Aside from the significant difference that you are not playing against anyone, you are also trying to achieve the highest hand possible to gain higher payouts. At the computer you will place your bet and be dealt 5 cards. You have the option of holding your hand, discarding any number of cards and replacing them with new cards, or drawing a whole new hand completely.

The hand rankings are exactly the same as table poker i.e. a royal flush is Ace – 10 of the same suit. Your bets are placed using the ‘Bet One’ button e.g. if you originally wagered £5 and you hit the ‘bet one’ button three times, your new wager would be £8.

Unlike the table, you will not be challenged by the computer i.e. the computer is not going to call you or try to bluff you, you simply have to make the best five card hand to win.

There are a couple of things to note though: many online casinos’ offer different types of video poker so the advice is to play for free on a few types to work out which suits you the best. Also note that many do not offer payouts on a pair or even two pairs and the lowest hand you can win with is three of a kind. Some also use more than one deck so you can actually get 5 of a kind which clearly you can’t do in a one deck table game.

Video poker is a great game and you are definitely in more control of your hand as you can bin the useless cards and have them re-dealt to up your chances of winning. Play for free here before you go on to the real money tables and you’ll not only develop your skill and learn the game but you’ll also have great fun!

The book highlighted that it was possible for a clever player to actually gain a greater advantage over the casino at blackjack. It is one of the most popular ways to win at the game and many people swear by it.

Simply put, card counting is a counting system used to keep track of the ratio of high to low cards in a deck. This is now used as the basis for most card counting strategies used in blackjack today. More recently the system was used and improved upon by the famous MIT blackjack card counting team who took many of the top Vegas casinos for millions and had their exploits turned into a major motion film (21) starring Kevin Spacey.

Advantage
The player knows he has an advantage when a deck has a shortage of cards valued
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Disadvantage
The player is at a disadvantage when a deck has a shortage of cards valued
9, 10, Ace.

When you card count you can tell when the deck is rich in 9′s, 10′s, and Aces and you can do one of the following things: Bet more money when the deck is favorable to you. Alter your strategy play to account for the favorability which will increase the odds of winning a particular hand.

How does it work?
A deck of cards has 52 cards in total. The deck is then divided into four distinct sections, each section having a specific value attached to the cards in that section.

The breakdown of the deck of cards above clearly shows the four sections and the value attached to the individual cards in each. If you added up all of the cards (-1, 0 or +1) they would balance perfectly to give you a starting point of 0.

When you count the cards in a hand and the cards out on the table end with a + value then you’re at an advantage, when you count them and you get minus value then you’re at a slight disadvantage.

Example
The following cards are shown in the course of a hand

2 3 8 10 K Q 4 3 4 9

The first value is +1 for the 2 followed by +1 for the 3. You are now at +2. Next is the 8 which has 0 points, followed by -1 for the 10. You’re now at +1. Both the King and the Queen are worth -1 each. You’re now at -1. With the 4’s and 3 all worth +1 and the 9 at 0 you finish with +2.

Result: +2
This is a positive outcome for you, the player. You now have a greater advantage than the house which makes it more likely that you will win this hand. At this stage it would be recommended to increase your bet if you have the chance to do so.

The only way that you will get good at this is by practice. We recommend that you do this on a ‘play for fun’ table which won’t cost you anything. You can also use a deck of cards and count them one by one as you turn them over. Practice makes perfect!