There’s no magic strategy that guarantees success when playing poker machines; however, understanding, smart selection, practice and some luck can increase your chances of victory significantly.

Video poker does not involve competing against an actual dealer or any other players’ hands; each machine pays out according to an onscreen pay table; the lowest paying hand being two jacks or better (two jacks, queens, kings or aces). Furthermore, most machines offer an optional jackpot that grows larger each time someone plays and players may elect this mode in order to increase their odds of success.

Learning video poker starts with understanding its rules and payouts, which is crucial if you wish to succeed at it. Gaining an in-depth knowledge of hand values and their corresponding payouts will enable you to make better decisions when choosing which cards to keep after each deal. Also pay close attention when looking at machine pay tables as some offer low probabilities of higher-paying hands that could cause short runs of bad outcomes.

While many machines boast big jackpots for high-paying hands, chasing after these jackpots can be hazardous. Instead, look for machines which provide a high return on each bet for each hand while paying out steadily even with weaker ones.

Modern video poker machines typically involve variations on five-card draw poker, and those that excel can return 99.5 percent of initial bets with optimal play. Some like Deuces Wild have wild cards which can replace other cards to increase odds of making stronger hands; however, this must be balanced against lower payouts which may still lead to significant long-term losses.