If you’re looking for a new way of playing gambling games online, you might wonder what progressive jackpot video poker has to offer you. This is a modern twist on a timeless casino game that provides the opportunity to aim for big prizes, so what do you need to know about it?
Understand What Video Poker Is About
The first video poker games were made at the end of the 19th century and proved incredibly popular. These were simple automated machines where cards got shuffled randomly and players hoped to see a winning poker hand such as a royal flush appear. A list of payouts let players see how much each combination of cards was worth and some versions allowed them to hold certain cards while others were replaced.
A quick look at the current range of video poker jackpot games shows that the basic gameplay hasn’t changed much since they moved online. Titles like Deuces Wild and Caribbean Stud Poker reveal how the genre has diversified into different ways of playing, though. These games take the same basic starting point but add new rules that vary the chances of winning slightly, creating a more varied selection of video poker games without losing sight of the original idea.
Fun Fact: A Royal Flush in video poker often triggers the biggest payouts, especially in progressive variants.
What Are Progressive Jackpots and How to Trigger Them?
Progressive jackpots have been part of the casino scene since the 1980s, when the MegaBucks slot was introduced. This game brought in a new concept, where part of each wager was added to a jackpot that kept growing until someone triggered it. Progressive jackpots proved to be extremely popular as the giant potential prizes were effective in encouraging players to try these games. Progressive jackpots differ from standard payouts because they increase with every bet placed by players across connected machines or games.
A big change at the end of the 20th century saw online casinos introduced. This allowed more people to play video poker, slots, and other gambling games. As the number of players increased, progressive jackpots could reach a wider audience, allowing more games to offer this mechanism and helping the prizes rise more rapidly.
How Progressive Jackpots Work:
- A small percentage of each bet contributes to the jackpot pool.
- The jackpot keeps growing until one lucky player triggers it.
- After a win, the jackpot resets to a predefined base amount.
Triggering the Jackpot:
- Most progressive jackpot video poker games require players to place an additional side bet.
- Winning hands like a Royal Flush or Straight Flush typically trigger the jackpot.
If we look at the example of Caribbean Stud Poker, it’s based on an optional side bet that pays out on the best poker hands. If you only place the main bet and get a royal flush, the payout is 100:1. However, if you get this hand after making the progressive jackpot side bet, you receive 100% of the progressive pot as well. Other top hands like a straight flush and four of a kind pay a lower jackpot amount if you activate the side bet.
What Are Your Chances of Winning?
Let’s face it—hitting a Royal Flush isn’t easy. The odds of being dealt a Royal Flush in a standard video poker game are approximately 1 in 40,000 hands.
Odds Breakdown:
| Poker Hand | Odds of Occurrence |
| Royal Flush | 1 in 40,000 |
| Straight Flush | 1 in 9,000 |
| Four of a Kind | 1 in 423 |
While the odds might seem slim, video poker’s low house edge makes it a relatively fair game compared to other casino offerings.
Pro Tip: Always check the game’s payout table and understand how the side bets work before diving in.
This a game of chance where you have no control over whether you win or not. Some versions of video poker let you replace some cards, although the Caribbean Stud Poker game we looked at is an example of one that doesn’t. Checking the odds of being dealt a royal flush makes it clear why this is the rarest and most valuable hand in poker. Other hands that may trigger the jackpot are easier to get but still don’t come around all that often.
Don’t forget that getting the progressive jackpot isn’t the only way of winning big in video poker. If you play a progressive jackpot version, you might still win with a strong hand that isn’t quite good enough to trigger the main prize. In non-jackpot versions of video poker, a paytable shows you how much can be won with the best hands.
One of the reasons that video poker has been popular for so long is the relatively low house edge. While this doesn’t guarantee that you will win, it reveals how much a game pays out to all its players over a period of time. This means that it may be less volatile than other jackpot games, where a higher house edge means that you might go through longer non-winning streaks while hoping to trigger a jackpot.
Source: Pixabay
The Future of Progressive Jackpot Video Poker
The simplicity of this traditional casino game is part of the reason that it’s continued to be popular in the digital age. While it’s competing against many slick, themed slots and live-streamed table games, the addition of progressive jackpots has helped to establish video poker as a leading online game, just as it has been a popular game in land venues for so long.
The use of progressive jackpots is only one of the many tactics used to keep video poker relevant in the digital age. Expect to see this game continue to evolve as more new ways are found to make it attractive.
Featured image credit: “Dammit!” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Lisa Brewster