Everything You Need to Know About Video Poker Tournaments

With time, the sources of entertainment, the world of games, the betting habits of people are also changing. There were times, when people used to sit under the shade of a tree or probably a low-lighted round table of a restaurant and played cards over huge sums of money. And video games were just a fancy toy possessed by some rich kids of the town who bragged about how they saved the princess in Mario. And an even fewer section of the people went to casinos.

However, due to modernization and constantly changing dynamics of the people, the card games somehow shifted to the cheaper crowd whereas the video games have become the new reality.

From children to hostellers, youngsters to older people- everyone is into video games, everyone is just addicted. Games such as Counter Strike, Freedom Fighter, FIFA and the like have taken the world by storm, people are not only crazy about them but have also started organizing tournaments amongst themselves.

Small restaurants, cafes, game parlors and casinos have not left this opportunity and are coming up with new activities and tricks daily to make the most out of this chance using their most popular games.

Why Video Poker Tournament?

As discussed earlier, casinos don’t leave any chance of earning that extra amount of money. A video poker tournament is also a similar technique used by them to bring in new customers and retain the existing ones by organizing regular periodic tournaments of their popular games, Video Poker being the most famous and appreciated.

Casinos earn by charging a small participation fee from the new customers whereas they may offer it for free to their loyal ones.

How Does Tournament Work?

Usually, the duration of tournaments lies between 2-3 days, the catch is that no coins or cash is used. Each participant gets a playing time of approximately 15-20 minutes.  However, sometimes the limiting factor is the number of hands whereas the other times both time and number of hands are limited to increase the fun and excitement. In the beginning, all the participants start with the same amount of credit which can be used by them to deal.  Special video poker machines and chips are installed with pay tables for such tournaments.

On the game screen, the participants can keep a track of the time remaining, their credit countdown, the points accumulated by them throughout the session.  For any winning combination, the points are added to the tally; however there is no negative deduction for a losing hand. Obviously, the top scorer emerges as the undisputed winner.

People normally participate in such tournaments with the sole purpose of entertainment and competition and not to make profits; however, the winners and almost top 25-30% of the participants do earn some monetary rewards.  It is an interesting thing to know that most of the participants do not withdraw their credits, rather carry it forward to the next tournaments.  To increase the participants’ base, casinos normally offer complimentary meals and free goodies.

How to win a Royal Flush on Video Poker?

How often it is that we end up cursing the luck factor for all bad things happening to us? A lot! Yes, luck plays a vital role in deciding the outcomes of our decisions but it is our strategy, our hard work, our decision making capability that has an ultimate say.  Similarly, with an optimal strategy and right choice of the combination of hands, one can easily win the Royal Jackpot. We often confuse higher cards for good cards which prove as our biggest mistake. The trick is to make the right combination and not to collect high cards. The best strategy varies from game to game, person to person and the cards you have.

For example, Video Poker pay offs come from trips, full house and quads. These hands will never appear unless one has the right combination of low pairs and not just some non-matching high pairs.

With a mathematically developed technique that maximizes the chances of hitting all the hands that pay off, one can produce a quad almost once in every hour and a Royal Flush once in almost every 40,000 hands. It takes almost 25 hours in a four-handed game and about 100 hours in a single-handed game for a Royal Flush to appear on the screen. So, the only trick is to make the right pair and use the right strategy and not just go on hitting random buttons.

Top Video Poker Mistakes

• Not using the right strategy is the worst mistake, be it an exam, a job, a normal household work or a Video Poker Game.
• The gamers will know that chances for Royal Flush are the highest when playing five coin bets. So, why jinx this up by making 1, 2, 3 or 4 coin bets?
• Not joining the Slot Club is like hitting your foot with your own hammer because you’re losing upon the cash back incentives that are offered by the casinos on playing slot machines and video poker.
• As opposed to slots, one can always estimate the expected payoff from any game in Video Poker, thereby making it easy to calculate that which machine would bear the sweetest fruit. So, why go to any other tree? You should straightaway go to the highest paying off machine.
• As they say, if you’re doing something, do it with all your zeal. Often, newbies start the game without having enough bankroll and thus miss out on chances of hitting a Royal Flush.
• We’re always told not to mix our rational mind with the emotional side. But still we always mess this up. During the game, people are often seen getting carried away by their emotions and not trusting their strategy and gut feeling.
• Gamers tend to lose focus in between the games. Given the charm of the casinos and numerous other attractions it has, we can’t really blame them.
• Man is always scared to go ahead, especially if the journey seems tough. Many gamers, on losing a few bucks or hands in the beginning have a tendency to quit the game early. But the trick is to sustain and fight back even harder.
• As wrong it is not to start with an adequate bankroll, it’s even a bigger mistake to start with extra amount of funds. Come on, this is not life! As likely as you’re to win the game, you can lose it too.
• Nowadays, one can find everything online. There are a lot of software and apps and tools that let the gamers practice online. Even after having all the resources, gamers don’t make full use of it and just end up trying their luck directly in the game.

Wrapping Up

This brings us to the end of this article. Wait no more, and participate in a video poker tournament today!