Video Poker Online In Pennsylvania
Video poker is a staple offering of most gambling venues in Pennsylvania, as well as online. The machines that host the game usually share floor space with the slot machine banks.
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 locations throughout Pennsylvania remains vibrant. The landscape will only broaden as established brands throughout the state offer sites with online video poker games.
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Are video poker games legal in PA?
Yes. Video poker games are legal at all of the Pennsylvania retail casinos. You can also play video poker at the many Pennsylvania online casinos legal in the state.
The state authorized them under the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act of 2004. The law provided for the licensure and regulation of gambling locations in the Keystone State.
Accordingly, all 17 gambling locations 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 have been massive busts against some private video poker rooms in the state.
So, video poker is fine – as long as it’s in the legal gambling venues.
How to play video poker for free in Pennsylvania
Great, Pennsylvania residents can play video poker. But, what if you’ve never played before and want to try free video poker first?
No worries. Pennsylvanians have several options for practicing video poker for free before they wager their money.
First and foremost, Pennsylvanians can use Chumba Casino and other sweeps coins casinos to practice their video poker. Now, to be clear, there is only one Chumba video poker game, Jacks or Better. You can find various other forms of video poker across the other sites on offer in PA.
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.
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 at other sites.
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, nearly all gambling sites are more than happy to help you transition over to the real money side.
Now, you may have to register again for a real money account.
Every site 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 cage
Make sure to check the PA casino bonus and promotional offers at the site before you hit “submit.” Many sites will have opportunities to enhance your deposit amount.
Video poker apps
There are Android and iOS online casino apps for Pennsylvania players.
As far as the games themselves, they work decently well on mobile.
We have noticed a clunky quality to some video poker apps 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 sites to try their video poker options.
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, 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 do the payouts. As you’ll see later, gambling locations 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, this ratio was offered less frequently.
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. 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 will not have enough cash to stay 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. 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.
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.
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 offer different payouts for each outcome. Some games require conditions, such as at least a pair of jacks. Many variations of the game also include wild cards and even jackpots when certain conditions are right.
The basics of video poker strategy
So, what is video poker?
Video poker is a computerized version of five-card draw poker. Players try 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 location 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.
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.
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 machine or on a regulated site.
The general odds and payout schedule for jacks or better video poker hands are as follows:
| Cards | Odds | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Royal flush (dealt) | 1 / 650,000 | 800 |
| Royal flush (ending hand) | 1 / 40,400 | 800 |
| Straight flush | 1 / 9,150 | 50 |
| Four-of-a-kind | 1 / 423 | 25 |
| Full house | 1/90 | 9 |
| Flush | 1/89 | 6 |
| Straight | 1/86 | 4 |
| Three-of-a-kind | 1/13 | 3 |
| Two pair | 1/7 | 2 |
| Jacks or better | 1/4 | 1 |
Additionally, it may not be possible to win the total jackpot when holding a royal flush unless you’ve bet the maximum 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 retail locations because all the games are 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 setting.
Where to Play video poker in Pennsylvania
Video poker is a ubiquitous feature of gambling locations, so it’s no surprise that video poker machines are located in every venue in the state.
As stated earlier, video poker and slot machines often share space on the gambling floor. 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 17 of Pennsylvania’s physical locations where you can play video poker.
- Harrah’s Philadelphia – 777 Harrah’s Blvd, Chester, PA 19013
- Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course – 777 Hollywood Blvd, Grantville, PA 17028
- Hollywood Casino at the Meadows – 210 Racetrack Road, Washington, PA 15301
- Hollywood Casino Morgantown – 6021 Morgantown Rd, Morgantown, PA 19543
- Hollywood Casino York – 2899 Whiteford Rd, York, PA 17402
- The Casino at Nemacolin – 4067 National Pike, Farmington, PA 15437
- 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
- Parx Casino Shippensburg – 250 Conestoga Dr, Shippensburg, PA 17257
- 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 Philadelphia – 900 Packer Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
- Live! Casino & Hotel Pittsburgh – 5260 US-30, Greensburg, PA 15601
Final thoughts on video poker
As one of the most popular forms of casino gaming in the world, video poker is a great way to learn a lot of the basic structures that card-based table games use.
With online video poker games, you can practice for free or for real money from your own home.
