While we focus a lot on slots here, we know some of you are video poker fans. Today’s question takes a look at online offerings:
Hi there. I think that some online casinos offer Video Poker, but my understanding from looking around is that they are pretty basic for the most part (i.e. One hand at a time, nothing like Ultimate X poker, etc). Are there any online casinos that offer a wide variety of Video Poker like found in most land-based casinos these days? I do know about VideoPoker.com of course, but that is basically a practice only site.
Jim J.
You’ll be happy to learn that the video poker situation online has been improving over time. We’re going to use DraftKings for our example here (available in five states as of the time we publish this), but many of the other real money gaming online casinos feature similar offerings from the key providers out there.
They have for a few years now had a set of offerings from IGT. Along with the traditional single line, they have three play, five play and 10 play in traditional video poker in a variety of game styles like Jacks or Better and Double Double Bonus Poker. They also offer Super Times Pay in 3, 5 and 10 line formats, as well as Ultimate X in 3, line and 10 line formats.
Many players are creatures of habit, so knowing there’s some tried and true video poker options on the online sites will be a welcome sight. But if you’re more ambitious and like to try some other options, they’ve got those too – examples include Flip Five Jacks or Better and Multi Rise Video Poker. The former has a multi-line format while the latter is single line, but can have multiple rounds per bet.
Another interesting quirk of these games is the broader range of bet sizes with the pay tables generally fixed to a pretty decent position. Similar to slots, online video poker tends to have more generous pay tables than you’ll find in physical casino counterparts, meaning your money will last longer on the same budget, on average.
The only downside at the moment is the limited availability of online real money gaming casinos – only eight states have legalized them as of the time of this writing, so that means you’re more likely to live in a state without them than with them. But that’s been sloooooowly changing over time, and if you travel to a state that has them, you can play them, even if you’re not a resident – just as you could play at a physical casino as long as you’re physically present.
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