versions for all three PA online casinos.

The situation is a bit dodgier for Apple users. Hollywood Casino is the only one of the three with an iOS app. The bad news is the game library is extremely small. The good news is the Game King video poker suite is one of the available titles.

PlaySugarHouse has a solution that allows casino play via iPhone browser, but does not have video poker at the moment. Parx has no option for iPhone users.

Additionally, Chumba Casino is a completely browser-based site. So, it does not matter what device is used to log in.

As far as the games themselves, they work decently well. They are definitely playable through both laptops and devices, and it's clear that all three sites have taken pains to make sure that they optimize for mobile users.

However, there is a clunky quality to the mobile versions that may be distracting. It's hard to describe – some sort of lag, perhaps – but it betrays some sort of discomfort on the part of the mobile developers.

That said, we're nitpicking a bit here. There's no doubt that most people should be able to find a way onto these three sites to try their video poker options.

The basics of video poker strategy

So, what is video poker?

Video poker is a computerized version of five-card draw poker. Players are seeking to make a winning five-card hand. What constitutes a winning hand varies from game to game.

Video poker and slot machines are often lumped together, both in terms of their game class and physically in the casino. However, the element of control that a player exerts over a video poker game leads to a key difference between the two.

Namely, there is, in fact, a correct way to play each hand of video poker. Numerous books abound that help players identify the best statistical way to approach each hand.

As it happens, you can have these books along with you as you play. Casinos have no problem with players playing perfectly, because, as you may have guessed, there is still a house advantage over perfect play.

However, playing perfectly will minimize the house edge to fractions of a percentage point. So, it is possible to get quite a bit of bang for your buck on video poker, and sometimes, you'll come away a winner.

So, the payout percentages listed in each game variant below are calculated assuming that you are playing perfectly. If you are playing less than perfectly, the percentage will tip farther into the casino's favor.

One other factor that influences the odds of winning is the number of coins that a player is wagering. Video poker machines usually have some sort of outsized payout for the highest coin play. Typically, you'll have to play five coins on a single game to qualify.

Slot Machine Payout Percentage

However, these highest levels of play can also have progressive jackpots attached to them. So, if at all possible, you should play the highest level to maximize your expected value on your wagers.

Types of online video poker games in PA

A quick look at a video poker game list can be overwhelming. There are so many variants that it can seem impossible to master.

Surprisingly, though, the different types of video poker are all basically the same. The changes from the standard games are mere tweaks, by and large.

In terms of odds, video poker machines return over 96% of the cash wagered into them. This percentage places video poker as a much better bet than slot machines.

The different variants do play with the odds, at least in terms of the timeframe. Which variant you prefer depends upon how much variance you want to accept.

Jacks or Better

The most prevalent video poker game, and indeed, the only one that Chumba Casino features, is Jacks or Better. Like most standards, Jacks or Better is beloved due to its simplicity.

The key to winning the game is inherent in its title. A player must make a pair of jacks or better in order to win.

As the hand strength increases, so does the payouts. As you'll see later, casinos have introduced ways of chipping away at these payouts.

In the early days, some Jacks or Better games would pay out as a 'full pay' machine; that is, full houses would pay 9x the bet and flushes 6x the bet.

Over time, casinos offered this ratio less and less often. For instance, Chumba's Jacks or Better is a 7x/5x game.

However, those shaves on the profits haven't really hurt the game. Overall, Jacks or Better will pay back 99.54% of its wagers.

Deuces Wild

Another common video poker variant is Deuces Wild. This version renders the four twos, or deuces, as wild cards.

This change inflates the normal hand strength that you're going to get. With four cards that can be anything, pairs can easily become three of a kind, and random hands can become straight or flush candidates.

Of course, the game takes this escalation into account in its winning conditions. Most forms of Deuces Wild require three of a kind or higher to pay out.

Strange as it would seem, a perfectly-played game of Deuces Wild will pay out 100.8%. If you can play correctly and play the highest number of coins available, there is a positive expectation.

Understand, however, that percentage is a long-run calculation. Most players are not going to have enough cash to stick around for the long run.

Bonus Poker/Double Bonus Poker/Double Double Bonus Poker

Bonus Poker plays exactly like Jacks or Better up to a certain point. That point is four of a kind.

Bonus Poker rewards players for achieving quads of any value with an extra payout. Unfortunately, the game also collects from other payouts to finance this perk.

So, even though there are higher individual payouts on some hands, the overall effect is a percentage return drop. Bonus Poker players will only see a return of 99.2%.

Bonus Poker has proven popular enough, however, to spawn two offspring, Double Bonus Poker and Double Double Bonus Poker. Like Bonus Poker, Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus place special value on four-of-a-kind hands.

So, they further separate four-of-a-kind hands by their value. Double Bonus Poker has an increased payout for players who acquire four aces.

However, the increased payout has turned things around on the expected payback. Double Bonus Poker returns 100.2% to its players.

Double Double Bonus Poker takes things a step farther than its cousins. Each possibility of four-of-a-kind is subject to a different payout.

The aces are still the target of most of the breakouts. Double Double Bonus Poker has a pay structure based upon the kicker in the quad ace hands.

Furthermore, four 2s, 3s, and 4s each get their own payout level. Then, 5s – kings are all paid at the same rate.

All those machinations don't actually make much of a difference overall, actually. Roulette zero split. The payout rate drops a tiny bit to 100.1%.

Any other variant you find will have elements of these three types of video poker in it. Just make sure to investigate each type you find and figure out what it's about before you bet.

Bonuses and rewards program

As you play on an online casino, you often have the ability to take part in the casino's loyalty program. Playing video poker certainly qualifies for any of these promotions.

Pa Slot Machine Payouts

However, a video poker player may find it significantly difficult to qualify for as many rewards points as their slot-machine brethren. Casinos often award fewer points for video poker, due to its high return to player ratio.

Machine

Namely, Chumba Casino's Jacks or Better provides a percentage calculator for the chances that your draw will improve to any winning hands. This feature will allow you to try different strategies and approaches to video poker.

Once you feel comfortable, then you can try out the variety of games available on either Parx Casino Online or SugarHouse Casino4Fun.

Both sites offer roughly 15 variants of video poker for play absolutely free. You will simply need to register in order to log in and take part.

Make sure to try out each variant so that you can see which style of video poker you prefer. Everyone has their favorites, and these sites are a great way to discover yours.

Moving to real money video poker

Once you feel comfortable with all the different types of video poker, you may want to give the real money version a try. If so, both of these aforementioned sites are more than happy to help you transition over to the real money side.

Now, you will have to register all over again for a real money account.

Hollywood Online Casino does offer online video poker though. Unlike Parx, which only offers Jacks or Better, Hollywood offers the entire IGT Game King suite of nine different varieties, including Deuces Wild and Double Double Bonus Poker.

So, Pennsylvanians can choose between Hollywood, Parx, and Chumba. For now.

Every online casino will have several options for depositing cash onto them. Any one of the following methods may be available on your site of choice:

  • ACH/E-check
  • Visa/MasterCard
  • Bank transfer
  • PayNearMe (via 7-Eleven)
  • PayPal/Skrill
  • Wire transfer
  • Cash in-person at the casino cage

Make sure to check the promotional offers at the site before you hit 'submit.' Many casinos will have opportunities to enhance your deposit amount.

Video poker apps

There are Android versions for all three PA online casinos.

The situation is a bit dodgier for Apple users. Hollywood Casino is the only one of the three with an iOS app. The bad news is the game library is extremely small. The good news is the Game King video poker suite is one of the available titles.

PlaySugarHouse has a solution that allows casino play via iPhone browser, but does not have video poker at the moment. Parx has no option for iPhone users.

Additionally, Chumba Casino is a completely browser-based site. So, it does not matter what device is used to log in.

As far as the games themselves, they work decently well. They are definitely playable through both laptops and devices, and it's clear that all three sites have taken pains to make sure that they optimize for mobile users.

However, there is a clunky quality to the mobile versions that may be distracting. It's hard to describe – some sort of lag, perhaps – but it betrays some sort of discomfort on the part of the mobile developers.

That said, we're nitpicking a bit here. There's no doubt that most people should be able to find a way onto these three sites to try their video poker options.

The basics of video poker strategy

So, what is video poker?

Video poker is a computerized version of five-card draw poker. Players are seeking to make a winning five-card hand. What constitutes a winning hand varies from game to game.

Video poker and slot machines are often lumped together, both in terms of their game class and physically in the casino. However, the element of control that a player exerts over a video poker game leads to a key difference between the two.

Namely, there is, in fact, a correct way to play each hand of video poker. Numerous books abound that help players identify the best statistical way to approach each hand.

As it happens, you can have these books along with you as you play. Casinos have no problem with players playing perfectly, because, as you may have guessed, there is still a house advantage over perfect play.

However, playing perfectly will minimize the house edge to fractions of a percentage point. So, it is possible to get quite a bit of bang for your buck on video poker, and sometimes, you'll come away a winner.

So, the payout percentages listed in each game variant below are calculated assuming that you are playing perfectly. If you are playing less than perfectly, the percentage will tip farther into the casino's favor.

One other factor that influences the odds of winning is the number of coins that a player is wagering. Video poker machines usually have some sort of outsized payout for the highest coin play. Typically, you'll have to play five coins on a single game to qualify.

Slot Machine Payout Percentage

However, these highest levels of play can also have progressive jackpots attached to them. So, if at all possible, you should play the highest level to maximize your expected value on your wagers.

Types of online video poker games in PA

A quick look at a video poker game list can be overwhelming. There are so many variants that it can seem impossible to master.

Surprisingly, though, the different types of video poker are all basically the same. The changes from the standard games are mere tweaks, by and large.

In terms of odds, video poker machines return over 96% of the cash wagered into them. This percentage places video poker as a much better bet than slot machines.

The different variants do play with the odds, at least in terms of the timeframe. Which variant you prefer depends upon how much variance you want to accept.

Jacks or Better

The most prevalent video poker game, and indeed, the only one that Chumba Casino features, is Jacks or Better. Like most standards, Jacks or Better is beloved due to its simplicity.

The key to winning the game is inherent in its title. A player must make a pair of jacks or better in order to win.

As the hand strength increases, so does the payouts. As you'll see later, casinos have introduced ways of chipping away at these payouts.

In the early days, some Jacks or Better games would pay out as a 'full pay' machine; that is, full houses would pay 9x the bet and flushes 6x the bet.

Over time, casinos offered this ratio less and less often. For instance, Chumba's Jacks or Better is a 7x/5x game.

However, those shaves on the profits haven't really hurt the game. Overall, Jacks or Better will pay back 99.54% of its wagers.

Deuces Wild

Another common video poker variant is Deuces Wild. This version renders the four twos, or deuces, as wild cards.

This change inflates the normal hand strength that you're going to get. With four cards that can be anything, pairs can easily become three of a kind, and random hands can become straight or flush candidates.

Of course, the game takes this escalation into account in its winning conditions. Most forms of Deuces Wild require three of a kind or higher to pay out.

Strange as it would seem, a perfectly-played game of Deuces Wild will pay out 100.8%. If you can play correctly and play the highest number of coins available, there is a positive expectation.

Understand, however, that percentage is a long-run calculation. Most players are not going to have enough cash to stick around for the long run.

Bonus Poker/Double Bonus Poker/Double Double Bonus Poker

Bonus Poker plays exactly like Jacks or Better up to a certain point. That point is four of a kind.

Bonus Poker rewards players for achieving quads of any value with an extra payout. Unfortunately, the game also collects from other payouts to finance this perk.

So, even though there are higher individual payouts on some hands, the overall effect is a percentage return drop. Bonus Poker players will only see a return of 99.2%.

Bonus Poker has proven popular enough, however, to spawn two offspring, Double Bonus Poker and Double Double Bonus Poker. Like Bonus Poker, Double Bonus and Double Double Bonus place special value on four-of-a-kind hands.

So, they further separate four-of-a-kind hands by their value. Double Bonus Poker has an increased payout for players who acquire four aces.

However, the increased payout has turned things around on the expected payback. Double Bonus Poker returns 100.2% to its players.

Double Double Bonus Poker takes things a step farther than its cousins. Each possibility of four-of-a-kind is subject to a different payout.

The aces are still the target of most of the breakouts. Double Double Bonus Poker has a pay structure based upon the kicker in the quad ace hands.

Furthermore, four 2s, 3s, and 4s each get their own payout level. Then, 5s – kings are all paid at the same rate.

All those machinations don't actually make much of a difference overall, actually. Roulette zero split. The payout rate drops a tiny bit to 100.1%.

Any other variant you find will have elements of these three types of video poker in it. Just make sure to investigate each type you find and figure out what it's about before you bet.

Bonuses and rewards program

As you play on an online casino, you often have the ability to take part in the casino's loyalty program. Playing video poker certainly qualifies for any of these promotions.

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However, a video poker player may find it significantly difficult to qualify for as many rewards points as their slot-machine brethren. Casinos often award fewer points for video poker, due to its high return to player ratio.

For instance, SugarHouse calculates how many points to award in its iRush Rewards program based upon the return-to-player percentage. So, a game that returns 94% of wagers to players will award points at a higher rate than a game that returns 96%, for instance.

As stated earlier, video poker returns a high percentage to players, usually upwards of 99%. As a result, video poker will not earn points at SugarHouse very quickly.

In a similar vein, Parx values slot play far more than video poker play. Rather than any sort of calculation, Parx's Xclub awards 1 point per $20 wagered on slots and 1 point per $60 wagered on video poker. So, playing video poker is a third less fruitful than playing slots.

General rules and hand rankings

Video poker is a five-card-draw style of poker. After placing your wager on a hand, you will initially be dealt five playing cards. You then have the option to 'hold' or 'fold' any number of those cards with the intent of making the highest-valued hand possible, according to the poker-hand hierarchy.

Darksiders 2 review. Poker hands are listed, in order, from strongest to weakest:

  • Royal flush: A hand consists of the cards 10, jack, queen, king and ace, all of the same suit
  • Straight flush: A hand consists of five sequential cards all of the same suit, such as 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of clubs
  • Four-of-a-kind: A hand consists of all four cards of the same value, in each suit
  • Full house: A hand consists of both one pair and one three-of-a-kind
  • Flush: A hand consists of any combination of five cards that are all in the same suit
  • Straight: A hand consists of five cards in a sequence, regardless of the suit
  • Three-of-a-kind: A hand consists of three cards that are all the same value
  • Two pair: A hand consists of two unlike pairs of cards
  • Pair: A hand consists of one like pairs of cards
  • High card: A hand consists of no pairs or a higher-value combination of cards
    The highest-value card is used to determine hand strength

Versions of video poker will offer different payouts for each outcome. Some games will come with conditions, such as requiring at least a pair of jacks. There are many variations of the game also include wild cards, and even jackpots, when certain conditions are right.

Video poker odds

When it comes to determining the odds in a game of video poker, we can understand the potential outcomes rather easily. That's because players play video poker with only one deck. That means odds are generally the same across all video poker games, be it at a live casino machine or on regulated PA online gambling site.

The general odds and payout schedule for jacks or better video poker hands are as follows:

CardsOddsUnits
Royal flush (dealt)1 / 650,000800
Royal flush (ending hand)1 / 40,400800
Straight flush1 / 9,15050
Four-of-a-kind1 / 42325
Full house1/909
Flush1/896
Straight1/864
Three-of-a-kind1/133
Two pair1/72
Jacks or better1/41

Additionally, it may not be possible to win the total jackpot when holding a royal flush unless the maximum amount of wagering units are administered at the beginning of the hand. Keep in mind, some variations of the game will offer different payout structures, depending on a natural royal flush being dealt at the beginning of a hand.

Online versus casino video poker

There is little difference between online video poker and video poker played in live casinos because all the games are all machine-based.

The benefits of online video poker are you will never have to wait your turn to play a particular version, and there are so many varieties to enjoy.

Additionally, you can jump from variation to variation with no effort at all. As a result, games play much faster than in a live casino setting.

Where to Play video poker in Pennsylvania

Video poker is a ubiquitous feature of casinos, so it's no surprise that video poker machines are located in every Pennsylvania casino.

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As stated earlier, video poker and slot machines often share space in a casino. Given how much of a pleasant change of pace video poker offers slot machine players (and vice versa), it's unlikely that this marriage of games will break up any time soon.

Below is a list of the addresses for all twelve of Pennsylvania's casinos. Please note that we have also listed the Live! Casino property, though it has not opened yet.

  • Harrah's Philadelphia – 777 Harrah's Blvd, Chester, PA 19013
  • Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course – 777 Hollywood Blvd, Grantville, PA 17028
  • Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin – 4067 National Pike, Farmington, PA 15437
  • The Meadows Racetrack and Casino – 210 Racetrack Rd, Washington, PA 15301
  • Mohegan Sun Pocono – 1280 PA-315, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
  • Mount Airy Casino Resort – 312 Woodland Rd, Mt Pocono, PA 18344
  • Parx Casino & Racing – 2999 Street Rd, Bensalem, PA 19020
  • Presque Isle Downs & Casino – 8199 Perry Hwy, Erie, PA 16509
  • Rivers Casino (Pittsburgh) – 777 Casino Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
  • Wind Creek Bethlehem – 77 Wind Creek Blvd, Bethlehem, PA 18015
  • Sugarhouse Casino – 1001 N Delaware Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125
  • Valley Forge Casino Resort – 1160 1st Ave, King of Prussia, PA 19406
  • Live! Casino & Hotel – 900 Packer Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148

Pennsylvania's laws surrounding video poker machines

There is one clear legal motion that has precipitated Pennsylvania's video poker machines. The Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act of 2004 essentially inflated the gambling balloon for the entire state, providing for 12 casinos to be constructed.

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Video poker also flowed into legality due to this law. As a dozen casinos came into being, video poker came with them.

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Video poker will presumably make the jump to Pennsylvania's mini-casinos and online casinos when all the rest of the games do. There's no real distinction between them and slot machines.





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