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There is a tendency for casual video poker players to get caught up in the idea that they can break-even or even beat the house in certain games.  And when thinking about beating the house, most players are merely thinking about payout percentages and the short-term.  But to really know your odds of winning in video poker, you need to consider hand frequency too.  With that in mind, here is a quick look at the concept of hand frequency.

How Hand Frequency affects Payout Percentages

Basic video poker strategy dictates that you look at payout charts to see how much you’ll make with each hand.  Obviously, a royal flush is at the top of the list while a pair or set (depending on what game you play) is at the lowest rung.  You will only see the royal flush every so often while pairs and sets occur much more frequently.

Each winning hand you receive contributes a certain percentage to your supposed payout percentage.  For instance, if you receive a full house once every 92 hands, it will contribute over 10% to your payout percentage.  Likewise, the 4,000-coin royal flush that only occurs once every 40,000 hands contribute 2% to your payout percentage.

As you can see, both hands are very important to your overall win rate.  But for the recreational player, royal flushes won’t come around very often.  Even professional players who play Full Pay games may go 50,000 or 60,000 hands before seeing a royal flush.

In short, hand frequency may cause recreational players to have a lower payout percentage due to the fact that they won’t play enough hands to hit the average royal flush jackpot.  But if you keep playing the game, over time you will eventually hit a royal flush jackpot to add that extra 2% to the payout percentage.  More importantly, you might even beat the house if this happens!

Learn more about video poker in our Video Poker Guide

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