How Video Poker Machines Work

First, let’s cover the basics. Video poker has virtually the same rules as a game of five card draw poker. The only difference is that you have no opponent to beat and you can’t lose moreSteve Bourie is the author of the American Casino Guide, the most comprehensive publication available for information on any U.S. casino/resort, riverboat or Indian casino. His guide has been published annually since 1992 and is now the biggest selling book in the U.S. on the subject of casino gambling.  Steve's website is www.americancasinoguide.com  than your initial bet. First, you deposit from one to five coins in the machine to make your bet. You are then shown five cards on the video screen and your goal is to try to make the best poker hand possible from those cards (see video poker hand ranks). Since it is a draw game, you are given one opportunity to improve your hand. This is done by allowing you to discard from one, up to all five cards from your original hand. Of course, you don’t have to discard any if you don’t want to. After choosing which cards you want to keep (by pushing the button below each card), you then push the deal button and the machine will replace all of the other cards with new cards. Based on the resulting final hand the machine will then pay you according to the pay schedule posted on the machine. Naturally, the better your hand, the higher the amount the machine will pay you back.

That’s pretty much how a video poker machine works from the outside, but what about the inside? Well, I had three specific questions about that so I contacted International Game Technology, which is the world’s largest manufacturer of video poker machines (as well as slot machines), to see if they could provide some answers. Here’s what they said:

According to IGT’s first answer we know that all of the hands are generated randomly. Some people believe that the machine knows what cards it initially deals you and then it gives you bad draw cards so you won’t have a winning hand. This isn't true. The deck is shuffled randomly and then all cards are dealt and drawn in order. By the way, the number with all the zeros is 16 quintillion. Don’t feel ignorant if you didn’t know it because neither did I. Of course, when our national debt gets that high, we’ll all be familiar with it!

One other point must be made here regarding random outcomes in video poker machines. Please notice that the above answer stated gaming regulations require that the machines must have random outcomes. You should be aware that there are casinos operating in places that do not have gaming regulations. Examples are cruise ships which operate in international waters and some Indian reservations that are not subject to state regulations. You should also be aware that the technology exists for machines to be set so they do not act randomly. These machines are actually programmed to avoid giving the players better hands and they wind up giving the house a much bigger advantage. These machines are illegal in Nevada, New Jersey, Colorado and all other states that pattern their gaming regulations after those states. You may, however, come across them in unregulated casinos.

With the second answer we know that the RNG stops when you deposit the first coin, or when you push the bet or deal button. This means that the results will be the same whether we deposit one coin or the maximum coins. Some people think that the outcome will be different depending on how many coins are deposited. This is not true. If you put in one coin and get a royal flush, you would have gotten that same royal flush if you had put in five coins.

The last answer clears up some confusion about how the draw cards are dealt. Some people believe that the machine initially deals 10 cards: five up cards that you see, plus one other card under each of those cards as a draw card. This is not true. The draw card you receive is in the same order as if it were being dealt off the top of the deck. Example: You are dealt (10,J,Q,6,6). You discard (6,6) and draw (6,6). Had you kept (6,6) and discarded (10,J,Q) you would have had four sixes.