If You Haven't Played Video Poker.........You should!

I have always been a Slot player only, that was until a couple of years ago. I still love my Slots but have a real passion for Video Poker. It all seems too unreal how i got into it as i look back..........

My mom passed away two years ago this month. Now as i have mentioned in other posts she was a huge Video Poker player. She would always try to encourage me to play and i always thought it was too boring and never quite held my interest preferring to run to the Slots section in the Casinos.

A couple days after her funeral my sister and i decided to go to the Casino as sort of a tribute to her. On the car ride there i told my sis i was going to play Video Poker in honor of her. Walking into the Casino, old habits are hard to break and i stopped to play a few Slots first.

I finally made my way to the Video Poker section and sat down at a 2 cent, 50 line machine. At two cents it was deceiving because in reality i was playing over ten bucks a hand before i realized it. As luck would have it after about four hands i was dealt three 4's. I thought i might have a pretty good shot at getting four of a kind on 50 lines. I not only got four of kind 4's but on some lines got the kicker too! The machine locked to my surprise and it was a "Hand Pay" for $1,400.

I went back a couple weeks later and that is when i first played Super Times Pay Video Poker and ended up winning $3,200 after being dealt four 3's with the multiplier. To make a long story short i ended up winning 5 Jackpots in the course of about 6 weeks.

It made a true blue Video Poker player out of me! Sometimes i swear she is there just making those cards line up just right!

If you have never played Video Poker you really need to give it a try. I think there is a lot more money at stake to win and better odds then playing the Slots.

If you are a Video Poker player would love to read about your stories.

Lips

          Congrats Lips, those are great wins.    As I'm sure you know,  video poker has some of the best odds for the player provided they know how to play.  I love slots but prefer video poker  at land based casinos.    Wow, 5 jackpots in 6 weeks,  think I'd quit my day job. 

OMG.  I've been playing video poker since the mid 80's in Reno - I watched it grow from the basic Jacks or Better & Deuces Wild games.  Can you say "addicted"?  It's still my favorite game, although I do play lots of other games.

I have so many stories.... Ok, I wasn't going to tell any, but here's one of my favorites....

When I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, Reno was only a 4 hour drive, so my best friend and I used to take off a lot on the weekends and just do quick "overnighters".  We'd drive up late Friday or Saturday, gamble all night, then leave some time the next day and go home.  Overnights were always my favorite time to play.

On one of these trips in '93, we'd been playing all night - oh, actually we got a room comped that night so we could nap before going home - and we were both doing fairly ok.  She played slots most of the time, and I wasn't hitting anything on VP, so I had spent some time playing slots with her.  As we were heading up to the room around 8 am to get breakfast & naps, we passed a couple of $5 VP machines.  These machines were nice, sitting up on a little platform with captain chairs, you know, really comfy.  I was up a couple of hundred dollars, so I said, "Let me play this off before we go up to the room", and we took both the seats and ordered coffee.

I hadn't played $5 VP much before, so I was a little hesitant and started off by playing only 2 coins per hand.  The machine was just a Jacks or Better game, but it started playing nicely, giving me mid-range hands, so I would increase my bet by a coin at a time and my credits started going up.    When it got up to about 100 credits, it stalled, so I cashed it out - gotta LOVE the sound of $5 coins clanging into the bucket!! - and started all over again.  I play very, very fast and on "auto-pilot" a lot, so my friend and I were just sitting there talking while I was playing.

It started rolling again so I increased my bet until I was playing the max bet of 5 coins again when it dealt me 3 or 4 to the Royal (can't remember now) and, without skipping a beat, I held them and hit draw - and the machine froze.  I went into total shock because it had given me the Royal for $20,000!  Truly in shock - both our jaws dropped open when it hit.  All I could say for the next 45 minutes was "Oh my God", on and on and on. 

The "suits" (5 or 6 of them) came out of the walls, I think (lol), to verify it and pay me off.  And of course by the the time they came with $20,000 in cash to pay me, there was a crowd gathered around to watch as they counted 200 $100 bills into my hand(s).  I had a picture of it, but I don't know where it is now.  If I find it sometime, I'll post it.

I live in South Carolina now and seriously miss Reno (I was never really crazy about Vegas).  There's a Harrah's at a Cherokee Reservation a couple of hours from here, but I'm too sick now to travel anywhere, so all I have left is online casinos.  BIG bummer!!  But I still manage to play almost every day!! 

Eventually the Casino gets it back one way or another! Can't quite make a living off a Video Poker yet but boy it sure would be a fun way to make a living!

Bongo, you hit the nail on the head when you say "provided they know how to play". I have seen some pretty bad Video Poker players that hold cards that i have to just scratch my head and wonder what in the world are they thinking!

For one i don't get why a player would hold an inside straight, an outside straight yes cuz you have a chance to catch a card on both ends. Another held hand i don't understand is someone who holds two different face cards that are not suited. What are they trying to gain?

Or someone that holds two pair. Two pair pays the same as one pair, so maybe they are going for the full house. But wouldn't it be better to hold just one pair and go for four of a kind?

Lips

I forgot to add I was married to a cop at the time and when I called him to tell him about my hit, he drove up to Reno to "escort" us home.  Not before he spent some of it, tho! 

Omg Lhasalover that is the ultimate dream! Wowzer $20,000 big ones. I think i would pass out if i ever won that much. That is a moment frozen in time i am sure you will never forget. I am excited just from reading your incredible win.

I haven't had the nerve yet to play $5 Video Poker but when i think about it playing ten hands at once on quarter machines adds up to $17.50 (70 credits) per game and i have done it when i am on a good roll.

Haha that is too cute your husband came to escort you home but had a bit of fun with the winnings too! Ahhh good times, good memories i am sure!

Thanks for sharing you made my day!

I have always been a slots player and it wasn't until fairly recently that I starting dabbling in Video Poker. It was then that I started winning some decent jackpots. I hit the Royal for the first time on a quarter machine  multiplied 4x for $4,000. I could never see winning that much on Video Slots. The odds are better and I've had some smaller wins too and if I would have cashed out I would have been leaps and bounds ahead of anything I've ever won on slots.

I know I've mentioned before I'm not much of a slot player, but when I do play it's def video poker. Potential for major jackpots!

Omg I discovered a new Video Poker game that has fast became my favorite - Ultimate Four of a Kind Bonus Poker powered by IGT software.

I played in Atlantic City and went bonkers for it. Every time you get a four of a kind it triggers the Bonus game. Here there are lots of boxes to choose from that have cash prizes underneath them. Prizes vary from 200 credits up to 400 credits with one jackpot Joker prize for 4,000 credits.

The number of picks you get to choose depend on the four of kind:  5's through K earn one pick; 4 Twos, Threes or Fours earn two picks; four Aces get three picks. If you are dealt four of a kind then you earn an extra pick for every payline.

It is really a cool Video Poker game. Has anyone ever played before?

Lips

Oh yes I've played it before. In fact, I think I, ehhem, showed it to a certain lipstick wearing LCB mod. It's tough to get that 4 of a kind sometimes but so worth it when you're picking boxes for additional credit. It's a little pricey too if you can't find it for a nickel. Love that game. I got hooked when I saw a woman win a jackpot on it. I was intrigued when I saw her winning extras credits in the bonus feature.

I have not seen that game around here yet.  Are the rest of the pays the same as the other VP machines and in addition you get to pick prize boxes when you get four of a kind?  That would be cool, but like Froggy said, it is probably very expensive to play.  Tell us more lips.

medtrans

I play video poker on occasion but do feel it is a bit boring. 

After my grandmothers funeral, we went to a casino in Atlantic City.  It was in 1987 just before
I got married.  I was young and surprised when I flew home I had a $5 chip in my purse.  I could have
used the 5 bucks back then but still have the chip in a special place.

On our first visit to Las Vegas...we were heading to the airport to go home.  I put a $20 in a video poker machine and won $3,000.  That was a great way to leave!

That was a great hit gabby on $20 i am surprised it didn't become your favorite game.

@Medtrans - The Bonus picks are triggered only when you get a four of a kind on any of the lines, in this case it was a 5 line machine. It was a nickel machine so wasn't all that pricey. You pay a little bit more per hand because of the Bonus and the 4 of kind on its own paid 400 credits instead of the standard 250 credits.

Once you hit a 4 of kind 5 - K you get one bonus pick, if it is 4 of kind 2,3, or 4 you get 2 bonus picks an if you get four aces you will have 3 bonus picks. You get extra picks for each 4 of kind received for example i received four aces on four lines which = 3 picks x 4 lines gave me 12 Bonus picks.

You are then launched to a new screen with rows and rows of boxes to pick from. Under these boxes are prize that vary from 200 - 290 - 400 and one big prize of 4,000. Choose any of the boxes by the number of picks you have won and win the prize amount in addition to your original win of 4 of a kind.

The only Casino i know that has this machine in the Chicagoland area is Grand Victoria in Elgin. Have not been to Harrah's in Joliet for quite some time so not sure if they have it.

Lips